HD Radio

[Steven21]

I cannot even begin to tell you how sick I am of hearing about HD radio.

Is there anyone in this radio universe who understands how MEANINGLESS all this HD hype is? The vast majority of listeners will be as excited about HD radio as they were about AM Stereo. If the industry wants to pour their money into the "next big thing", then why don't they invest it in nurturing the next big crop of talent, because Lord knows the old farm teams have been put out of business.

That Telecom Act of '96 is going to have a more far reaching and profound impact on this business, than most dared consider possible when they so cavalierly let it slide by virtually uncontested.

Shame on Wall Street for raiding this business. Shame on the leadership in this business for being complicit, and shame on the footsoldiers in this business for either not knowing what was happening WHILE it was happening, or for being too dumb to know the ramifications of that miserable Act.

 

[Philip_Airtime]

I wouldn't dismiss HD radio just yet. I, too, was very skeptical up until just a month or two ago. But I've seen a buzz about HD. There have been newspaper articles, in addition to frequent announcements on radio stations that have converted to HD. When the stations start offering alternative formats on their side channels, listeners may take notice. Granted, the radios are expensive right now, and they're only available in table top models. But that's likely to change. And if carmakers start putting HD radio in cars, the technology could take off. If WJYE, for instance, starts programming its side channel with smooth jazz -- a format not available in Buffalo -- I think it's possible people who enjoy that music will buy an HD radio to hear it. I don't know if the AM stereo comparison is appropriate anymore. AM stereo meant you were able to hear AM quality music in two channels. Big deal. It still couldn't compete with FM. But HD sounds great and will offer new formats. Why pay a satellite fee every month if each FM station in Buffalo is offering up to three music channels for free and likely with limited commercial interruptions at the outset? Now, I'd be foolish to guarantee that HD radio will make it. Obviously, the satellite services already have a foothold. Internet radio and iPods may eventually win out. But with the major broadcasting companies so heavily invested in HD, they're going to do all they can to make sure it takes hold. So, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it.

 

[therealjm12]

I think that the success of HD radio is right around the corner. A new chip has recently been perfected so the recievers can be smaller and more portable. As soon as they are available in cars, I think it will take off. The company I work for is passing, for now, on HD at my station, although doing it elsewhere in their chain. Although I am disappointed, I can certainly see their reasoning. Strictly ecconomics, no return for their dollar-at least for now.

 

[Steven21]

MAJOR issues you are both overlooking:

1) Very few, if any, commercial interruptions on most music channels, and

2) Service wherever you go. Near, far, out or in your car.

A commercial station HAS to run commercials, otherwise they cannot make money. A subscription service has a fundamentally different business model---one that will not destroy commercial radio, but will eventually redirect a sizable percentage of listeners away from terrestrial radio.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I cannot even begin to tell you how sick I am of hearing about HD radio.

Is there anyone in this radio universe who understands how MEANINGLESS all this HD hype is? The vast majority of listeners will be as excited about HD radio as they were about AM Stereo. If the industry wants to pour their money into the "next big thing", then why don't they invest it in nurturing the next big crop of talent, because Lord knows the old farm teams have been put out of business.

That Telecom Act of '96 is going to have a more far reaching and profound impact on this business, than most dared consider possible when they so cavalierly let it slide by virtually uncontested.

Shame on Wall Street for raiding this business. Shame on the leadership in this business for being complicit, and shame on the footsoldiers in this business for either not knowing what was happening WHILE it was happening, or for being too dumb to know the ramifications of that miserable Act.

The Telecom Act of 96 was passed by the Republican majority in Congress and signed into law by a democratic president. So unless the new Congress decides to override this legislation and go back to the regulations that where in place before the mid 1980s, nothing is going to change the landscape of how many stations a company can own in a single market.

As to the "farm system" you mentioned. I, along with many from my generation of broadcasters, went through the "farm system" where we got the experience needed to move on to larger markets. Today a growing number of smaller radio stations are being gobbled up like their medium and major market counterparts.

I started out working in the Southern Tier of New York where there were numerous independent stations. Today a cluster of those stations, ranging from Corning, Elmira to Hornell are owned by one individual. Same goes for the ownership of radio stations in Canandaigua, Geneva, Waterloo and other Finger Lakes communities.

Most of the stations, if not all of them, that I mentioned are operated with just a few people because most of the programming is syndicated or automated, and local news is one individual reading out of the local newspaper.

Last year I returned to Corning, where I started my career in radio back in the early 70s. What I saw were these beautiful studios in a nice location on Market Street downtown. That compared to the flooded -out house I worked at where the equipment was built in the 1940s. But the big difference from the time I work there to today is people. We had a full staff of announcers, sales people, and newscasters. The station I saw last year, while looking good, had one person in the building running several stations; and this person I would say looked like he was still in high school.

As for HD radio, I agree it’s a waste of money. Yet many broadcasting companies would rather spend millions on nice equipment and studios and useless technology rather than people because you don't have to pay salaries and benefits to automation machines.

Finally you mentioned talent. I’ve said it numerous times on here that the talent pool for radio is almost dried up because college graduates are more interested in TV because at least there are jobs in that field.

I personally know a case where a radio station in Rochester hired not one, but two people for news reporter positions who did not have any professional experience just so they could fill a quota. Then you have an all-news station in Boston let go an entire news staff of trained veterans. It will be interesting to hear what radio sounds like in a few years. Personally I don’t believe satellite radio will make a damn bit of difference because most people are not going to pay money to listen to commercial free stations when they can buy CD’s or use IPods.

The companies that run radio haven’t killed the industry yet, but give them time.

 

[Element9]

From what I've heard, AC/DC and Alan Jackson don't sound any better on HD than they do on good ol' FM.

So, what's the motivation for Joe or Jill Public to run out and buy an HD radio? To hear those "hidden stations between the stations?" The only "hidden stations" I've heard on HD are playing the same music and programming that the un-hidden station is playing, and I'll be damned, but the difference is negligible.

Oh sure, there are some FM's that are using the second or third channel to broadcast another format... which is usually delivered by satellite from home office in San Antonio or Philadelphia... or fed by another computer with Audio Vault or Profit somewhere in the building. Still, it's no better than Joe or Jill's mp3 player which is loaded with 25 hundred songs from who knows how many different genres. What's more, Joe and Jill CONTROL what he/she wants to hear.

HD may blossom, it may become more than AM stereo, but until there's a REAL reason for the CONSUMER to spend money on it, it's not going to move the needle. What's more, a lot of decision makers seem to be buying the equipment and selling the product on "pie in the sky" principles.

If I were a banker, a GM or a corporate VP, here's what I'd do: I'd give my 14 year old kid and twenty of his/her friends receivers and tell them to spend a week checking it out... beta testing, you might say... then I'd ask what they thought of HD. If HD doesn't pass the 14 year old consumer test, I wouldn't waste my company's money on it.

In this age of instant discovery, instant messaging and viral advertising, all it takes is for a few dozen key consumers to get tell the blogosphere and parasites, "HD sucks... don't buy it." Of course, it could go the other way, "HD rocks, you gotta have it..." but don't count on that happening.

-9-

In a related sidebar, here's an interesting quote:

http://boomers.msn.com/articleES.aspx?cp-documentid=377196&GT1=9206]Rock[/url] 'n' roll was one thing, and then they chopped off the roll and called it rock, which became a sort of umbrella term for anything with a guitar in it. Like hair bands. How could we possibly believe that? It's just gotten downright silly, to the point where now it's sort of become like professional wrestling. The fans know it's phony, but they don't care.

I couldn't exist nowadays. I could never have built a career like I've had if I were just starting out now. Radio doesn't take a chance on anything anymore; they've streamlined the playlists to the lowest common denominator. It's really kind of silly that they think people would rather hear "Stairway to Heaven" one more time than a new song.

As you're coming up, you're recognized song for song or album for album. What's changed these days is that the man who approaches me on the street is more or less thanking me for a body of work -- the soundtrack to his life, as a lot of them say. And that's a wonderful feeling.

It's all an artist can ask.

 

[SirRoxalot]

HD radio could make AM stations viable for music again if they can ever get them OTA 24/7 in HD. Of course, the IBOC hash will kill DXing, but when was the last time anybody under the age of 40 was fascinated by "voices from far away". Internet radio has effectively rendered DXing moot anyway.

Internet radio could render all broadcast radio moot down the road unless the greedy bastards from the RIAA screw things up too much. You don't think that the big broadcasting companies are in cahoots with the RIAA in trying to prevent Internet radio from getting off the ground, do you?

 

[JakeLongwell]

I have no doubt that HD radio will be an initial success. If nothing else, simply because it is a new technology. And most consumers are always curious whenever something new comes onto the market.
But, assuming HD radio does take off, I can't help but wonder what it will sound like in the future. Here are a couple of scinerios that have played out in my mind.
Right now, we know that many stations are putting under performing and/or low rated formats on their HD channels. Obviously, the initial aim of launching the HD service is not so much to make more money, but rather to provide listeners with programming alternatives, to keep them from going to Sirius or XM.
However, I have to ask, will that still be the case a decade from now assuming HD radio becomes the broadcasting standard by then.
For instance, the initial post suggested that WJYE should put smooth jazz on one of its HD channels. And I believe they have already done so if memory serves me correctly. But once everyone has an HD receiver, and more and more people are listening to the second and third channels of an FM station, surely, the major broadcasting companies who own these stations will start paying serious attention to the performance of these second and third HD channels. They will be looking at ratings, and the ability to "sell" whatever programming is on these channels. So, getting back to the smooth jazz on WJYE-2, if Regent determines that the format isn't performing well in the ratings, or isn't generating enough sales to make it viable, will they pull the plug in favor of something more similar to the format of the main channel (such as Gold AC perhaps)? Or, will they keep the SJ format because it is on an HD channel and is a niche format with a small, but still very loyal following?
Here is still another situation that could well play out as the landscape of radio as we know it continues to change.
Another poster mentioned HD and AM radio, and how the one thing keeping HD from succeeding on AM was the inability to use it at night on AM frequencies. Many other countries in the western world are all but giving up on AM radio. (Canada comes to mind here). I could see the powers that be at the FCC and in the industry as a whole comming to the conclusion that AM broadcasting simply isn't viable anymore, as it cannot support digital broadcasting in quite the same way as FM can. Assuming the day comes when all AM broadcasting is switched off, what then will become of all the news/talk, sports, and leased time religions stations that were on the AM band? The most practical solution, I believe, would be to simply move them all over to the various HD channels of the FM stations owned by the company in question. Sp. omstead pf JD cjamme;s jpstomg a;termative music formats such as oldies, smooth jazz, or adult standards, we could end up with HD channels hosting Rush Limbaugh, ESPN Radio, and leased time infomercials/religion.
Finally, I can't help but be concerned for the few community based broadcasters that remain in this country. "Mon and Pop" commercial stations, LPFMs, class D educational FMs and the like. Most of these stations probably don't have the budget to upgrade to HD radio. If there is ever a mandate that ALL stations must switch off analog radio and go HD, will these "little guys" be able to survive? Or will HD radio be the final nail in the coffin for these stations?
Time will tell I suppose.

 

[Nick Seneca]

Much is written these days about radio failure’s to attract the current young generation of listeners. I suggest turning over HD to this young crowd, as FM was turned over to them in 1968.

Corporate commercial broadcasters are reluctant to pursue these young folks on FM and AM because they’re not perceived as demographically marketable, and because they’re already having success with their current formats. At the same time, the unremarkable HD programming they’re churning out has attracted little attention, much less “buzz” – the exception being CC’s gay and lesbian channel.

How about this: Post on craigslist or similar sites and identify hungry young, creative people with initiative, idealism and willingness to work. Pay them minimum wage (as the young WYSL-FM’ers – and “underground rock” FM’ers nationwide -were in the late 60’s) and say “Here – this HD radio channel is a canvas for your creativity. Give the legal ID once an hour and don’t say the f-word. Those are the only rules – the rest is up to you. Be fabulous!”

The programming that will define tomorrow’s radio and enthrall Generation Y, Z, or whatever will come from this kind of no-holes-barred environment. Some o' them young whippersnappers just might catch lightning in a bottle!

FM and AM’s future success will not emerge from today’s 30 and 40 -something programmers hunched over Selector and coming up with some tangential collection of songs with a cute format title attached. HD programming as it stands now is hopelessly “in the box.”

Turning HD over to the kids is a way to solve two problems at once. It will excite and attract the new generation of “audio consumers” to terrestrial radio, and it will stimulate interest in the currently moribund mutation of radio known as HD.

Nick Seneca

 

[Nick Seneca]

One more thing....

All references to "HD" in the above post refer to "HD-2" channels.

Nick S

 

[alw]

Hey Nick...I see that you're still too hip for the room!

I always thought you were smarter than the rest of us (i.e. me) and things have not changed after all these years.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Hey Nick...I see that you're still too hip for the room!

I always thought you were smarter than the rest of us (i.e. me) and things have not changed after all these years.

Some of us are just "5 dB down."

It's an old inside bit that Nick and Al might recall from the old Locker Room radio sessions which included Jim Santella, a slew of other great characters and some guy named Randy who went on to fame and fortune...

And yeah, it is good to hear from Nick. The post gave my thesaurus a workout, but it made some interesting points.

-JimPastrick

 

[SirRoxalot]

And yeah, it is good to hear from Nick. The post gave my thesaurus a workout, but it made some interesting points.

Jim, you had better be careful. A strained thesaurus could be dangerous at your age...

Nick, I like your ideas. I don't think that very many corporate types will get on board, but it would sure make things a bit more interesting. And, as Jim said, it's always good to hear from you.

 

[jefflaurence]

Nick, your ideas are really on target..but SirRox is also probably closer to reality. If there is a buck to me made from leased religion or spot sales..that's whats going to happen.

I read a few posts from a guy in California who said he visited a cluster of stations with one staffer..but the HD streams were standalone computers sitting under a desk. That was the amount of thought that went into thier HD-2 content. THAT alone will be a deal breaker for many. The lack of attention to the "new" medium will kill it off before it has a chance.

Also the fact that HD is being treated with resentments by most of the few left working at stations..coupled with the lack of knowlege or inventory at such places as Best Buy, Radio Shack and Circuit City..this whole HD deal might just fizzle out quicker that QUAD-Stereo did..

 

[ThePickleReport]

I hear from a staffer at a Buffalo cluster that they are having signal-related "issues' with their HD.

 

[jim8230]

I'm not surprised to find out stations are using stand-alone computers to run their HD-2 streams. Right now the HD-2's are still considered experimental so the station can't sell time on them. (Things may change this week when the FCC announces their stand on digital transmission.) However, I can't imagine things will change much if these streams are given the O. K. to advertise. So far, the HD "buzz" has not caught on with the public. I've read about 100,000 radios have been sold. If that number is accurate, in essence, no one is listening. Only one car manufacturer is installing them in some models as an option.....and I have recently been to Radio Shack and Circuit City and have asked to see their HD radios. Both stores had one model each and neither received an HD signal...the salespeople said if I wanted to pursue a radio purchase they could order a unit for me......which brings me to the HD signal "issues" reported above:

Since you didn't elaborate as to what these issues are, I might guess that........

The digital signal becomes unstable or drops out about 20 miles from the tower.

The digital sidebands are introducing artifacts into the stereo subcarrier on the host analog signal.

The digital sidebands are causing interference to neighboring first and second adjacent analog stations.

The digital audio quality is no better or actually worse than the host analog.

There have been complaints from listeners that they are having issues with the station's audio quality or with reception. (analog)

If you get details about these "issues", please post them.

 

[ThePickleReport]

If you get details about these "issues", please post them.

Sorry, the most specific thing I was told is that "it isn't working very well" technically.

 

[SirRoxalot]

There are lots of "staffers" that are unhappy and/or unfamiliar with HD Radio. Many on-air personnel are unhappy with the fact that they can no longer listen to the air signal because of the delay caused by the digital processing. Delaying the analog FM to match the timing of the digital HD can be tricky, but it's necessary because receivers switch back and forth between analog and digital any time the digital stream has too many errors. This is especially prevalent in fringe reception areas, or indoors without a good external antenna.

Most stations are taking the Program Out and running it through an old audio chain so the jocks get to hear processed audio in their headphones. How closely that resembles either the analog or digital signal that's on the air is open to MUCH conjecture.

Board-ops have the same issues with the delay. It makes it harder to match sports radio broadcasts with the TV action, and makes it much harder to coordinate with sportscasters who used to listen to an off-air signal instead of a talk-back feed from the station. The talk-back just doesn't sound the same.

As far as bandwidth issues are concerned, digital streams have to affect the main channel. The more streams, the greater the effect. Normally, you hear it more in the high frequency response of the main channel - some lack of definition or "artifacts" from the encroachment of the digital channel. If you overdrive your audio, the effect is even more pronounced. Not that a jock would ever bend the needle on the board a little...

For my money, FM analog sounds better than any FM digital that I've heard. If I were king, I wouldn't waste a dime on HD. I would put out two carefully-processed Internet streams - one for low-bandwidth listeners, and a second high-quality stream for high-bandwidth listeners.

If I owned an underutilized AM,especially a high power (50KW) AM, I'd be all over HD radio as a chance to reclaim a younger audience. That's where Nick Seneca's ideas would come in to play in my book.

 

[lash]

I've enjoyed listening to some of the Clear Channel HD stations. I've also found it to be a source for some new AM formats as well. And HD AM's can only benefit from the technology.

Listen to some of them before shooting it down!

 

[dampier]

I cannot even begin to tell you how sick I am of hearing about HD radio.

Is there anyone in this radio universe who understands how MEANINGLESS all this HD hype is? The vast majority of listeners will be as excited about HD radio as they were about AM Stereo. If the industry wants to pour their money into the "next big thing", then why don't they invest it in nurturing the next big crop of talent, because Lord knows the old farm teams have been put out of business.

HD Radio is not the salvation of FM commercial radio in this country, but it's not a hindrance to it either. It just... is. Frankly, it's too little, too late for a lot of us who have already fled local radio for satellite, iPods, CD's, and the likely wireless-based delivery methods coming down the road. I can't see anyone hurrying down to a store to get a special radio installed in their car or home in the same way satellite radio managed to attract several million customers. That's because HD Radio will never provide a consistent set of services wherever you go - it is entirely dependent on what the corporate groups throw on their station bouquets. If you thought satellite radio was hard to market and explain, wait until you have to sell HD Radio on its ancillary services!

The key to making any station "work" is the attractiveness of their programming and personalities. Corporate radio, particularly when it comes to music, sacrificed both in order to maximize revenue and reduce costs. It's like the Invasion of the Format Snatchers - the automation of the 21st century, where you don't run a tape mill of canned ID's over a tape/satellite delivered format, but you might as well be, because your local talent is often so constrained to play only these focus-group tested, consultant-approved songs, that the end result is a radio station that sounds the same no matter where you go. This quilt of mediocrity has now been blanketed the entire country, thanks to the corporate owners which embrace this "sameness."

And bookending all of it are 10 minute commercial breaks, with promises of more music to come just around the corner. Unfortunately that corner isn't in your town or city. It's in the next one over, so keep on driving.

And people did, to their nearby home electronics store to purchase whatever necessary to abandon these bland, irrelevent "local" stations.

And why should one expect these same people to head back to their home electronics store to purchase an HD Radio to return to the same people that drove them away from the concept of radio in the first place?

Yes, exactly. You understand.

Twice nothing is still nothing, my friends. One banal "hit music station" x three sub-channel automated music stations still equals zero excitement, zero interest, zero results.

And some of these corporations, who claim they know what they've been doing because they are run by people with decades of experience, have stripped that patina off completely by stating that many of the music channels they plan to offer across their owned and operated outlets will be nationally programmed and rebroadcast on their respective outlets. Did someone put these guys under oath so they finally admit what the rest of us knew all along?

They intend to use these bouquets to compete with satellite radio, a subscription service. In order to convince Americans that it will be worth their while to invest in the equipment necessary to receive "free radio" they'll pull the old bait and switch routine with marketing that suggests commercial-free without promising to keep it that way. And five years from now, will the ten minute ad break be back?

The question I think the vast majority of people in this country are going to ask is... "why?" Why should they invest in HD Radio? Now it will get used if it becomes part of the factory-installed car radio, and if someone buys a new home radio and it's already included, they'll probably accept that as well. But will HD Radio turn the industry around? Of course not. The only way radio survives is investment of resources into creating programming that people want to hear, with a real person who is from the community speaking to the community.