To clarify, TheBroker is Josh Wilkey, President of Countrywide Broadcasters in Middlesboro, Kentucky. He (pardon the third-person references) owns WFXY and WANO, in Middlesboro and Pineville, respectively. He also has a horrible case of insomnia, so he posts here at all hours of the night quite often, which would explain why nobody replied for a while, I suppose.
Between Middlesboro and Pineville, the two towns I operate in, there are five stations. Two are owned by the big Baptist Church in town, and run Moody Bible Institute formats. With the exception of a few ballgames here and there, they have very little local content, as they have a staff of one. The fifth station, after my two, is an FM which is currently not even on the air. Until about a week ago, it was on the air at very low power, with some sort of high-pitched squeal in the carrier, which I assumed to be her exciter marching toward death. That's neither here nor there, though, and doesn't really relate to the topic at hand.
True, I run two music formats. However, between brand-new BE transmitters and Omnia processors, my stations sound great. Sound quality isn't a problem I'm looking for a solution to. And of course, as radiopilot mentioned, music isn't nearly as much a contributor to the success of my stations as local content is. Some of you may have heard about the recent tornado in Tazewell, TN. It was on national news. Tazewell is about ten minutes from here, and both my stations were broadcasting live covering the storm to keep our residents updated. The cable was out in much of the county, and we do not get TV signals here in most places, so the radio was the only place people could turn for local content. Incidentally, my stations covered the emergency, while the other stations in town carried on with their regular automated formats. Each day, I broadcast extended local newscasts five times, and we try our level best to do what all small market radio stations should do: serve our community. That is what sets us apart, and this sort of local content sets us apart much more than a cleaner signal ever could, particularly considering that we have an incredibly clean signal already.
As for availability of receivers, I stand by my original statement. We have a Radio Shack, yes, but the selection there is very limited. I can't even find the most basic wiring supplies there, much less HD Radios. In fact, I went in to ask for one the other day, and the clerk looked at me as if I'd laid a purple egg on the counter right in front of him. As for Best Buy, the closest one is a little over an hour away. After I posted last night, since I couldn't sleep anyway, I ventured to the local WalMart. I looked specifically for an HD Radio and found none. And again, the clerk I spoke with had no idea what I was talking about. Sure, you can order them online from WalMart, even at $200 instead of the $300 I quoted. However, the problem remains that the average joe in my market still isn't going to shell out that much money for a radio, even if he can afford to.
Let's look at HD Radio from the viewpoint of the average small town resident. When faced with the opportunity to shell out $200 for a new radio, what would prompt him or her to do so? Let's even assume that one or two stations in this small town broadcast in HD. First, it isn't reasonable to think that the average paycheck-to-paycheck individual can even afford to plunk down $200 on a radio, or even $100 when the price drops again. It's a luxury, and not even a good one at that. However, let's say the listener in question can afford to buy it. Why would he? When he does, he's going to get it home, plug it in, and maybe hear one or two stations in HD. Otherwise, it serves no purpose other than to do what the $7 clock radio on his nightstand will do. Is the small difference in sound quality he'll get on the two stations he can pick up worth the $193 (or even $93) price difference? My bet is that the average person in my market won't think so. And of course, with no local stations broadcasting in HD, there's practically no chance he's going to buy the receiver.
What we have in a great many circumstances is a Catch 22 situation. We broadcasters aren't willing to implement HD until the market is saturated with receivers. However, the market isn't willing to buy the receivers in bulk until we broadcasters start implementing HD. There's no universally right or wrong answer here. Clouseau is very right in saying that right and wrong may vary with each of us based upon our specific situations.
Now, for what it's worth, which may not be much, here's what I see for the future of HD Radio. The stations in larger markets, by and large, have already turned it on, and a good many already multicast. I think it will eventually prove viable there. If the price of the receivers continues to drop, I'm willing to bet that a good many listeners in those bigger markets will buy them. HD Multicasts will be great for things like sports broadcasts and niche formats, and I personally think it'll catch on in the bigger markets. Will we ever reach a point, though, where every resident in my town has an HD receiver, and I find it economically viable to turn on the HD? I sincerely doubt it. I just see no benefit, ever. Could things change? Sure. Do I think they will in my situation? No.
As I said, I've crunched the numbers. I know how much, almost to the penny, it'd cost me to implement HD Radio. I also know I'd be wasting the money right now. During the past two years, I've completely rebuilt my stations from the ground up, then rebuilt the one which was destroyed last month. In total, I've already spent literally twice as much as it'd cost to implement HD. Now I'm not going to poor-mouth and say we are barely getting along, because frankly we do quite well. I'm not on a "poor me, tough standalone AM in an FM world" trip. However, I've made a large investment, and we do what we should in terms of serving our listeners. If the FCC were ever to think of mandating IBOC implementation, I'd fight tooth-and-nail against it, as would a good many small town broadcasters.
In the meantime, I'm very happy with how my stations are doing. If I feel like plunking down $80,000 for anything, I'll put it into the other black hole I love. I have a beautiful Piper Arrow in my hangar at the Middlesboro Airport, and I'd get much more benefit out of using the money for some new avionics than anybody ever would out of me turning on HD at my radio stations.
The FCC commissioner stated that the marketplace will decide the pace of the HD rollout - if affect, that statement is saying, that consumer interest will ultimately decide the fate of HD Radio, just as with the failed AM Stereo of the 1980's.