M
Mike Walker
Guest
Two+ years into the rollout of HD, we're on our way to having 2,000 HD stations late this summer. That's more HD STATIONS than there were RADIO STATIONS in the 1950s, THIRTY YEARS after the rollout of broadcasting. And that (broadcasting) went rather well.
FM stations came on the air in large numbers after WW-II. Many of them left the air for years, after failing to gather an audience (WHKY in Hickory NC was a great example...they left the air for YEARS in the 50s. Today they're WLYT Charlotte, one of the most successful statinos in town...with 2 HD streams). Still, it took until the 1982, nearly FORTY YEARS before FM tied AM's audience numbers.
Two years into the general rollout of tv, about 1949, most of what constituted "programming" was a TEST PATTERN. The vast majority of tv stations were on the air only during the afternoon and evening hours well into fhe 50s.
Color tv was a VERY slow starter...more than 45 YEARS, from the first experimental transmissions in the 20s till "critical mass" was reached in the late 60s. Or taken from the early 50s, then the first practical electronic systems were demonstrated for color tv, it was about 17-20 years before most families had a color tv.
FM Stereo was a VERY SLOW technology to catch on. Even today, MOST FM LISTENING IS DONE IN MONO, especially during daytime hours (table radios, clock radios, etc.) FM stereo was authorized in 1962, but it was relatively rare in lots of homes until well into the 70s. I didn't have my first real FM stereo experience until about 1972, and my local FM station (WIFM Elkin, NC) didn't convert to stereo until the late 80s. Mono fm stations were COMMON in many parts of the country THROUGH THE 70s. Our local college station (WSIF Wilkesboro NC) was actually mono until the 90s.
The first commercial products to receive HD radio have been on the market only a couple of years, and widely available for about a year. Still, there are probably as many HD radio products NOW as there are satellite radio products after six years.
The first personal computers became widely available in the 1970s. But they were still just business machines and "geek toys" twenty plus years later. It was the introduction of the World Wide Web in the 90s, and more user-friendly GUI-based operating systems that make them common in most households.
So let's review...HD radio's rollout has gone much faster than analog AM radio, FM radio, FM stereo, television, color television, personal computers, and many other technologies (automobiles spring to mind...they took three or four decades to become common. And that turned out pretty well). The speed has been PHENOMENAL by any objective standard. I challenge anyone to name a technology that has rolled out faster! Not cell phones ("car phones" took more than a half-century!). Not microwave ovens. Not pocket calculators. Not VCRs. Not cd players. DVD players DID rollout pretty darn quickly...and could well be "the exception that proves the rule."
Remember the rules for HD radio are JUST BEING FINALIZED! ALL HD prior to this spring was officially "experimental". Still, virtually all of the nation's largest stations...those in the top 50 markets...are HD (at least on the FM dial, AM is just getting started because the rules were much slower to be adopted). So don't let ANYONE tell you HD's growth is anything short of record-setting. There is almost no technology which has rolled-out so quickly. Even so, it was nearly a decade and a half before the first plans for HD, and when the first experimental broadcasts of what was to become "HD Radio" began. WELL DONE RADIO! WELL DONE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS! WELL DONE ENGINEERS! WELL DONE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS! Now programmers, GET TO WORK producing compelling programming, so we can get past some of the "HD Test Patterns".
FM stations came on the air in large numbers after WW-II. Many of them left the air for years, after failing to gather an audience (WHKY in Hickory NC was a great example...they left the air for YEARS in the 50s. Today they're WLYT Charlotte, one of the most successful statinos in town...with 2 HD streams). Still, it took until the 1982, nearly FORTY YEARS before FM tied AM's audience numbers.
Two years into the general rollout of tv, about 1949, most of what constituted "programming" was a TEST PATTERN. The vast majority of tv stations were on the air only during the afternoon and evening hours well into fhe 50s.
Color tv was a VERY slow starter...more than 45 YEARS, from the first experimental transmissions in the 20s till "critical mass" was reached in the late 60s. Or taken from the early 50s, then the first practical electronic systems were demonstrated for color tv, it was about 17-20 years before most families had a color tv.
FM Stereo was a VERY SLOW technology to catch on. Even today, MOST FM LISTENING IS DONE IN MONO, especially during daytime hours (table radios, clock radios, etc.) FM stereo was authorized in 1962, but it was relatively rare in lots of homes until well into the 70s. I didn't have my first real FM stereo experience until about 1972, and my local FM station (WIFM Elkin, NC) didn't convert to stereo until the late 80s. Mono fm stations were COMMON in many parts of the country THROUGH THE 70s. Our local college station (WSIF Wilkesboro NC) was actually mono until the 90s.
The first commercial products to receive HD radio have been on the market only a couple of years, and widely available for about a year. Still, there are probably as many HD radio products NOW as there are satellite radio products after six years.
The first personal computers became widely available in the 1970s. But they were still just business machines and "geek toys" twenty plus years later. It was the introduction of the World Wide Web in the 90s, and more user-friendly GUI-based operating systems that make them common in most households.
So let's review...HD radio's rollout has gone much faster than analog AM radio, FM radio, FM stereo, television, color television, personal computers, and many other technologies (automobiles spring to mind...they took three or four decades to become common. And that turned out pretty well). The speed has been PHENOMENAL by any objective standard. I challenge anyone to name a technology that has rolled out faster! Not cell phones ("car phones" took more than a half-century!). Not microwave ovens. Not pocket calculators. Not VCRs. Not cd players. DVD players DID rollout pretty darn quickly...and could well be "the exception that proves the rule."
Remember the rules for HD radio are JUST BEING FINALIZED! ALL HD prior to this spring was officially "experimental". Still, virtually all of the nation's largest stations...those in the top 50 markets...are HD (at least on the FM dial, AM is just getting started because the rules were much slower to be adopted). So don't let ANYONE tell you HD's growth is anything short of record-setting. There is almost no technology which has rolled-out so quickly. Even so, it was nearly a decade and a half before the first plans for HD, and when the first experimental broadcasts of what was to become "HD Radio" began. WELL DONE RADIO! WELL DONE EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS! WELL DONE ENGINEERS! WELL DONE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS! Now programmers, GET TO WORK producing compelling programming, so we can get past some of the "HD Test Patterns".
