HD Radio - New Initiatives

[Savage]

SmartPhone sales are indeed impressive. And one certainty you can take to the bank: most of the people who have invested in SmartPhones are using them on a daily and/or continuous basis. They didn't shell out that jack just to tinker with them and then park them on a dusty shelf somewhere.

Even if you accept the frankly absurd claim of "3 million HD Radios sold," which I believe is inflated by at least a third, I would further opine very few of them are used regularly for digital radio listening.

Anecdotal evidence strongly indicates a huge proportion of HD Radios have been bought by first-adopter/curious hobbyists, radio industry professionals, and radio group owners and pubcasters for giveaways or pledge-drive premiums. And because of the glitchy operation of HD radios and transmitting equipment, I'm confident few are used regularly. (At WYSL we have an HD Radio - a Sony XDR-HD3 for off-air monitoring in ANALOG our FM translator. It has no digital application whatever - and there are hundreds of these receivers being similarly purposed by broadcasters.)

See the comment of DaveBayArea - a professional engineer. Not even he could reliably flog his balky, buggy HD Radios into reliable operation. When they were working, the programming wasn't there to justify the effort. THAT'S the story of HD Radio.

 

[Don Juannn]

THe HD Haterz are mostly hobbyists, DX-ers, small time operators, or people that are hanging onto the past.

Actually besides some people that work in the industry hardly anyone outside of that very minuscule cross-section of people you listed up there even know about HD.

The hobbyists know about it....and you are one of them.

 

[Tom Wells]

With a headphone jack or a built-in bluetooth link, a dongle, and a license fee, a nice app could be made where HD radio
would link to your printer and print out a nice local newspaper while you sleep, and then you could
read it while you ride to work on the train without having to walk three extra blocks to the news-stand!

This is SO much better an idea than it was in 1937!



HD radio side channels may be buggy, but I bet they can be counted on to get most of the text there reliably..
Pictures may have some "funny" pixels with this method.

There's an initiative.

 

[KB1OKL]

THe HD Haterz are mostly hobbyists, DX-ers, small time operators, or people that are hanging onto the past.

Actually besides some people that work in the industry hardly anyone outside of that very minuscule cross-section of people you listed up there even know about HD.

The hobbyists know about it....and you are one of them.

Your powers of deduction are amazing Donnnnn.

 

[Don Juannn]

THe HD Haterz are mostly hobbyists, DX-ers, small time operators, or people that are hanging onto the past.

Actually besides some people that work in the industry hardly anyone outside of that very minuscule cross-section of people you listed up there even know about HD.

The hobbyists know about it....and you are one of them.

Your powers of deduction are amazing Donnnnn.

....but you fail to see the next step.....hobbyist don't make broadcast policy.

Except in amateur radio! 73's!

 

[Chuck]

The real comparison is HD radio sales vs. internet radio sales. Neither are selling very well. Why? Because people can hear both on their computers. No need to buy another device.

If you haven't noticed, a "smartphone" IS a computer, and much more. It’s a very portable one at that. Why would anyone purchase a one trick pony like a HD radio, when they can do many more things with a device that easily fits in their pocket.

I don't know about anyone’s Internet listening statistics, other than those of my own station. Our web-stream hosting control panel shows where people are listening and what they are listening on. In the last year or so, it hasn't been unusual to see over 50% of those listening on line using iTunes. I don't know if that is on an iphone or on a stand-alone computer, but either way, I think it is significant.

 

[Don Juannn]

The real comparison is HD radio sales vs. internet radio sales. Neither are selling very well. Why? Because people can hear both on their computers. No need to buy another device.

If you haven't noticed, a "smartphone" IS a computer, and much more. It’s a very portable one at that. Why would anyone purchase a one trick pony like a HD radio, when they can do many more things with a device that easily fits in their pocket.

The vast majority of cell phone users do not have a smartphone, per se. (They have a dumb phone.)

Why would anyone purchase a one trick pony like a HD radio, when they can do many more things with a device that easily fits in their pocket.

Because you can buy an HD radio for $35 with no monthly fees. ;-)

And, once installed into a car, you don't have to carry it around in your pocket or otherwise.

 

[TVradioguru]

Hmmm. Can I make calls and talk with people on an HD Radio? No? Then I don't get the comparison.

I can hear the radio on my smartphone, but I can't talk with my friends on an HD radio. Therein lies the difference.

The real comparison is HD radio sales vs. internet radio sales. Neither are selling very well. Why? Because people can hear both on their computers. No need to buy another device.

Agreed. And that, I submit, is why HD Radio maybe hasn't done very well. Radio is...well, radio! Radio in general to the majority of average consumers as right up there with an electric can opener on the kitchen counter. If the can opener works when you need it, which may or may not be very often, why would someone go out and buy a new one? Had HD Radio been around when radio was the only game in town back in the 60's 70's or even early 80's, offering additional commercial-free music or entertainment options with higher sound quality, then the timing would have been right.

Consumers don't subscribe to the same concerns of the hobbyists that hang around this forum and can care less about noise between distant stations. What consumers care about is getting what they want, when they want it. And here in the 21st Century, there are many avenues to get it including radio.

 

[local oscillator]

Let me sum it up: HD Radio is something for which there is no demand and doesn't work even if there were. Sounds like a growth generator to me!

I do have to commend Struble and others at iBiquity on one thing: They have been successful in drawing nice salaries for many years parading their dog-and-pony show, all the while supplying interference, expense, and distraction to our industry. By the way, the dog is rabid, and the pony is a dead horse.

 

[Savage]

EXCELLENT and droll post, L.O. Yep: a dog and pony show, starring a rabid dog and a dead horse.

In an empty arena. Under a leaky tent.

Big Radio Groups own the concessions and parking rights and have been selling each other stale popcorn and distant, inconvenient parking in a distant muddy lot.

 

[mmnassour]

The vast majority of cell phone users do not have a smartphone, per se. (They have a dumb phone.)

Actually, we're fast closing in on the time where that will no longer be true. Nielsen reported the other day that more than 40% of all U.S. phone purchases are now smartphones and the percentage is accelerating. That's bad news for anyone making any kind of stand-alone device, especially stand-alone devices that don't sell well.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Niel...-in-the-last-6-months-are-smartphones_id14327

 

[JimmyJames]

No demand - but public radio stations use it quite well. And they can sell radios to their contributors. Definitely no potential in HD.. :

 

[Don Juannn]

Let me sum it up: HD Radio is something for which there is no demand

Let's sum it up...

There is no widespread apathy for ANYTHING in radio, AM, FM, SW, HD, SatRad, etc.

AM Radio has already been written off by a large segment of the population.

So, HD Radio (or any radio) is following the same pattern.

....and doesn't work even if there were.

Nope. It works fine. And after the power increase it will work even finer. ;-)

LOL

 

[Don Juannn]

That's bad news for anyone making any kind of stand-alone device, especially stand-alone devices that don't sell well.

But the hand-held smartphone will not replace the in-dash radio.

People don't want to listen to their telephones to listen to the radio...especially in the car. ;-)

 

[tomservo]

That's bad news for anyone making any kind of stand-alone device, especially stand-alone devices that don't sell well.

But the hand-held smartphone will not replace the in-dash radio.

People don't want to listen to their telephones to listen to the radio...especially in the car. ;-)

Even if they could (and from what I hear, it DOES work now on most 3G networks), you can only stream so much internet radio before you hit your service provider's limit.

I was pricing new smartphones the other day and several of the major ones have bandwidth caps or no longer price 'unlimited' internet access. I think it's Verizon that has a nifty 'usage calculator' that you can access, where you plug in how many e-mails, picture uploads, videos, music and whatnot you do online and it'll show you how much bandwidth those activities take. Try plugging in a week's worth of radio listening and see close to the cap you come.

 

[Chuck]

People don't want to listen to their telephones to listen to the radio...especially in the car. ;-)

Yeah, but it is pretty hard to find any sign of HD radios in most cars. Sure there are a few, but not enough to make any difference. Most people are not going to rip out a perfectly good factory radio to make the switch to HD. It isn't easy to do and most cars because the factory radio is deeply integrated with other systems on the car. What’s more, the current factory radios sound and work pretty well Most people simply don't care enough to do it. This isn’t the 1970’s when people routinely ripped out the horrible factory radios and replaced them with after market units.

On the other hand, Internet connectivity is available on a few cars right now, and will become much more common as time goes on. It is a good bet that it will be very common in the coming years. That’s because it brings a lot more to the table than just a few additional “free” channels, and people are willing to pay for it.

 

[Chuck]

Even if they could (and from what I hear, it DOES work now on most 3G networks), you can only stream so much internet radio before you hit your service provider's limit.
<snip>
Try plugging in a week's worth of radio listening and see close to the cap you come.

Admittedly, I have a grandfathered Verizon account, but I have never even come close to hitting their new 5 GB limit. I listen quite a bit on line, simply because it is convenient and easy - and yes, it does work reasonably well.

Incidentally, I own and operate a commercial FM radio station. As a result, I have no “death wish” for radio. Far from it. I’m simply trying to be realistic about this.

 

[Don Juannn]

People don't want to listen to their telephones to listen to the radio...especially in the car. ;-)

Yeah, but it is pretty hard to find any sign of HD radios in most cars.Most people are not going to rip out a perfectly good factory radio to make the switch to HD.

You don't have to "rip out" a factory radio. You can order it as an option.....or buy one after the fact from the dealer/factory that fits perfectly in your car. But that will depend on the public wanting the formats...and most of all...KNOWING about the formats available. Right now they have no clue as to what is available on HD.

Some cars are coming with it already installed as stock equipment.

 

[Chuck]

Some cars are coming with it already installed as stock equipment.

Not very many.

 

[tomservo]

Some cars are coming with it already installed as stock equipment.

Not very many.

And the ones that do seem to generate more complaints than kudos.