"Is HD Radio Toast?"

[clouseau]

All you can do is to slam FMQB and the author of the article, Richard Harker? Please make an attempt to counter any of his points. Do you have any? Putting down the opposition and making personal attacks is a sure sign that a person has lost the arguement. A crystal clear sign!

Ok. Like a mindless dweeb I again take your bait - Waste an hour of my day when I should be doing other things and address the 77th request for "Why doesn't anyone ever answer these guys. Here we go. this is quick and dirty, but he is quoted and I respond.

Apple took 74 days to sell one million iPhones. Despite mixed reviews, numerous glitches, a long-term service agreement, and a $600 initial price tag, they managed to move nearly 700,000 the first weekend. Nielsen BuzzMetrics reported that in the month following Apple’s iPhone announcement, Apple’s official web site had 1.79+ million unique visitors. The keyword “iPhone” was searched 870,000 times that month.

Dirtly Little secret time. The HD Alliance HASN'T spent 1/100th of the amount of money that was spent on the I-Phone in advertising. HD ads on radio are free. (I'll bet you knew that.) IF HD radio was in every other break on virtually every TV channel for 3 weeks prior to it's launch, I think honestly you'd have to admit it would have started out quicker.

In March 1997, the DVD was launched. The first year, 350,000 DVD players were sold. Despite the current format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD, something like 300,000 players were sold its first year, not counting the gaming consoles that can play Blu-Ray DVDs.

The DVD was a vastly superior technology to VHS. DVD hadn't been out for any time at all before it became obvious VHS was the 8 Track of the day. Meanwhile we continue to assure people (Correctly) that their existing radio will work forever. While radio would LIKE to have HD blow up, It won't. Steady Growth through marketing and availability? - Yes. IPHONE sexy explosion? - NO.

In the last quarter, XM added 338,000 net subscribers to bring their total subscribers to 8.25 million. In the same period, Sirius added 561,500 net subscribers to bring their total to a little over 7 million. That means there are over 15 million satellite subscribers and something like 10 million radios sold.

I don't understand how there at 10 million radios and 15 million subs, but whatever. If you're comparing the XM/Sirius business model to the Analog Digital FM model, I think I'll put my money of the FM thanks. Last I checked... as an industry AM/FM broadcasting was a profitable industry and basically paid it's own way. Satellite need to merge to survive. (Their paraphrased idea).

Radio reaches 93% of Americans every week and is one of the most effective marketing tools available to advertisers, yet we haven’t been able to sell in three years as many HD radios as Apple sold iPhones in a single weekend. That alone should alarm us.

This is only an issue if your definition of sales success is "Sexy Iphone sales". A steady growth with more and more inclusion in REGULAR RADIOS will position radio where it need to go in the future. Notice I-Phone did not advertise on radio AFAIK. I don't know this for a fact, but I never heard one. Different kind of device.

And what about the buzz surrounding HD Radio? According to Nielsen, the iPhone continues to show up in about 1% of blogs. HD Radio averages less than 0.01% of blogs. And it gets worse. The majority of the posts regarding HD Radio are in the context of posts about satellite radio. There’s considerable confusion between the two, so even when bloggers write about HD Radio, they are often actually referring to satellite radio.

Same point again. Radio isn't really sexy. Hasn't been in a while. As radios get replaced, HD penetration will expand. Most people arent' "Blogging" about radio. It's their swanky " I can get the entire internet on this 2x2 inch screen anywhere I go and it enlarges to zoom in and it's pretty slow and it uses AT&T who has lousy service here, but isn't it great?" they're posting about. In MY world, the enthusiam for this product is diminishing. Especialy from those who have one. Internet junkies have gone back to carrying their laptops.

In New York City, the #1 market in the country, there are 25 stations broadcasting 42 HD channels. You’ll find CHR, AC, Classic Rock, Hip-Hop, News, Talk, and Sports. In other words, everything you can find on the regular FM dial. There are a few variations like Classic Rock Deep Cuts, but in a world with over a hundred channels of music on satellite radio and tens of thousands of channels of music on the Internet, Gotham City’s HD offerings look pretty weak. And that’s in the #1 market.

This is the kind of argument that just drives me nuts. In a world with hundreds of channels, New Yorks HD offerings look pretty weak. So I guess his solution is to eliminate them? I have never understood this "There's nothing on HD-2 anyway. Who needs it." Just incredibly silly. Just like FM of old, content of HD-2-3-4 will improve over time.

In Great Britain, two million digital radios were sold in 2006 alone. It is estimated that 14% of British households have a digital radio. In Europe there are nearly a thousand radio models available compared to less than two dozen in the US. Defenders might grasp at this apparent success of digital radio in Europe as proof that over time Americans will embrace HD Radio, but Europeans have no satellite radio and fewer commercial radio stations. Success in Europe is not indicative that success is around the corner in the U.S.

So "THIS" HD detractor claims digital radio DOES work in England, but that doesn't mean it will work here. Two plus years we've heard the incessant drumbeat of DIDGITAL DOESN'T WORK in England or Canada, it won't work here. Pick a story and go with it for Pete's sake. In fairness, Digital radio "IS" working in England. It's not super speedy but it is working. As penetration increases here, there is no reason to expect any different results.

Maybe the declines in listening levels are not just a result of growing competition. Maybe listeners are abandoning radio because the product isn’t as innovative and isn’t as good as it used to be.

I love it when consultants say this. If there was a magic answer to increase radio listenership, radio would do it. THIS GUY would do it. He's a consultant for Pete's Sake. He get's PAID to do it. If he had the answer, he'd be selling it for Jillions and have people lined up to get him to consult THEIR station. It's easy to sit around and write what is "WRONG" with radio. Ultimately though, radio programming is decided by listeners with their feet. And Tuning knobs. If deeper playlists and more creativity got better numbers we'd have it. It doesn't. We Don't. Now more CHOICES? That will make a difference by increasing the size of the pie.

And I didn't even get a consulting fee.

Clouseau

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

In all likelihood, it's far too late to do anything about IBOC FM, so it appears to be here to stay, notwithstanding the relatively minor technical flaws some here have nit-picked over.

IBOC AM, on the other hand? The laws of physics have spoken rather loudly on that one. It just doesn't seem to work well enough to be worth the bother.

It might already be too late to slow down AM's slide into "shortwave-dom".

Anyone here check the Buffalo board lately? Seems one of the more prominent Christian Churches / Ministries is possibly looking to buy 1520 WKBW, along with some other big AM's around the country.

And so the snowball keps rolling......

 

[Bob Young]

The beginning of the end was when the big conglomerates like clear channel and the three or four other big boys bought all the stations up and put the same boring redundant krap on every one. Now iBlock will be the last nail in the coffin.
Radio: bland bland bland. Digital!!!! is not going to help a thing no matter how much money the iBlock alliance spends mainly because no one is buying into it, consumers or broadcasters except for people who are making money from it and people are starting to realize that it is just one big jamming machine on AM and is just about useless on FM unless you live across the street from a transmitter. The great panacea has turned out to be the great scourge. When will they let it die in peace? Do the bands have to completely die before the huge companies will pry their choking hands off the necks of the FM and AM bands?

 

[Radioman100]

All you can do is to slam FMQB and the author of the article, Richard Harker? Please make an attempt to counter any of his points. Do you have any? Putting down the opposition and making personal attacks is a sure sign that a person has lost the arguement. A crystal clear sign!

Why bother countering him? He didn't say anything original. He merely regurgitated the same lame stuff that Mark Ramsey has already written and many have already countered.

As for FMQB, that party is over. I used to be a regular reader of their irreverent humor and enjoyed their CD airchecks. I found a recent one at work in a pile of magazines in the jock lounge. It was really thin, maybe 20 pages. It's not really their fault, that magazine was directly tied to the fortunes of the recording industry. The ads were paid for by the record labels and so were the subscriptions. Obviously, the labels can't afford to float that boat any longer.

 

[hipporadio]

I second Hippo's sentiments except for the "sorry" part. I don't feel one iota of sorrow for corporate radio management over the deIBOCle.

THANKS BOB, and touché on your eloquent post! I fondly-remember listening to Jackson Armstrong on P-burgh’s 13-Q NIGHTLY in my high-school quarters on a Realistic STA-65B. You were a FORMER-PD for that icon at 1320—did you hire him? I could actually invasion a scenario where I would purchase an HD Radio to hear him on a lowly HD-3 channel! Therein lies the problem—these “stations between the stations” OFFER LITTLE... Unless you’re “Mike” from Wilkes County North Carolina and celebrate a second NPR feed - all 11 in same county :

It is clear—corporate radio “invented a problem” that DIDN’T EXIST... They conspired [within their OWN narrow self-interest] to “create” a digital delivery method that ONLY accomplished their own goals AND finessed the FCC into an “exclusivity” contract... NOW, poor “John Q” is expected to beta-delta-gamma-test this defective and destructive technology AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE with little programming inducement.

It’s NOT “genius” to predict the FAILURE of this “rook”!

 

[Radioman100]

You've never heard of Richard Harker? Reminds me of when I was starting in this biz, where my 17 and 18 year old colleagues were making fun of Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald because they'd never "heard of" those "dinosaur" artists and they wanted to play immortals like Strawberry Alarm Clock and Balloon Farm.

Just because you've never heard of Richard Harker doesn't mean he's irrelevant.

And he's sort-sighted because he doesn't clasp HD to his chest with bands of steel, right? He's not just "wrong about HD Radio?" He's "incredibly short sighted" and "has no vision for the future?" In EVERYTHING he does or says, right?

So all consultants who harbor doubts about HD Radio are "myopic" but presumably a consultant who endorses playing a Strauss waltz every hour on the half and a Sousa march every hour on the hour, would be "okey-dokey with Radioman" as long as he/she advocated doing it in sparkling HD.

And as far as HD-FM "providing more programming" via subchannels, last I checked - that capacity is there, right now, today, irrespective of the presence of consultants, good, bad, old, or twerpy. And if additional channels represent the competitive opportunity HD advocates claim, once again it must be observed that corporate radio is screwing it up. A lot of additional HD-FM channels are widely panned as being more computer-delivered canned crap (with some exceptions) and with audio quality, in many cases, leaving a lot to be desired.

And it has to be pointed out once again how industry professionals over the age of approximately 25 are abused on this board solely because of their age. Another poster last week got tossed from the HD board for publicly ridiculing Watt Hairston, Jerry Arnold and yours truly because we happen to be in our late 50s.
To my mind there is no difference between this and putting someone down because of their sex or ethnicity. It lacks class and certainly hampers civil discourse or debate, and is not unlike calling some consultant you've never met names, because he disagrees with you about HD Radio.

There are plenty of older consultants that are still relevant and get press for their CURRENT successes. Jerry Clifton immediately comes to mind, as does Mike McVay, though Mike probably wouldn't appreciate being labeled "older." According to All Access, he has a new grandchild but refuses to be called "grandpa." There's also Randy Lane and Jaye Albright (who coincidentally helped develop the HD Radio Playbook.) These are successful consultants.

After visiting Harker's website, it seems to me that he's trying to do Mark Ramsey - badly.

There's also absolutely nothing productive about and nothing to be gained by writing an unoriginal article lamenting HD Radio. HD is here whether he likes it or not. If I were looking to hire a consultancy, I'd be much more apt to hire one that I think can help me with my HD efforts, not hinder them. Like it or not, radio today is corporate, and the corporations have deployed HD in a significant way in the top 100 markets. Articles like this one only alienate Mr. Harker to his potential clients.

I've seen Clifton work ratings miracles with some very signal challenged facilities. That's the kind of guy I would want on my team, not someone conceding defeat before the battle even begins.

 

[Radioman100]

It is clear—corporate radio “invented a problem” that DIDN’T EXIST... They conspired [within their OWN narrow self-interest] to “create” a digital delivery method that ONLY accomplished their own goals AND finessed the FCC into an “exclusivity” contract... NOW, poor “John Q” is expected to beta-delta-gamma-test this defective and destructive technology AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE with little programming inducement.

I love you guys. I really, really do!

First, you tell us all how thousands of internet stations are going to slaughter radio, then you tell us that there's no need for additional channels? Priceless!

 

[Savage]

Hey, you know what's "priceless??" CERTAIN POSTS today! Thank you so much for the entertainment!

Call me Kreskin, but somehow I just KNEW - you'd come up with a list of "relevant" and "successful" consultants, e.g., ones who agree with your views on HD Radio, to counter your disparagement of Richard Harker (who as we all know committed the unpardonable sin of criticizing IBOC publicly. This of course renders him antique, myopic, obstructive, ad infinitum....) So the litmus test among pro-IBOCers in determination of one's professional ability and integrity depends entirely upon: do they support HD, or do they NOT support HD? That's illogical. No: that's delusional.

"Let's explore as the poster deplores" Mr. Harker's writing an "unoriginal article lamenting HD radio." I can't determine whether your complaint is an allegation that he plagiarized his material or you're just dismissing him because he doesn't endorse IBOC. Are we to assume that if his material "lamenting HD radio" were "more original" you'd agree with him? Oh, wait - our researcher reports in, and I have it right here: you'd hire only consultants "who can help you with your HD efforts." So I guess that's the answer to THAT. (Who would have guessed??)

Hipporadio, I didn't hire Jackson Armstrong at 13Q, but I did hire Jim Quinn for mornings. And I'm pleased to say that he will be my morning guy once again, 30 years later, effective tomorrow morning, as WYSL begins to air The War Room with Quinn and Rose weekdays 6-9am. In 10 kHz wide analog NRSC-compliant AM. On a signal that doesn't sound like every announcer has stuffed his sinuses with Chinese-import Walmart toilet paper, and with shortwave-style HD-derived whine or hiss mucking up the noise floor.

 

[Radioman100]

Hey, you know what's "priceless??" CERTAIN POSTS today! Thank you so much for the entertainment!

Call me Kreskin, but somehow I just KNEW - you'd come up with a list of "relevant" and "successful" consultants, e.g., ones who agree with your views on HD Radio, to counter your disparagement of Richard Harker (who as we all know committed the unpardonable sin of criticizing IBOC publicly. This of course renders him antique, myopic, obstructive, ad infinitum....) So the litmus test among pro-IBOCers in determination of one's professional ability and integrity depends entirely upon: do they support HD, or do they NOT support HD? That's illogical. No: that's delusional.

"Let's explore as the poster deplores" Mr. Harker's writing an "unoriginal article lamenting HD radio." I can't determine whether your complaint is an allegation that he plagiarized his material or you're just dismissing him because he doesn't endorse IBOC. Are we to assume that if his material "lamenting HD radio" were "more original" you'd agree with him? Oh, wait - our researcher reports in, and I have it right here: you'd hire only consultants "who can help you with your HD efforts." So I guess that's the answer to THAT. (Who would have guessed??)

Don't hurt yourself while jumping to conclusions Savage!

Other than Jaye Albright, I have no idea how the other consultants I listed view HD Radio. If they don't particularly care for it, they're smart enough to keep their mouths shut. More than likely though, they're just taking the rational position which at this point is WAIT AND SEE. Maybe a few of them are students of history. FM wasn't an overnight success either. People just didn't see the need. Has a familiar ring doesn't it?

HD Radio is just a delivery mechanism for more programming. Programming they can help create.

As for Harker, he didn't say ANYTHING original in that article. Mark Ramsey has said it all before. I'm not saying Ramsey is right. I'm just saying Harker is unoriginal.

Hipporadio, I didn't hire Jackson Armstrong at 13Q, but I did hire Jim Quinn for mornings. And I'm pleased to say that he will be my morning guy once again, 30 years later, effective tomorrow morning, as WYSL begins to air The War Room with Quinn and Rose weekdays 6-9am. In 10 kHz wide analog NRSC-compliant AM. On a signal that doesn't sound like every announcer has stuffed his sinuses with Chinese-import Walmart toilet paper, and with shortwave-style HD-derived whine or hiss mucking up the noise floor.

That's awesome. Keep it up man, and maybe, just maybe WYSL will show up in the Arb again. Did anyone else notice WYSL didn't even show this time around?

Here's a thought Bob... Maybe you should spend more time worrying about your station and less time worrying about HD Radio.

 

[hipporadio]

Touché for the second time today, Bob! I’m sure Mr. Quinn will be a great addition—even in stunning 10kHz NRSC-compliant ANALOG audio... Once you get your out-of-county ARBs up, certain apologists for corporate [and HD] radio here MIGHT knock-off their characteristic resume-comparison and professional-minimalization game; stop dropping the names of HD-friendly consultants to save-them from themselves; and conjure a post that is less “priceless” and dependent on personal invective. Remember, most only-use that tact when they have NO cogent point to make!

I have no earthly-idea WHO is plagiarizing WHO in your little radio universe... I’m just a small-time Tivoli-owning man living near the Citadel—addicted to a certain “minimal” AM station [that “the other” Citadel doesn’t own]—but DARES to play music for a living – in a market with NO local HD AM “service”... OH MY—talk about “minimal” ;D Tomorrow, I’ll go into work and read about a dozen mistakes within the Consumer Electronics biz—ALL probably featuring HD Radio in their feature set. Wait-a-sec... I’m WRONG [again]... I can’t recall A DOZEN with that fraternity-affiliation that have even-bothered with HD!

I’m just “a radio listener”—MORE than just “sometimes”... Can you imagine that?

 

[bossbill]

I seem to remember the FCC requiring that all car radios be AM/FM. If not for that, how much longer would it have taken for FM to succeed?

 

[Radioman100]

Touché for the second time today, Bob! I’m sure Mr. Quinn will be a great addition—even in stunning 10kHz NRSC-compliant ANALOG audio... Once you get your out-of-county ARBs up, certain apologists for corporate [and HD] radio here MIGHT knock-off their characteristic resume-comparison and professional-minimalization game; stop dropping the names of HD-friendly consultants to save-them from themselves; and conjure a post that is less “priceless” and dependent on personal invective. Remember, most only-use that tact when they have NO cogent point to make!

And I suppose statements like this one are supposed to make you appear more cogent? Hardly.

Savage has publicly and vocally smeared HD Radio, both here and on his anti-IBOC and station websites. That opens him up to some public scrutiny. He smears anyone having anything to with HD Radio. I don't know about you, but I don't appreciate being called incompetent, myopic, greedy, geeky, dorky, dishonest or any of the other labels Bob applies to HD Radio and its supporters on his website. Hurling 3rd grade level insults is not the way you make a cogent argument.

So I ask people consider the source. The source of all this vitriol is the operator of a station that doesn't even show up in the Arb.

 

[hipporadio]

GOOD FOR BOB SAVAGE... Someone needs to put on a pair of gloves ‘n “do the dirty-work”...’Like telling the TRUTH for a change!

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

GOOD FOR BOB SAVAGE... Someone needs to put on a pair of gloves ‘n “do the dirty-work”...’Like telling the TRUTH for a change!

If Mr. Savage seems just a bit bitter and more than a little angry......Maybe...just maybe it's because each evening, his property is trespassed (and being de-valued) by his neighbor on the dial, that being CBS owned WBZ, broadcasting in glorious and trespassing HD.

If money were being taken out of your pocket, you would be angry too.

 

[Radioman100]

If Mr. Savage seems just a bit bitter and more than a little angry......Maybe...just maybe it's because each evening, his property is trespassed (and being de-valued) by his neighbor on the dial, that being CBS owned WBZ, broadcasting in glorious and trespassing HD.

If money were being taken out of your pocket, you would be angry too.

If a tree falls in the forest and there's nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? Cliché, but it applies.

Regardless, Bob's websites tell a story that only a very few people care about with all the candor of a grade school yard. Yup. His sites sound bitter and angry and totally miss the mark if the goal is getting people to care.

On the other hand, if his goal is getting HD FM supporters that could really care less about HD AM to wish him ill will in his sitiuation, they're right on the mark. The more I hear from Mr. Savage, the more I hope HD AM proliferates. Previously, I really didn't care.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

His sites sound bitter and angry and totally miss the mark if the goal is getting people to care.

On the other hand, if his goal is getting HD FM supporters that could really care less about HD AM to wish him ill will in his sitiuation, they're right on the mark. The more I hear from Mr. Savage, the more I hope HD AM proliferates. Previously, I really didn't care.

Well......so much for the kinder, gentler face of the pro-IBOC side of the discussion.

 

[Radioman100]

Well......so much for the kinder, gentler face of the pro-IBOC side of the discussion.

Well, we're human after all. You can only be insulted so much without taking it personally.

I work in corporate radio. Corporate radio pays me well, and I genuinely enjoy what I do. Am I thrilled with everything that's happened in the industry since '96? Of course not. The devaluation of programming talent is an appalling look into supply and demand.

That said, if you want to play at the highest levels in this game, you're going to be working for a large radio corporation. Are there exceptions? A few, but they're few and far between, and as we're seeing with the former Jefferson-Pilot stations (Lincoln Financial Media) right now, nobody is immune to a buyout by one of the big radio companies.

I work in corporate radio. I take pride and ownership in my work. I am the face of corporate radio, and until I decide to buy a little AM in Nowheresville (not likely) I'll continue to work in corporate radio.

Do you see why people might be insulted and turned off by Savage's comments?

 

[Tom Wells]

Well......so much for the kinder, gentler face of the pro-IBOC side of the discussion.

Well, we're human after all. You can only be insulted so much without taking it personally.

I work in corporate radio. Corporate radio pays me well, and I genuinely enjoy what I do.

Do you see why people might be insulted and turned off by Savage's comments?

Is it perhaps because it causes them to be aware of the fundamentally selfish premise of iBOC AM?

Is it because you begrudge his right to have a clean signal?

Talk about taking personally, what does WBZ have against me?
Why must WTAM 1100 throw hash into WNWI, etc?
Those turned off by his comments are struggling with conscience, I'll bet.

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

I'm willing to admit right here in front of God and everybody that my sympathies usually tend to side with underdogs. In this discussion, I suppose that would be the small operators, the mom & pop stations and other assorted stand-alones out there, especially those that have to try to make a living on the AM band, otherwise known as audio broadcasting's old, tired, and rather haggard looking mother.

I have no problem with the pro-IBOC-ers as individuals. They have every right to make a living, and every right to thier own opinion as to how well the technical system works (or doesn't), and how successful it's been (or has not been).

My fundamental problem with IBOC is that it seems to be of the most benefit to those in broadcasting who already have a huge slice of the pie, while it offers little or nothing to those not in broadcasting's "front row".

All the evidence indicates that FM IBOC works "well enough", with relatively little technical trespassing to its neighbors, (though that could change if the injection levels are raised high enough).

It's AM that's getting left behind in this whole thing, and the IBOC AM system just doesn't work well enough to be of any significant value.

Something has to be done to slow down AM's slide into what I've called "shortwave-dom"......This is not meant as a put-down to the band, but it's really easy to see where things are heading. "Brother Stair" and his ministry of non-stop begging popping up on major city 50KW AMers......Joel Osteen's ministry shopping around for big AM stations around the country......Companies like Beasley that are making their living by using thier broadcast properties as vanity billboards.

It's just that AM IBOC is (just MY opinion) not the answer. It's gonna have to be something else.

 

[LinoNYC]

It is clear—corporate radio “invented a problem” that DIDN’T EXIST... They conspired [within their OWN narrow self-interest] to “create” a digital delivery method that ONLY accomplished their own goals AND finessed the FCC into an “exclusivity” contract... NOW, poor “John Q” is expected to beta-delta-gamma-test this defective and destructive technology AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE with little programming inducement.

I love you guys. I really, really do!

First, you tell us all how thousands of internet stations are going to slaughter radio, then you tell us that there's no need for additional channels? Priceless!

It's too bad, what has happened to this board. A certain few individuals have turned it into their personal frustration outlet. They wanted a rude shooting gallery, they'll get it.

Anyone with a view of the larger picture can not help sensing the irony of some comments here, perticularly with regard to the state of AM.

I would've been happier if an analog receiver-based system such as AMax or Symphony had helped, but as I see it, only a system that includes FM has a chance of selling.

AM radio does not have another viable decade ahead, it's not picking up any young listeners, the current medians are all over 50 and as the oldest ones head for retirement areas or die-off, that's "it".

People such as that character up in northern New York rail about interference to his night power of 500watts, while the station caters to probably no more than a few hundred listeners -none of whom ever seem to get ARB diaries. Fine, maybe iboc will fail, but it won't change what is going to happen in that situation, nothing will.

The damn religion and other hucksters are gradually doing to AM what they've done to shortwave, and people here are worried about DX'ing.

Lino