Looks like Sage Communications is trying to get rid of the stench of the misnomer "HD" by calling translators by a different name.
"Translator-based stations fed off HD2 and HD3 channels have been all the rage in radio during the past year, with new stations signing on and many getting decent ratings for a signal with 250 watts or less. But the word translator and call signs like K260AM (otherwise known as Des Moines CHR “Hits 99.9”) can be difficult for advertisers to grasp. So Saga Communications is doing a bit of off-air rebranding.
Rather than market the stations as “translators,” it’s now calling them “metro signals” when salespeople present them to advertisers. “It improves their reception and makes them sound more legitimate,” CEO Ed Christian says. Saga was an early adopter of creating free-standing stations on translators and HD signals, helped by operating in smaller markets where translators were a bit easier to come by. Today it owns about three dozen, many of which are simulcasting AMs and Class A FMs. “We’re doing very well with these,” Christian says."
And Strubie loath to pass up any distortion or obsfucation that will confuse the public embraces the idea while "while the industry waits for (HD) receiver penetration to grow"
To this writer it looks like Strubie is finally admitting in print that the only use for HD (besides 3 or 4 posters here in this forum) is for translaters, woops I mean metro signals.
"Ibiquity says over the past two years, two-thirds of digital radio conversions have been to take advantage of a translator, most often in small and mid-sized markets. CEO Bob Struble wrote in an online column last week that the combination makes spending several thousand dollars to install HD Radio technology seem more worthwhile while the industry waits for receiver penetration to grow. “Translators are like training wheels that allow a seamless transition from analog to digital while bringing listeners along for the ride,” Struble said."
From Inside Radio
http://www.insideradio.com//Article.asp?id=2692638#.Uh7-ExushcY
"Translator-based stations fed off HD2 and HD3 channels have been all the rage in radio during the past year, with new stations signing on and many getting decent ratings for a signal with 250 watts or less. But the word translator and call signs like K260AM (otherwise known as Des Moines CHR “Hits 99.9”) can be difficult for advertisers to grasp. So Saga Communications is doing a bit of off-air rebranding.
Rather than market the stations as “translators,” it’s now calling them “metro signals” when salespeople present them to advertisers. “It improves their reception and makes them sound more legitimate,” CEO Ed Christian says. Saga was an early adopter of creating free-standing stations on translators and HD signals, helped by operating in smaller markets where translators were a bit easier to come by. Today it owns about three dozen, many of which are simulcasting AMs and Class A FMs. “We’re doing very well with these,” Christian says."
And Strubie loath to pass up any distortion or obsfucation that will confuse the public embraces the idea while "while the industry waits for (HD) receiver penetration to grow"
To this writer it looks like Strubie is finally admitting in print that the only use for HD (besides 3 or 4 posters here in this forum) is for translaters, woops I mean metro signals.
"Ibiquity says over the past two years, two-thirds of digital radio conversions have been to take advantage of a translator, most often in small and mid-sized markets. CEO Bob Struble wrote in an online column last week that the combination makes spending several thousand dollars to install HD Radio technology seem more worthwhile while the industry waits for receiver penetration to grow. “Translators are like training wheels that allow a seamless transition from analog to digital while bringing listeners along for the ride,” Struble said."
From Inside Radio
http://www.insideradio.com//Article.asp?id=2692638#.Uh7-ExushcY
