The Beginning of the end for HD Radio

[Greg Strickland]

192khz-

Licensed center frequencies are 200 kHz apart. 100 percent modulation is defined as plus and minus 75 kHz deviation from center frequency. It is not as simple as that may seem. The RF spectrum of a frequency modulated sound transmitter is infinite in theory. In practice there is a bandwidth in which nearly all the RF energy is contained.

Carson bandwidth rule - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_mask

Besides radiated deviation, receivers are internally impacted by RF signals on adjacent channels, even if the adjacent RF signals are not modulated (effect of RF overload and IM distortion within the receiver). Above factors are accounted for in FCC FM allocation rules.

So far, broadcast radio regulatory task is maximizing use of a desired 200 kHz channel in the presence of a undesired signal on an adjacent channel in a way that is backwards compatible with radios used by the potential audience now. Thus, you can still hear an FM Stereo broadcast station on analog FM mono radio. The in band on channel (IBOC) digital radio system known as HD Radio was accepted by a plurality of stakeholders.

 

[Ke4kls]

One of the issues I have observed while car shopping recently (on-line and at the dealerships) is a number of vehicles (due to supply chain issues with chips) not including HD radios. Some vehicles which have had HD radios are being sold with "HD Radio- Delete, $-50" on the window sticker of some GM trucks and other vehicles in their lineup. If there is little demand from customers and many of the HD-2 and other stations are carried on translators, my concern is that manufacturers will simply discontinue them in order to save on costs. Another concern I have is that sometime in the future some vehicles will have only connected audio such as Bluetooth or 5G apps for streaming, or satellite radio for entertainment. We have already seen a few BMW electric models out there without an AM radio.

 

[TheBigA]

If there is little demand from customers and many of the HD-2 and other stations are carried on translators, my concern is that manufacturers will simply discontinue them in order to save on costs.

You could be right. That's a problem for xPeri, the owner of the HD radio patent. There's really nothing anyone can do because this is a patented technology.

 

[Mikey Radio]

If there is little demand from customers and many of the HD-2 and other stations are carried on translators, my concern is that manufacturers will simply discontinue them in order to save on costs. Another concern I have is that sometime in the future some vehicles will have only connected audio such as Bluetooth or 5G apps for streaming, or satellite radio for entertainment.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of the major radio industry publications had an article written by someone who went to a number of auto dealerships to ask about HD radio, even back when it was fairly heavily advertised and there was a push to get HD radio in front of people, stations were giving away HD radios to get people warmed up to the technology, etc. He found that, at nearly every dealership he went to, when he asked about satellite radio, nearly all salespeople knew immediately what it was and they were able to speak to it when customers asked. Then they asked about HD radio. At times they got a blank stare or a shoulder shrug. At other times, the salespeople actually knew what it was. In other cases they gave some half-knowledgeable "It's stations within stations" explanation, or they explained that, much like HDTV, it was the same stations with the same content, but much more clear or better quality.

When they asked the salespeople how many customers had inquired about satellite radio, they said many had. When they asked how many customers asked about HD radio, they got many of the same blank stares and shoulder shrugs.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

No static at all on FM is not exactly true. Listen to an undermodulated talk program on an NCE-FM and you'll hear static on a ~60 dBu signal. Just like "waterproof" watches and such, which are actually just water resistant, FM is static resistant.

 

[TheBigA]

He found that, at nearly every dealership he went to, when he asked about satellite radio, nearly all salespeople knew immediately what it was and they were able to speak to it when customers asked. Then they asked about HD radio. At times they got a blank stare or a shoulder shrug.

A big part of that had to do with the way satellite radio companies paid auto companies. It was in the interest of car companies and dealers to promote satellite. There was no one at iBiquity doing that for HD Radio. They stupidly thought everyone would pay them for the right to install their chip in new cars. That wasn't going to happen as long as satellite was paying them for the same space. Had they just given the chip away, the history of HD radio would have been much different.

 

[davideduardo]

A big part of that had to do with the way satellite radio companies paid auto companies. It was in the interest of car companies and dealers to promote satellite. There was no one at iBiquity doing that for HD Radio. They stupidly thought everyone would pay them for the right to install their chip in new cars. That wasn't going to happen as long as satellite was paying them for the same space. Had they just given the chip away, the history of HD radio would have been much different.

the iBiquity model is one of the cost being applied upfront with the receiver and paid by the manufacturer as a feature of the car. The model for satellite is that the receiver is paid for by the satellite company in the hopes of people paying to activate it.

There is no other way for iBiquity to make money. One of the requirements of the FCC for a digital on-band system was that it be free.

 

[TheBigA]

There is no other way for iBiquity to make money. One of the requirements of the FCC for a digital on-band system was that it be free.

The fact that the company didn't have a plan in place for people to buy radios sealed its fate. Radio stations were telling the public to tune in, but there were no radios available except clunky mono table radios that no one wanted.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

A big percentage of the AMs that were IBOC have turned it off. The creative HD-2 and HD-3 formats on the FM BC band have been watered down or discontinued. The rest, AM simulcasts and translator feeds, could be replaced by translator to station conversions, or new FMs in an expanded band, if regulators got some sense.

 

[davideduardo]

The fact that the company didn't have a plan in place for people to buy radios sealed its fate. Radio stations were telling the public to tune in, but there were no radios available except clunky mono table radios that no one wanted.

The issue was obvious to me when Bob Struble addressed the management of Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation in 2002 about the future of digital radio. In the Q&A, I asked, "you have spoken about in-car listening. But that is just a third of all radio listening. What is coming in home and portable devices?".

I got a "we are working on that". With the follow up, I got clarity: DAC chips are energy hogs. So portable devices were not yet planned. Home devices meant working with a bunch of Chinese manufacturers who would likely clone the patented chips once they got their hands on some. So that was not being focused on.

iBiquity was just a few miles down the road from Arbitron in Columbia. Yet they appeared never to have talked to the ratings folks, and had the satellite model in mind: in car or nowhere.

None of us in the industry ever objected to that model when digital was being developed from the ashes of the AT&T developmental efforts.

Struble was antagonistic towards me after I asked those questions nearly 20 years ago. Once, when in Columbia for our regular Spring and Fall book diary reviews, I tried to make an appointment to tour the iBiquity facilities and was turned down with "we don't do tours." Right!

This says it all: "Its HD Radio technology has been controversial within radio over the years, and most of its penetration has been in the FM dial, with only partial uptake among U.S. broadcasters; the AM efforts were sidetracked by interference problems, especially at night. But the technology also has brought multicast channels to FM broadcasters and provided a data capacity that backers say adds to the radio platform’s appeal. In recent years, iBiquity has focused its marketing efforts on growing the number of vehicles that have HD Radio receivers, seeking to make the technology as standard as possible in the car environment." (RadioWorld)

 

[davideduardo]

The fact that the company didn't have a plan in place for people to buy radios sealed its fate. Radio stations were telling the public to tune in, but there were no radios available except clunky mono table radios that no one wanted.

Or car radios, if you were buying a new car at the time.

Sirius and XM were programming providers. iBiquity was a chip manufacturer.

 

[TheBigA]

Sirius and XM were programming providers. iBiquity was a chip manufacturer.

Unfortunately, radio companies depended on this chip manufacturer to have a plan.

So now everyone blames radio companies for the failure of iBiquity.

It took companies like Amazon and Google to revive the idea of home radios. But they're internet only.

 

[davideduardo]

Unfortunately, radio companies depended on this chip manufacturer to have a plan.

We knew that iBiquity was simply a tech development company, They had no fab, no industrial installations. It was a bunch of scientists and developers in a building down the road from Arbitron.

So now everyone blames radio companies for the failure of iBiquity.

It was a couple of vulture capital firms and nearly all the larger radio groups that made this happen.

It took companies like Amazon and Google to revive the idea of home radios. But they're internet only.

The problem was that iBiquity depended on radio as an industry to create demand. After all, at the start radio owned most of iBiquity.

The problem is that radio started out with the absurdly dumb "stations between the stations" campaign in a period when manual dials were at least a decade or so in the past. It made no sense and offered no listener advantages. It was like saying that "between your walls you have roaches".

I said that back then, and HBC withdrew from the HD Alliance. We knew it had been a mistake.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Struble was antagonistic towards me after I asked those questions nearly 20 years ago. Once, when in Columbia for our regular Spring and Fall book diary reviews, I tried to make an appointment to tour the iBiquity facilities and was turned down with "we don't do tours." Right!

So Struble was "antagonistic toward you". A while back, you told us you also didn't see eye to eye with that dear, sweet old man Leonard Kahn. Are you perhaps the common denominator here, David? Meaning maybe it's you, not them??? (joking. At times I find it fun to bring a bit of lighthearted brevity to the radiodiscussions threads, and that's not always understood or fully appreciated, thus the disclaimer )

 

[davideduardo]

So Struble was "antagonistic toward you".

He was upset because, in a meeting of management of one of the top ten group owners in the US, I brought up the importance of in-home and portable device listening. iBiquity wanted us to ignore this because they had no solution for the high power requirements of DAC chips.

A while back, you told us you also didn't see eye to eye with that dear, sweet old man Leonard Kahn.

Kahn prevented AM from having a chance by causing AM stereo to be delayed for four years while he took legal action. By the time a very poor FCC decision was made, AM was already over as a music medium. I never spoke with Kahn, so there was no "eye to eye" on this. I simply believe, like any good Monday Morning Quarterback, that he hurt AM very badly.

Are you perhaps the common denominator here, David? Meaning maybe it's you, not them??? (joking. At times I find it fun to bring a bit of lighthearted brevity to the radiodiscussions threads, and that's not always understood or fully appreciated, thus the disclaimer )

Yeah, I have been called by my employer at HBC an "agent of change" (the CFO jokingly even had business cards made for me with that title for a Christmas present!). And I've been said to not suffer fools gladly.

In this case, Kahn and iBiquity were demonstrating foolish behaviour.

Wikipedia says "Suffer fools gladly is a well-known phrase in contemporary use, first coined by Saint Paul in his second letter to the Church at Corinth (chapter 11). The full verse of the original source of the idiom, 2 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV), reads "For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise."[1][2] The New International Version states "You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!"[3] In its current usage, the meaning of the negative, not to suffer fools gladly, has been stated by the Cambridge Idiom Dictionary, 2nd Ed. (2006), as "to become angry with people you think are stupid".

I am also a board certified curmudgeon.

A big back at you!

 

[TheBigA]

The problem was that iBiquity depended on radio as an industry to create demand.

"Demand" for what? People couldn't easily hear the stations. No one apparently considered that.

So the demand could have been there, and the customers were unable to act.

 

[davideduardo]

"Demand" for what? People couldn't easily hear the stations. No one apparently considered that.

So the demand could have been there, and the customers were unable to act.

Demand would have to be caused by better programming and a marketing campaign by the industry to encourage set sales and vehicle adapters to be bought.

The early 2000's was still when it was easy and common to buy "better" car radios at Circuit City and Best Buy and automotive places. Adapters could have been created under license and sold. But first, there had to be really good new programming... not "the stations between the stations."

There was no talk in the early HD Alliannce meetings about promoting radios and pushing the HD folks in Columbia to try to get adapters onto the market. Like satellite, they thought only about new vehicles. Obviously, they had the attitude that they were competing with satellite as a new service, not complementing terrestrial radio as a brand extension.

 

[TheBigA]

Demand would have to be caused by better programming

They could have had the absolute best programming in the world, and no one would have known, because there were no radios available to hear that programming. There were no radios, car or otherwise, at Best Buys or Circuit City. No one in the consumer electronics world knew about it at all.

 

[davideduardo]

They could have had the absolute best programming in the world, and no one would have known, because there were no radios available to hear that programming. There were no radios, car or otherwise, at Best Buys or Circuit City. No one in the consumer electronics world knew about it at all.

As I said, the HD folks were reacting to Sirius and XM. They were totally focused on cars as they had the common impression that most radio listening was in vehicles. In fact, they were astounded when told that less than a third of radio listening in 2002 was in cars (and less than 25% in the NYC metro).

They thought that the battleground was in the vehicle, and the fight was with satellite radio. That is one of the several reasons why I was instrumental in removing our group from the HD Alliance, the committee of HD groups that was invested in the startup that was to help insure that the system was promoted and that plenty of new formats were offered.

The committee went on to create all those horrible "stations between the stations" spots and did nothing to promote radio sales, aftermarket converters, etc.

Remember, when the FCC mandated the end to FM simulcasts about 33 years before that, manufacturers rapidly geared up to provide all kinds of FM radios and converters.

 

[kevtronics]

The "stations between the stations" thing was actually the third marketing push for HD Radio. The first was "it makes FM sound like a CD and AM sound like FM" -- easily disproven by the poor quality of the proprietary codec they were using at the time. Then it was the ability to broadcast in 5.1 channel surround sound -- years after the marketplace flop of DVD Audio and Super Audio CDs proved that there was no demand for surround sound music. The first generation of HD Radio receivers didn't even have the ability to decode the HD2/HD3/HD4 subchannels -- a nice reward for early adopters.