Re: Food For Thought
> I will be devil's advocate for a second, and ask you to
> rethink *how* you reply to people:
>
> A) You have a technical edge of the industry, and over a
> majority of people so you have more knowledge on the topic.
>
> B) In the 60's compared to today, AM radio had competition
> with FM Radio, 8 tracks, Reel To Reel, Phonographs, TV, etc.
> FM was pretty much the cat's meow for fidelity which AM did
> not have. Today, there are CD's, DVD's, online media
> content, Satellite Radio, in other words, people can get
> HIGH quality media, elsewhere, and for cheaper. Add in some
> research showing younger demos *not* tuning it to
> conventional radio, I am not saying HD Radio will fail, I
> think you are overstating its guranteed success. It will
> probably find its niche.
>
> If Satellite radio goes to commercials, HD Radio will have
> an better edge. Also, the gear will have to become more
> cheaper (in time), plentiful and feature rich. Looking at
> the one Kenwood model, it does not even automatically
> MultiCast from what I seen. *Why* buy for so much if it does
> not even do what makes it so desirable in the 1st place?
> Give the common (key word) user a reason (user friendly) to
> really want to shell out for this, and get the ball rolling.
> Add in a concerted effort on programming and HD radio is on
> its way.
>
> Finally, 1 last thing that no one has touched on. HD Radio
> has one BIG advantage. It is LOCAL. But, unfortunately a lot
> of terrestrial radio are moving away from that aspect to
> maximize profit. Hopefully this can be seen as an investment
> to sustain itself and allow it to grow.
>
> This will grow or flounder like AM Stereo, depending on how
> the industry embraces and rolls it out.
>
> Happy New Year to all forms of media!
>
I'm going to step in and "defend" k9ez for a moment.
He and I both have a technical edge, since we both have installed HD for large stations owned by large companies. Because of this, we are privvy to a lot of inside information about the plans of HD rollout, marketing, and programming. We can see much further into the future than others.
Large broadcast groups have invested lots of big bucks into the technical, programming, and marketing of HD. These are companies who see this as an infant technology, and have plans that span years into the future. Unlike AM stereo, we have settled on a standard, and have invested a lot more money into rolling it out.
I have not heard anyone on this side of the HD project talking about making any money in the first few years. This is an investment in the future.
And again, as it's been said over and over, the cost of the receivers is high now, but so is the first and second generation of ANY technical device. How much did CD players cost in their first generation? DVD players? VCR's? All of these things now are "throwaway" and cost next to nothing to own, yet were prohibitively expensive in their infancy. Remember how you used to have to buy a converter to hear FM on an AM-Only radio? Nowadays, you can't buy an AM-Only radio!
HD Radio is a "chicken and egg" game - the only way the prices will come down is if someone, either the receiver manufacturers or the radio stations, goes first. We know there are very few people who have the radios now. That isn't what matters. What matters is that those first few people who get HD radios have something to listen to. Nothing worse than spending good money on a toy, and not being able to play with it! k9ez and I joke that we're the only ones listening to the other's HD signals. The hope though is that once we start promoting HD, there will be plenty to listen to.
So that's why there are more and more stations turning on HD. Those who have the radios usually aren't disappointed, and we want to keep it that way.
It does get frustrating when you spend so much time launching an HD signal (it ain't easy!) only to have someone who doesn't know much about the technology dismiss it with a simple "so what? It'll fail anyway!". k9ez and I are saying that if in a few years, HD fails to take off, we'll be the first ones here to talk about it.
But let's not declare it dead before it's really even been launched!
I have an HD radio, and I'll tell you...it really does sound great, and even better, there is more great content available. Those of you complaining about not having a Dance station in Chicago - you have one: WBBM-HD2, and it sounds awesome!<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
