HD Radio is next to useless compared to Internet radio

[nd2023]

With the proliferation of Internet-capable phones and more 3G coverage, more people will be listening to Internet radio. The Internet streams sound better than HD radio and can be heard nationwide with fewer dropouts than HD2 stations. 5 years from now, the HD2 and HD3 programming will survive on the Internet, but people won't be listening to those on HD radios, and broadcasters won't pay to maintain HD transmitters if no one's listening to them.

If given a choice to buy an HD radio to get a limited set of additional stations, or an Internet-ready phone to get any station in the world, for about the same price, what would you choose.

 

[kenglish]

But, it's still illegal to play with your PHONE while driving.
Not so with your RADIO. ;D

 

[tomservo]

Let me know when I can stream these great radio stations in all the places I get radio reception now, like Two Egg, Florida or Lower Peach Tree, Alabama or Cokeville, Wyoming.

As it is I live in between two major cities (relatively speaking) and there's no real 3G to speak of outside the narrow highway corridor that doesn't even run through town.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Yup. There's the problem. Coverage of cell systems isn't up to the coverage consistancy of even HD really in the mobile enviroment. What's going to happen when thousands of people want to listen to Internet radio at the same time in the same geographic area? Can you say cell site jammed up? There's a lot to work out before mobile streaming becomes a real viable contender and not just a toy for those of us that want to play. I'm not a fan of HD, however, mobile streaming isn't the great holy grail everyone seems to think it is. It's still in novelty land.

(posted from an iPhone)

 

[mgpt6]

Will I have to pay $100-$200 a month for the data amount I will need to listen to Internet Radio in my car. And it would be hard to type in an URL while driving.

 

[Chuck]

On my Palm Pre, and I suspect on other Smart Phones, once you find a station you like, you can make an icon for your "launcher" page. It's like a bookmark and pretty easy to see. Just click, and you are there. Listening on your phone may not work well everywhere, but it seems to work fine in cities and along Interstate and other major highways. It sounds surprisingly good running through the AUX input on my GM/Bose factory radio. You can also use it as an mp3 player if you don’t want to (or can’t) connect to the Internet.

When I purchased the phone, Verizon allowed me to keep my old (truly) unlimited data plan, so I'm not too worried about the bill.

 

[nd2023]

I said that in 5 years from now, 3G/4G will be available nationwide, similar to how 95% of the country has cellular service now. HD radio can never be available nationwide because of the flawed technological implementation. The 5% that doesn't have cell service most likely doesn't have usable FM radio reception due to mountains.
Even now, there is a larger potential audience for Internet radio in cars than HD radios.

There's an HD2 station in Baltimore that's marketing itself more as an Internet station serving the whole country than as an HD2 only serving the 5 people in Baltimore with an HD radio. The HD2 is locally programmed and isn't simulcasted anywhere else. Even its sweepers seem targeted to people listening online than people listening on an HD radio. But I admit that I first discovered that station when listening to my HD radio while driving past Baltimore, but it's now my favorite HD2 station in the country.

 

[tomservo]

The 5% that doesn't have cell service most likely doesn't have usable FM radio reception due to mountains.

They probably have one more decent daytime AM signals, though, providing regional or national news and information. That's worth considering. (And if they ever shut down HD at night, they'll have a smorgasbord of programming to choose from at night.