Monthly HD Check

[pocket-radio]

I visit the usual big box stores monthly to check if I’m able to hear HD programming from any radio on display. And as usual I heard nothing! HD requires a good external antenna and with the lack of interest from customers I guess the store managers don’t care.

HD Radio is dead. A few radio geeks have invested in the experimental technology but the general public has not.

Adults 35-54 grew up with analog radio and like the technology as is. For adults 12-34 radio is irrelevant. They don’t listen and don’t care about radio! They download music either paid or free from the internet to their ipod or other device. When I was kid radio was like the internet for new music.. It’s all we had! Then came MTV.. Today kids are typing on a keyboard by the ages of five and because of the internet their choices for new music are unlimited! The time for HD was 10 years ago!

Radio as we know is slowly dying.. The railroads thought they were in the train business..
And this is why everything is shipped by trucks and not rails. They missed the boat..
Radio thinks it’s in the radio business.. and not the entertainment business.. I’m afraid the world is moving forward without radio.. Radio is stuck in the past.. Prepare, changes are coming to radio. Expect more jobs to be lost.

 

[jras20]

KVET HD-2 sounds good on my HD-car unit.

 

[LinoNYC]

I visit the usual big box stores monthly to check if I’m able to hear HD programming from any radio on display. And as usual I heard nothing! HD requires a good external antenna and with the lack of interest from customers I guess the store managers don’t care.

HD Radio is dead. A few radio geeks have invested in the experimental technology but the general public has not.

Adults 35-54 grew up with analog radio and like the technology as is. For adults 12-34 radio is irrelevant. They don’t listen and don’t care about radio! They download music either paid or free from the internet to their ipod or other device. When I was kid radio was like the internet for new music.. It’s all we had! Then came MTV.. Today kids are typing on a keyboard by the ages of five and because of the internet their choices for new music are unlimited! The time for HD was 10 years ago!

Radio as we know is slowly dying.. The railroads thought they were in the train business..
And this is why everything is shipped by trucks and not rails. They missed the boat..
Radio thinks it’s in the radio business.. and not the entertainment business.. I’m afraid the world is moving forward without radio.. Radio is stuck in the past.. Prepare, changes are coming to radio. Expect more jobs to be lost.

I see you have graduated from haunting the comments section of Jerry One-note DelColliano's blog, to venting here.

HD requires a good external antenna and with the lack of interest from customers I guess the store managers don’t care.

In NYC both I receive all FM and 6 of 7 AM signals reliably using the cheap dipole and loop supplied. Lack of manager's interest... hell yeah! That pertains to all radios on display at my neighborhood Circuit City, Best Buy and P.C. Richard. No antennas nothing, all sets just taken out of the box, speakers connected, that's it!

The time for HD was 10 years ago!

That is truly a myopic, loser statement.

By that logic FM should have been forgotten since TV was going to kill radio anyway.

People like you either never learn, or conveniently ignore the lessons of history.

Since you seem to be following your leader, Jerry's assertion that "radio is dying" here's another wasted history lesson: When AM lost the youth market 30 years ago, it decided to play to what remained of it's audience. What followed was a succession of big band nostaligia, oldies and finally right-wing talk formats which sealed AM's image as an antique catering to angry old people.

Given the poor quality of AM receivers and other limitations, AM programming decisions were limited, FM is another matter, suggesting that radio ignore a technology that meaningfully improves fidelity and choice is just stupid.

FM iboc cleans up the serious multipath in major urban areas, and offers potentially greater format choice.

For adults 12-34 radio is irrelevant. They don’t listen and don’t care about radio!.....The time for HD was 10 years ago!

There is some limited truth to that. They don't buy CD's anymore either, so by that logic maybe we should just go back to records.

I just returned from 5 weeks at my apt in Bangkok, even in country with a per-capita income of approx $3400 US most kids have computers and many have Ipods or similar devices. Radio there, as here is still a major part of youth entertainment. Thailand like the rest of the world is slowly moving toward digitization of it's mass communications systems. They have chosen our system for FM.

HD Radio is dead. A few radio geeks have invested in the experimental technology but the general public has not

If you want to give this idiotic opinion at least preface it with the following: "This is one man's opinion and should be taken as such" -or similar

Lino

 

[Play Freebird]

There's no question that the industry outlook for HD radio is more pessimistic today than two years ago.

Around this time in 2006, I posted a comment in another broadcast blog about an article I saw in the entertainment section of my local paper. The writer had quoted a Clear Channel executive who claimed HD could offer much better quality than online streaming, so I questioned why this had to be the case. I mean -- if a 32k codec doesn't sound up to par, the Internet offers the option of 64, 96, 128, or an even higher bandwidth.

Someone from Clear Channel responded to my post, defending the company's support for HD radio and pooh-poohing the future of online streaming. He cited the usual worn-out objections: cost of bandwidth, licensing issues, latency, etc.

But the tide has turned. Clear Channel and other major groups have paid attention to audience research and now put much greater emphasis on streaming initiatives. Take, for example, yesterday's announcement of the Reciva deal:

http://www.clearchannel.com/Radio/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=2208

 

[kenglish]

So, is Reciva another license-supported service, so only the stations that pay get played?

I've considered buying some sort of "Internet Radio" receiver, but wondered if it gets ALL stations or just certain ones. I really don't want to be locked-in wih another Cable TV-like or DBS-like "gatekeeper".

 

[pocket-radio]

Where do you buy your Kool-Aid? I like Wal-Mart it’s 10 for a buck!
You must work for iBiquity. Do you like dropouts or listening to your receiver switching between HD and analog.

I personally like the internet for music and can’t wait for cheap wireless internet access in my car. Till then I’ll keep loading up my Ipod. There’s not much worth listening to on radio anyway.

 

[Play Freebird]

So, is Reciva another license-supported service, so only the stations that pay get played?

I've considered buying some sort of "Internet Radio" receiver, but wondered if it gets ALL stations or just certain ones. I really don't want to be locked-in wih another Cable TV-like or DBS-like "gatekeeper".

I have the Roku Soundbridge, so I'm not all that familar with Reciva. However, my understanding is that any webcaster can submit their stream info for inclusion on the Reciva server. Here is the form where that information is provided:

https://www.reciva.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=71

The Clear Channel press release apparently signifies that an agreement has been reached guaranteeing inclusion of CC streams, but I hope this does not exclude their competitors from having access.

 

[R.F. Burns]

Where do you buy your Kool-Aid? I like Wal-Mart it’s 10 for a buck!
You must work for iBiquity. Do you like dropouts or listening to your receiver switching between HD and analog.

I personally like the internet for music and can’t wait for cheap wireless internet access in my car. Till then I’ll keep loading up my Ipod. There’s not much worth listening to on radio anyway.

If that's the case why do you bother posting on a radio board? Why not hang out on an I-Pod board instead?

 

[Chuck]

So, is Reciva another license-supported service, so only the stations that pay get played?

I've considered buying some sort of "Internet Radio" receiver, but wondered if it gets ALL stations or just certain ones. I really don't want to be locked-in wih another Cable TV-like or DBS-like "gatekeeper".

No, Reciva will list any radio station that makes the attempt to contact them. They do check it out to see if it is "for real" first, but other than that it is an open access product. Even my station is listed. We have quite a few regular listeners who use the Reciva portal, usually on a dedicated Internet radio. Or so they tell me.

If you buy a Sangean Internet radio, or several others, they use Reciva's software to keep the menu of stations up to date. It is easy to find a station using one of these radios, since you can sort by genre or location. To find my station, the easy way is to sort by region. Select: "The Americas." Then you see a menu on your radio that gives you a choice by format or by alphabetically. Choose “Alphabetically.” We're near the end of the "K" list. Select the station and it will start playing. It's pretty simple.

 

[pocket-radio]

The digital footprint, or signal coverage, is indeed smaller than the analogue one.
And between the high prices and homogenized content is it really worth the high price to hear just 6 or 7 HD stations in New York? With the loss of HD signal you’ll experience drop outs or your radio will be switching between HD and analog. The technology has a long way to go before it’s ready for prime time. Wait until units become standard on Honda Civic in 2015. This is almost like Am stereo all over again something listeners never asked for. And they never asked for HD.
Radio is under attack from every competitive corner and HD doesn't have 10 years to evolve.

For the people who still listen to radio the problem isn’t the sound, it’s the content. The greed mongers have cut radio to the bone and with the trend towards more voice tracking and cyber-jocks it’s not going to get better any time soon. More jobs will be lost. If HD is radio's future then the industry must step up to the plate 100%. So far Clear Channel has... and with the sale pending I'm not sure the new owners will continue.

 

[CLERadioFM]

Where do you buy your Kool-Aid? I like Wal-Mart it’s 10 for a buck!
You must work for iBiquity. Do you like dropouts or listening to your receiver switching between HD and analog.

I personally like the internet for music and can’t wait for cheap wireless internet access in my car. Till then I’ll keep loading up my Ipod. There’s not much worth listening to on radio anyway.

Wirless internet access in your car is availible now?

 

[pocket-radio]

Do you know the auto makers are planning on making internet access standard. Like Am/FM. The wireless guys are still building out their networks. It’s available in some markets and some day wireless internet access will be everyplace. As the technology advances and more players come into the marketplace prices will go down. And the same thing goes for the cell phone. That box that we all carry hinged to our hip will do more and more. Bandwidth will increase, storage and battery life will also increase. And more competition will drives prices down. And it’s already taking place. Cell phone companies are moving towards flat rate plans. Microcrap will be everyplace, even in your dam iron.

This is what Clear Channel said in print as they launched their now “failed” less is more campaign. The mass market is vanishing! In 1960 American’s were exposed to 560 commercials a day. Today it’s an average of 3,000 marketing messages per day. The Mass media is dead, as consumers “listeners” insist on being treated as individuals with unique needs and preferences.

Less is more failed. And Clear Channel knew the gig was up about 10 years ago.
That’s why they’re selling the remains of their radio company to an investment group (suckers) who don’t know what they don’t know. They plan on selling the billboard division of Clear Channel the real money maker for the company. Sounds like the pieces are worth more than actually running a radio company???

 

[BRNout]

Wirless internet access in your car is availible now?

Through an account with a provider like Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T - yes.

There are wi-fi networks that we have on PCs and there are wide area wi-fi networks that are processed through cell phone networks. Those require a different wireless frequency and different antenna for your PC. Many internet radios now have that technology built in, you just need to sign up for an account (about $45-50 per month).

 

[SUPERCASTER]

So, is Reciva another license-supported service, so only the stations that pay get played?

I've considered buying some sort of "Internet Radio" receiver, but wondered if it gets ALL stations or just certain ones. I really don't want to be locked-in wih another Cable TV-like or DBS-like "gatekeeper".

Wrong. The stations listed on Recieva have been listed for free. Anyone with a station stream, or that wants a station listed can apply for a listing just by requesting it.

https://www.reciva.com/index.php?option=com_addstation

Some internet radio's allow input of a stations streaming URL directly, through a networked computer, or by requesting that the station be listed, free, on a streaming aggregator's website.

The Sangean WFR-20 is more reliable, requires no external or rooftop antennas, offers many more program choices, and bitrate for bitrate sounds much better then the Sangean HD radios.

If you are here, you probably already have an internet radio connection, so after you buy the internet radio listening is free, and there are thousands of commercial free, worldwide formats and stations (including HD stations, and now even Clear Channel group owned stations) to choose.

http://www.sangean.com/category.php?category_ID=12

http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=WFR-20&prod_id=42

http://www.sangean.com/downloads/flyers/WFR-20.pdf

http://www.sangean.com/downloads/manuals/WFR-20_MAN.pdf

 

[Chuck]

I have one of the Sangean WFR-20's sitting in my office. It is very simple to use. It even locates the network for you. I took it to a local trade show at a convention center recently. If found someone's network and logged in with no intervention on my part other than plugging it in to an electrical outlet. I was impressed. Sangean uses the Reciva database for their menu display. Even my station is on it.

Recently on a trip to Ireland, I found the same radio in stores under the "Roberts" brand name (remember the tape recorders?). It worked fine there as well. Interestingly, the WFR-20 uses the same cabinet design and speakers as the Sangean HD table radio. I don’t know about the HD version, but the Wi-Fi version seems to be selling.

I'd hazard a guess that right now, a lot of Internet stations have quite a few more listeners than 80-90% (maybe more) of any HD-2 or HD-3 stations. That could change, but Internet radio seems to be growing, despite the efforts of the music industry to kill it.