• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

HD Radio Limps Along...

T

thenetwork

I just leased a new car the other day, and was playing around with the numerous controls and set-up buttons.

Much to my surprise, tucked away deep in the in the audio sources tabs was a section for HD Radio. Unfortunately, I may have to wait a while to use it since I live out in no man's land and there are no HD Radio stations in my immediate area.

What really surprises me in my observations over the years, is that HD Radio in vehicles is never really pushed or promoted, but yet here it is in my 2025 car.

This reminds me back in my college days, where my parents got a 1980-something Pontiac for us to use. One day I was scanning the AM dial and one particular station sounded "different". Turns out the car was equipped with AM Stereo capability.

I kind of find the correlation between AM Stereo and HD Radio interesting: In their respective eras, the radio industry was pushing this state-of-the-art technology on the consumer, and it was hard, if not impossible to find in newer vehicles. By the time it finally appeared in new vehicles, there was little to no fanfare about what cars had it.

Perhaps if the stations that do carry HD Channels promote them a little harder and the carmakers that install them in their vehicles do the same, *maybe* the HD Radio technology will last have a better track record than what AM Stereo did.
 
Stations spent years promoting their HD2 subchannels with little to no results. And since 99% of them run ad free, they serve better as a way to host national format channels on the app (at least in the case of iHeart) than anything else.
 
Down here in central Ohio, exactly one station still actively promotes HD ... country giant WCLT, T100, from Newark. As of the last time I listened a few weeks ago they still say "100.3 HD" ... just as they have done since the late 2000s. Local sports talker/Buckeye flagship and Browns affiliate WBNS The Fan sometimes advertises its HD2 and HD3 streams for extra game programming that doesn't fit on the main signal but that's about it.
I am just happy that the abomination that was AM HD long since has pretty much entirely been relegated to the trash heap.
 
I know Audacy's stations identify on the hour as "-FM and -HD1," and the OTA iHeart stations identify - even on the app - as "-HD(#)", so they definitely still promote it. Do they tell you to go out and buy an HD Radio for it? No, that's what the app and streaming are for, but it's like how VCRplus+ was still advertised long after the companies stopped actively promoting it. Some people have it, and it's not a major inconvenience to mention "HD2" in your top-hour identifier.
 
I rented a new Hyundai from Enterprise and it did not have HD. My 2018 Hyundai has HD, but -- aside from cars -- does anyone see an HD radio for the home or a portable? As mentioned, the HD signal is roughly half the coverage of the analog signal, so when you get about 25-30 miles out of town, the HD drops off. It also drops here and there when you are right downtown. Totally flawed system.
 
I bought an HD radio for my home from Best Buy back in 2019. Haven't shopped for another one since.
I live 15 miles from downtown Columbus, so while HD coverage from the biggest stations is a lock on that radio, it definitely is not on rimshots and some of the lower-powered stations. When I had it in my former car, the drop in HD was noticeable about 30 miles out. The constant change in sound quality when HD was coming in and out got annoying after a short time.
Re. my earlier post and mentioning active promotion, I meant anything outside IDs, during which HD signals must be identified. Very rarely is it referred to otherwise.
 
WCLV's new jazz HD channel is gaining acceptance but WCLV is not looking for a revenue stream from it.
HD as I see it was the response North American broadcasters had to converting to full digital radio.
HD is just that, a hybrid digital system that layers a digital signal on top of a conventional analog signal to allow both to operate without rendering analog obsolete.
As a hybrid it's neither fish nor fowl, better than analog, not as good as pure digital, rife with technical and cost problems.
For commercial broadcasters I see its primary value as a platform to feed a translator until the FCC allows translators to originate original programming which I don't believe they can yet do.
Early promises that HD would open the door for new and specialized formats went the same way as the cable TV promise; it lasted for a short while and then decayed to lots of the same old same old. Remember when A & E meant Arts and Entertainment?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom