IBOCr@p

[rbrucecarter5]

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html

Good grief - with that many HD-2 channels, you would think SOMEBODY in Chicago would come up with something new, fresh, exciting as a format! I thought Dallas HD-2 channels were the pits --- Given those dismal format choices, it seems to me that HD radio's biggest enemies are the very stations promoting it. That page is the single most powerful inducement to get streaming audio in cars that I have ever seen.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

It seems the latest and hottest thing from Ford isn't HD Radio at all!
We were deceived by the HD cartel, promoters and supporters once again. Apparently it is wireless internet that is saving radio, not HD.

 

[Play Freebird]

Good grief - with that many HD-2 channels, you would think SOMEBODY in Chicago would come up with something new, fresh, exciting as a format! I thought Dallas HD-2 channels were the pits --- Given those dismal format choices, it seems to me that HD radio's biggest enemies are the very stations promoting it. That page is the single most powerful inducement to get streaming audio in cars that I have ever seen.

In all fairness, it should be noted that the HD demo in the video started around 95.1 and scanned up the FM dial, so we missed any worthwhile formats offered by the public FM broadcasters in the reserved band from 88.1 to 91.9.

Was this video produced by the HD Cartel -- er, Alliance? If so, then I understand why they wouldn't want to acknowledge the existence of non-commercial radio.

 

[BRNout]

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html

Good grief - with that many HD-2 channels, you would think SOMEBODY in Chicago would come up with something new, fresh, exciting as a format! I thought Dallas HD-2 channels were the pits --- Given those dismal format choices, it seems to me that HD radio's biggest enemies are the very stations promoting it. That page is the single most powerful inducement to get streaming audio in cars that I have ever seen.

Let's be fair, many Chicago stations were skipped over during this "demo" and certain Milwaukee stations were on the fringe - leading me to believe that the listener was somewhere in Lake County, IL at the north edge of the market.

I noticed that they manually skipped over a lot of stations (I wonder why) and they did not pull in all of the HD choices that would have been available in that area. That "test" was too much of a hodgepodge to take seriously.

All that being said, it was the Bluetooth/internet radio interface that made me go WOW! Not the HD radio demo. Given the choice, wireless internet will blow the doors off of HD radio.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Let's be fair, many Chicago stations were skipped over during this "demo" and certain Milwaukee stations were on the fringe - leading me to believe that the listener was somewhere in Lake County, IL at the north edge of the market.

I noticed that they manually skipped over a lot of stations (I wonder why) and they did not pull in all of the HD choices that would have been available in that area. That "test" was too much of a hodgepodge to take seriously.

All that being said, it was the Bluetooth/internet radio interface that made me go WOW! Not the HD radio demo. Given the choice, wireless internet will blow the doors off of HD radio.

If some of those FMs were Milwaukee - and they decoded HD - I am impressed. I wonder what the problem is in Dallas, where reception problems begin as close as 10 to 12 miles? Also - I wouldn't be convinced just by the AM 620 WTMJ at the end. That Milwaukee signal is a monster - and that clarity of reception could be done in a car radio 200 miles away - 300 if there aren't power lines. That 620 is such a monster you can hear it at night in Dallas - nulling the local 620 as close as 3 or 4 miles away! I notice WTMJ isn't messing around with IBOC - and risking that good coverage. They sounded broadband - and sounded good. If I lived in Chicago, a good sounding AM from 65 miles away would be my first choice for newstalk instead of phone quality audio with background hiss from the local blowtorches that used to have quality sound.

I agree that they should have done a band scan starting at 88.1. But looking at the dense packing of the stations in the area, especially on the lower half of the dial - IBOC probably wouldn't work because of all the first adjacents. Next time I am up there I'll do a bit of lower dial DX'ing - but from the milages I bet even an ordinary car radio would have no trouble separating out the first adjacents. Given new chipsets with adaptable IF - first adjacents will be easily heard. The rest of the noncomm band appears to be dominated by Moody, Loyola, and other religious broadcasters. Somehow I doubt they would do anything remotely creative on HD-2, and if they did would you be interested?

Tha bluetooth streaming audio was amazing - I want it for my peculiar niche format tastes! I won't get what I want on HD-2's ---

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post.html

Good grief - with that many HD-2 channels, you would think SOMEBODY in Chicago would come up with something new, fresh, exciting as a format! I thought Dallas HD-2 channels were the pits --- Given those dismal format choices, it seems to me that HD radio's biggest enemies are the very stations promoting it. That page is the single most powerful inducement to get streaming audio in cars that I have ever seen.

As someone once said in the movies, "Follow the money." Since there is not yet a sufficiently large audience to begin selling commercial time on the HD2s, no broadcaster is going to spend any more money than it takes to program a PC to segue music or voice tracks. Inventing new, compelling, exciting formats takes time, effort and money that broadcasters can't and won't spend under current conditions.

 

[Mike Walker]

For a guy who goes by "dumber", that's pretty damn smart. I LOVE the technology (old and new), but radio isn't about technology. It's about CONTENT!

I have no idea whether in 50 years radio will be delivered in the current mediumwave or vhf bands, whether it's delivered via the internet, wi-fi, or some new technology none of us knows about. And furthermore, I don't give a crap. It makes no difference. What's important is that it WILL exist, and will be, as it always has been, programming driven. Provide compelling, preferably community-oriented content, and the audience will find you. Provide the equivalent of an Ipod set to "shuffle-mode", and you'll get what you deserve...abso-freakin'lutely nothin'!

I don't know what form radio will take (I'm convinced it will be delivered as packets of data, as that's the future of pretty much all media). But I know it will continue. And whatever technological battleground it's fought on, the battle will be won by those with the best CONTENT!

 

[Radioman100]

It seems the latest and hottest thing from Ford isn't HD Radio at all!
We were deceived by the HD cartel, promoters and supporters once again. Apparently it is wireless internet that is saving radio, not HD.

270,000,000 Americans listen to radio every day. Oh lawdy, lawdy, please save us!

 

[Radioman100]

As someone once said in the movies, "Follow the money." Since there is not yet a sufficiently large audience to begin selling commercial time on the HD2s, no broadcaster is going to spend any more money than it takes to program a PC to segue music or voice tracks. Inventing new, compelling, exciting formats takes time, effort and money that broadcasters can't and won't spend under current conditions.

Exactly. Right now radio is only investing in the technological infrastructure, getting everything ready for the day HD becomes a standard feature in new cars. When it does, that's when you'll see a push for quality HD2 programming.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

I was not impressed with the Ford "Sync" - you still have to pay the big bucks to your cellphone company to get the Internet stream to your phone, THEN you have the Bluetooth from the phone to your headunit. IOW, your headunit does NOT get an internet site all by itself.

I would rather have HD radio; no, scratch that; I would rather have good quaity analog radio with a digital processor in the tuner instead.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

It seems the latest and hottest thing from Ford isn't HD Radio at all!
We were deceived by the HD cartel, promoters and supporters once again. Apparently it is wireless internet that is saving radio, not HD.

270,000,000 Americans listen to radio every day. Oh lawdy, lawdy, please save us!

Out of the 270,000,000 Americans who listen to radio almost none listen to HD radio and less then 1% are even slightly interested in hearing a demonstration. After over $1 Billion in promotion and implementation, it's no wonder you are so frustrated that there is nothing left for you to do but appeal to God.