In many larger markets with ethnic communities, HD channels are leased to companies that serve such groups... ranging from Russian to Farsi and from Armenian to Cantonese.
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Iheart giving up on HD2,3 and 4
- Thread starter RadioRonnie285
- Start date
It all comes down to the market size. A translator is never going to be able to have a full signal in a market like NYC and would barely be a drop in the bucket in Houston or LA coverage wise. Some albeit smaller markets like Greensboro/Winston-Salem are just too spread out.
In markets like the previously mentioned Austin, Richmond, Chattanooga, Des Moines, etc we have seen translators be contenders. In a lot of markets, the max 250w at a decent height and a non-short spaced signal can be pretty sufficient.
Even Greenville/Spartanburg, which is somewhat spread out, Audacy was able to build a translator trimulcast with one in each principal city for its urban station “The Block”. Combined, the 3 stations have gotten an almost 3 share before.
What? I don't think "HD" sounds good, either.
HD1 audio quality, in my opinion, is at best only OK, and can often have that low-bitrate audio sound (kind of a hiss / hash) if there are HD subchannels. I'd usually rather listen to the analog, too.
HD2/3 sound especially poor (for music), to the point that I removed most of them from my presets -- the poor sound quality was too annoying / tiring.
Even if the sound quality doesn't bother you, you still have the HD signal dropouts and limited coverage of the HD signal. Sometimes the HD1 is a lot louder than the analog signal, so as the HD signal fades in and out, you're flapping back and forth between LOUD/quiet/LOUD/quiet. And if the analog and HD signals aren't in sync, add in some annoying stutter, as well.
I've experienced these, both here in Madison, and when visiting Chicago.
I always wondered why the Chicago HD2s are virtually non-existent in the ratings, and once I finally had a car with HD radio, I found out. If you try listening to them in the suburbs, the HD2 signals cut out so often (and it takes so long for the signal to come back), that it's basically unlistenable. But you don't even have to be that far out from downtown to have the signal drop. I was driving back from downtown Chicago to Madison a few weeks ago, and Illini basketball game was on WLS. I thought I'd try listening to the game on WLS-FM HD2. I made it a whole 6 miles west of downtown (not even to Oak Park on the Eisenhower) before the WLS HD2 signal kept cutting in and out, so over to WLS AM I went.
I've been tempted to just turn HD off myself, but I leave it on for a couple reasons:
* my car's navigation system shows traffic info -- delivered by HD radio. If I turn off HD, no traffic data.
* I do enjoy WMMM HD2 here in Madison.
And I'm a radio nerd that likes to see what's on the HD stations. But I can certainly see why others who don't geek out about radio would just turn it off and avoid the annoyances.
All HD's from 1 to 3 are in a single "stream" which can be just used for HD-1 (with maximum quality) or sliced however the station wants to create 2 or 3 HD channels. If you add channel 2, you take some bandwidth from 1, but you can divide half and half, or have the second channel only take a smaller part of the full bandwidth. The same goes for a third channel, which takes a bit more from #1 and #2.
I've never noticed a great quality improvement in the HD-1 over the analog signal. It may be that the HD stream is processed the same as the analog stream, sdo it would sound about the same. It also may be that the HD stream shows more of the flaws in the audio stream.
I did, however, enjoy "The Breeze" and was sorry to see it go. The HD channels do help some AMs with limited coverage improve their coverage. Over all, I think one of radio's financial problems are there are just too many stations (plus other advertising platforms) to divide the advertising pie.
I did, however, enjoy "The Breeze" and was sorry to see it go. The HD channels do help some AMs with limited coverage improve their coverage. Over all, I think one of radio's financial problems are there are just too many stations (plus other advertising platforms) to divide the advertising pie.
In Orlando....
WRUM-HD1 Rumba 100.3 (IHM)
WRUM-HD2 is relaying Mega 97.1 "Musica con calle" (music with street?) LPFM
WRUM-HD3 relays Accion 97.9 LPFM and also 810 AM - Spanish news/talk
WOCL-HD1 Sunny FM (Audacy)
WOCL-HD3 (Deland) relays OK93.5 FM - Spanish/Mexican format....
kw - MLB
WRUM-HD1 Rumba 100.3 (IHM)
WRUM-HD2 is relaying Mega 97.1 "Musica con calle" (music with street?) LPFM
WRUM-HD3 relays Accion 97.9 LPFM and also 810 AM - Spanish news/talk
WOCL-HD1 Sunny FM (Audacy)
WOCL-HD3 (Deland) relays OK93.5 FM - Spanish/Mexican format....
kw - MLB
In Hartford, translators are being used by small-time operator Red Wolf to bring a Spanish-language musical format to a market that hasn't had a full-signal non-English station for over 30 years. (Not going to attempt to identify that format because I know I'll be wrong and you'll correct me. Radio-Online calls it "Spanish Tropical," but I have a feeling that's a gringo-generated misnomer.)
iHeart has been doing this for awhile. Few theories as to why but I’m guessing money was a big factor. Each sub channel costs money to turn on. They have to pay to run them, regardless of content. Also their new studio setup could be a reason as well. Many of them were on a Barix box relaying a webstream for the last decade. Some still are.
There was a time when HD subs could sound really decent. Good engineering can make it happen. Nowdays they generally do not sound all that great.
There was a time when HD subs could sound really decent. Good engineering can make it happen. Nowdays they generally do not sound all that great.
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As David mentioned, a lot depends on how many ancillary (HD2, 3, etc) are also being transmitted. Even the, the fact remains; HD1 channels have a much wider frequency response, lower THD and IMD, and far less signal to noise than FM analog.
Over the years I've heard similar comments from old timers who claim- 'I prefer analog over anything digital', including that music on AM stations sound better than MP3's or FM HD, and even CD's.
I submit from a technical standpoint, the opinions against anything digital boils down to a curmudgeon argument based on pure nostalgia, nothing else.
EMF has HD3 and HD4 in Chicago, both sound almost as good as the HD1. The HD2 is more compressed.
iHeart in Milwaukee, about a decade ago, same deal. HD subs sounded really good. Very wide. Almost FM quality. Engineer at the time knew his stuff about processing. No HD-2 anymore now.
It’s possible to have good sounding HD subs, but it’s rarer these days as both the stations and the few engineers they have (if any, there is a shortage) are less focused on it.
I can tell the millisecond my Toyota's HD tuner locks in and changes into HD1 mode
It is a subtle but noticeable change, especially on higher sound frequencies such as cymbal hits, everything is "brighter" for lack of a better word
The last thing iHeart was doing with their HD2s was simulcasting their national webstreams to supposedly save money. They simply put a Barix box in and played the stream on them. The streams would run a legal ID. Supposedly this was to save money on streaming costs by having them as a webstream for the station instead of as a standalone. Either the cost for streaming is now less than what it cost to operate those, or they're not anymore worried about it. Those are the ones that mostly went off the air. They replaced most of the locally programmed ones in around 2015.
The ones that are still on seem to be ones with translators, simulcasts of AMs, and some that they shifted programming to after flipping the main. Others are BIN and Pride Radio. Some of them are used to feed EMF translators
The ones that are still on seem to be ones with translators, simulcasts of AMs, and some that they shifted programming to after flipping the main. Others are BIN and Pride Radio. Some of them are used to feed EMF translators
The HD picture is similarly bleak up here in Market 217 in northern New England. NPR stations on Vermont Public's news network using HD2 to carry classical, stations on the classical network using it to carry news, no BBC or other specialty programming on HD. Commercially, only Great Eastern Radio uses HD at all, simulcasting its 94.5 simulcast of Boston's WEEI on the HD2 of CHR WGXL 92.3, and simulcasting its 97.5 "The Penguin" pop format (currently all-Christmas) on the HD2 of classic rock WHDQ 106.1.
Other players on the FM dial here don't bother with HD at all.
Other players on the FM dial here don't bother with HD at all.
In Memphis and Nashville EMF feeds Air 1 from HD2 on K-LOVE to translators. Also In Nashville WAY-FM has a translator that is being fed by their HD2.
EMF also has a deal with iHeart. iHeart gets to use some of their translators in some markets, while EMF gets to use some of iHeart's HD2 in others.
ok, in the Dallas-Fort Worth markets theses are the HD stations on the iHeart DFW cluster.
KZPS Lonestar 92.5:
none.
KEGL 97.1 The Freak:
HD2: Hard Rock, The Eagle.
KDGE Star 102.1:
HD2: Alternative, The Edge.
KDMX 102.9 Now:
none.
KHKS 106.1 Kiss FM:
HD2: Top 40/EDM, Pride Radio.
basically, iHeart already shut down HD2 for 92.5 and 102.9, possibly for Good, but 97.1's HD2 feed was shut down back in May when the Breeze was phased out nationwide by iHeart, but was reactivated to take the format getting displaced by the main channel when it flipped from Rock to Sports/Guy Talk. while 102.1 has had their current HD2 since 2016 when they did they same thing they did to KEGL recently to KDGE by moving alternative rocker The Edge to HD2 when they launched Star 102.1 then, and Pride Radio's been on KHKS HD2 since 2011.
KZPS Lonestar 92.5:
none.
KEGL 97.1 The Freak:
HD2: Hard Rock, The Eagle.
KDGE Star 102.1:
HD2: Alternative, The Edge.
KDMX 102.9 Now:
none.
KHKS 106.1 Kiss FM:
HD2: Top 40/EDM, Pride Radio.
basically, iHeart already shut down HD2 for 92.5 and 102.9, possibly for Good, but 97.1's HD2 feed was shut down back in May when the Breeze was phased out nationwide by iHeart, but was reactivated to take the format getting displaced by the main channel when it flipped from Rock to Sports/Guy Talk. while 102.1 has had their current HD2 since 2016 when they did they same thing they did to KEGL recently to KDGE by moving alternative rocker The Edge to HD2 when they launched Star 102.1 then, and Pride Radio's been on KHKS HD2 since 2011.
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