NIXED IN NASHVILLE: EXECS FAULT FLAILING, FAILING HD RADIO

[Savage]

http://www.radio-info.com/newsletter/html/sc-06162011.html

SONY Music Nashville Veep Skip Bishop: "HD is a train wreck." He asked attendees at the conference to stand up if they owned an HD Radio. One person did, explaining it was part of the radio in his new car.

Cumulus VP Jan Jeffries: "HD Radio is definitely on the back burner with us."

Now the HD flat-earthers are blaming the systems disastrous failure on PPM. : Of course. It COULDN'T have anything to do with the fact HD doesn't work half the time. Or the interference....

 

[JohnnyElectron]

What I don't understand is why our local Cumulus group paid for the hardware, paid the damn license fee, and their 50KW station does NOT run HD at all? They don't even run RDS, the cheap bastards. AND, it's the number one rated station in town for the past 14 years straight - so why NOT run RDS, and run HD radio, especially after paying for all the hardware?
They are also screwing up the "official HD radio count" as they have 2 FM's with the HD out of commission.

 

[DaveBayArea]

AND, it's the number one rated station in town for the past 14 years straight - so why NOT run RDS, and run HD radio, especially after paying for all the hardware?

There is incremental cost associated with running HD radio. Power bill, additional programming costs if you have an HD-2, and extra attention to be paid for keeping the delay in sync, etc. The cost-per-listener for HD transmissions is probably the highest of any possible transmission medium, even without amortizing equipment costs.

Dave B.

 

[nd2023]

Since I sometimes feel like I am the only listener of a station broadcasting in HD, its HD2 should play only music that I like since they're spending all that money so that I can hear it in HD.

 

[kenglish]

Since I sometimes feel like I am the only listener of a station broadcasting in HD, its HD2 should play only music that I like since they're spending all that money so that I can hear it in HD.

Sounds like you could volunteer to be PD of an HD2. Might even get them a few more listeners. ;D

 

[Manic_Monkey]

Since I sometimes feel like I am the only listener of a station broadcasting in HD, its HD2 should play only music that I like since they're spending all that money so that I can hear it in HD.

Sounds like you could volunteer to be PD of an HD2. Might even get them a few more listeners. ;D

Why even bother? The only HD station I like listening to just admitted their parent company only counts people who are listening on the internet stream in terms of ratings. That just pretty much admitted HD radio is pointless.

Also I apologize for what is probably a pointless and stupid question but there are some stations near me that just broadcast in HD with no HD 2 stations. If one had the money to cover costs would it be possible to just go "Hey here is the money I'd like to start an HD 2 station on your signal." ?

 

[nd2023]

Since I sometimes feel like I am the only listener of a station broadcasting in HD, its HD2 should play only music that I like since they're spending all that money so that I can hear it in HD.

Sounds like you could volunteer to be PD of an HD2. Might even get them a few more listeners. ;D

Why even bother? The only HD station I like listening to just admitted their parent company only counts people who are listening on the internet stream in terms of ratings. That just pretty much admitted HD radio is pointless.

Also I apologize for what is probably a pointless and stupid question but there are some stations near me that just broadcast in HD with no HD 2 stations. If one had the money to cover costs would it be possible to just go "Hey here is the money I'd like to start an HD 2 station on your signal." ?

Yes, it would be possible to do so. But unless you're planning to translate it on an analog translator, why would you waste your money to lease an HD2? Just start an Internet station.

 

[tomservo]

Wait… hasn't the FCC finally OK'd repeating AM stations on translators? There's really not even a need to use HD, just use one of your (if you're a major radio company with lots of stations in a market) flailing AMs to rebroadcast on a translator, no HD install needed.

That REALLY minimizes the need for HD, for a single FM standalone that wants to use a translator for different programming. Ouch.

 

[w9wi]

Wait… hasn't the FCC finally OK'd repeating AM stations on translators? There's really not even a need to use HD, just use one of your (if you're a major radio company with lots of stations in a market) flailing AMs to rebroadcast on a translator, no HD install needed.

That REALLY minimizes the need for HD, for a single FM standalone that wants to use a translator for different programming. Ouch.

If you're a major group, and your goal is to provide legal justification for an FM translator, I would suggest the cost of using HD is at least a wash, if not significantly cheaper than using an AM. The HD can use the existing FM antenna & tower -- no need to maintain a separate transmission site -- and the utility costs are cheaper for HD than for an AM of more than 1,000 watts.

 

[Savage]

Plus, the HD apparently allows you to evade any applicable ownership cap in your market. That's not the case for an AM, which does count.