THE LATEST IN THE HD RADIO PARADE-O-FLOPS

[Savage]

Item: a little company called Arbitron in conjunction with Edison Media Research (as opposed to recent cheerleading from iBiquity-captive "surveys") concludes from its study that consumer awareness of HD Radio is not only an abysmal 24%, that's actually DOWN from a 26% awareness level in 2007. (So much for the kazillion-dollar industry ad campaign, or whatever the figure was, that was supposed to fix this. And so much for the very recent and laughable 77% just claimed by the Alliance, that's "the A-LIE-ance.") Edison declares "the success of HD Radio is by no means guaranteed," pointing out that 41% of respondents say they have no interest in buying HD Radio whatsoever.

Item: despite much umlaut about the latest "field improvement to HD-FM" (read: Band-Aid) also known as the tenfold increase in digital power proposal, the NAB is split internally with the engineers saying it's a great idea, and the lawyers warning everybody should slow down. Predictably NAB numbskulls are predicting (with little credible data to back them up) that the interference the 10db increase would bring "will be acceptable," but one wonders if the NAB lawyers have their ears to the ground and are picking up the class-action and RICO vibe which might be brewing over IBOC. (Source: RW, 4/9, page 1 above the fold.)

Item: the gee-whiz Studio Sessions piece of gear featured in the 4/9 RW is a jaw-dropper: a beautiful high-end AM-FM table radio, which is not only analog and mono, but uses VACUUM TUBES including a magic-eye tuning indicator. Reviewers were amazed at the beautiful sound from this $370 premium box that aims at the Tivoli PAL and George crowd. And...does this fine new product include HD in any form?

Go ahead. Post your guesses, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Tom Wells]

I'm in Omaha this week....can't wait to get home and read about the Studio Sessions receiver. I have a lot of tube equipment, and
I'm always pleasantly surprised to hear of new tube equipment. Three weeks ago I stopped at a little hole-in-the wall
postal shipping/packing store near my home which also has a sign "ANALOG phono cartridges, etc."
I bought a Bellari tube phono pre-amp and even though I have been satisfied with the outboard Radio Shack transistor
circa 1975 phono pre-amp, I was thrilled with the improvement.
I'd sooner spend $370 on this than the..er... other thing.

Had to extend a 40-wire multi-voltage control cable three feet to locate the control cabinet behind a wall....
Local Grainger AND electrical supply stocked NO lead solder. So I head off looking for the first hardware store or RS.
Radio Shack showed up first. Bought me some solder, asked about Accurians. They never did stock them.
I asked if they'd had any inquiries about HD radio. None except mine.
As I'm working on the press install, the other guys have the local classic rock station on. I DID hear an HD radio ad run here in Omaha.
Nothng works quite as well as a recession to help people get their priorities sorted.

I actually believe these Arbitron numbers, as they reflect what I've seen in my travels.

I haven't seen aything new on Wrath of Kahn lately

 

[kyscott]

I believe this "HD" radio should have been treated like stereo was back when it was first introduced. Most of you remember that deal back then was, "here's the standard. update your stations when you want to". Oh, and there wasn't a perpetual license fee for the stereo generators and other equipment. I'm afraid that Ibiquity trying to force this transition is backfiring on them. I have heard "HD" radio on FM and their is absolutly nothing to be gained by rushing out and buying a receiver right this very moment. The subchannels I have heard hasn't been a very compelling reason, either. There is an elephant in the room that the big broadcasters who are pushing this system refuse to see. That is, they have driven away listeners trying to make radio more palpable for Wall Street. Until they give people a reason to listen, that trend will not change. "HD" radio isn't the answer when it's programmed with the same ole same ole.

 

[Savage]

BREAKING NEWS! (Source - Inside Radio 4/11.) In the second survey in two days to contradict the much-ballyhooed "study" from the HD A-LIE-Ance claiming a preposterous "77% public awareness of HD Radio," American Media Services released results of a telephone survey showing consumer knowledge of HD hovers around 34%. That's slightly better than the Arbitron/Edison survey released yesterday claiming 24% awareness (down from 26% in 2007.)

 

[Carmine5]

I got a real laugh out of the NAB's announcement that they had organized an HD Radio Technology Advancement Task Force (involving several transmitter manufacturers) and are supposed to make some announcement this weekend on how they plan to coerce stubborn hold outs, like Mr. Savage, to install HD Radio at their facilities.

What I envision will happen is the NAB will hire a bunch of mercenaries who will filter into every town and burg, put a gun to every small market radio station's transmitter, shouting "It's time to upgrade!" and blast away.

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0100/t.12689.html

C5

 

[Carmine5]

I think Mark Ramsey sums up this latest Arbitron/Edison study well when he stated:

"All you need to know about this research is this: It says relatively few know about HD. It says that number hasn't gone up. And it implies that folks are aware of what they care about, not vice versa. It also strongly suggests this isn't going to change any time soon - as in, forever."

http://www.hear2.com/2008/04/arbitronedison.html

C5

 

[clouseau]

I've pretty well written off this board as another cesspool, but it IS interesting to note that more of the HD radio "Fair Chancers" keep saying "Give it some time".

And the rest of the cesspool are trying to proclaim HD radio's death (or at least bad news) because a new survey says "More people have NOT heard of it" than previously thought.

To me this isn't a sign of rejection. It's a sign of "non-exposure" .

Sometime, maybe someone can let the rest of us into the universe where "Aren't familiar with it" equals "Rejected". I won't be holding my breath.

This appears to be more of the "Radios don't exist, radios exist but they are too expensive, radios are being dumped on the market, radios are too cheap" type of Anti HD radio triple speak. Pick a take and go with it.

That is...

Last year we thought 26% of the people had heard of HD radio. This year only 24% of the people have heard of it.

Looks like lots of folks are dying, Lots of folks forgot, The survey is wrong or maybe fewer people than we thought are aware of HD radio.

WHICH OF THOSE IS THE EVER ELUSIVE "FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN" of HD radio?

Yep,That's what I thought.

How about "HD radio sucks because radio is corporately owned?"

Go for it. They all make as much sense as each other.

Clouseau.

 

[clone]

I've pretty well written off this board as another cesspool

It's human nature to be contemptuous to those who disagree with something important to you.

And the rest of the cesspool are trying to proclaim HD radio's death (or at least bad news) because a new survey says "More people have NOT heard of it" than previously thought.

To me this isn't a sign of rejection. It's a sign of "non-exposure".

Whatever YOU call it, in the year 2008, if only 26 or even 40 per-cent of the target audience of a given *new* technology hasn't even heard of it after five years, it's probably not going to be accepted.

This appears to be more of the "Radios don't exist, radios exist but they are too expensive, radios are being dumped on the market, radios are too cheap" type of Anti HD radio triple speak. Pick a take and go with it.

Actually, some problems in life can be multi-faceted. There are very few radios, the ones that exist are priced high, because there is no consumer demand, which is because they are not aware of the product, which is because the technology answers a question no one asked. This is how consumer marketplaces work. No one ever said radios are being dumped on the market. One very outspoken IBOC supporter did say in another thread, however, that some asian fabrication plants were supposedly ramping up production on a mass scale of the next generation chipset. This would tell most people that one-way or another, HD is going to eventually be shoved down our throats, whether we want it or not.

WHICH OF THOSE IS THE EVER ELUSIVE "FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN" of HD radio?

Yep,That's what I thought.

Probably this one: take this very morning, for example. I know, I know, I'm not in NYC where, for some reason known only to God Himself, that HD works EXACTLY as it was spec'd to. But this morning, around 7AM, I am about fifteen miles from a full class B FM on top of the Sears Tower, and the first-adjacent analogs are dancing in from every corner of the midwest. That seems to be how it works in early-spring and summer around these parts. Every morning, like clockwork, here comes the skip. I think it's natural atmospheric conditions or something?

What happens to the HD lock from those flame-throwin' sticks on top of the tallest building in the USA when first adjacent analogs are trashing their sidebands?

You got it, the old "HD" blinky-blinky. Not to say that I don't enjoy HD-FM. I like more choices, and I like no commercials (for now). Nevermind that it's a bait-and-switch, and we all know it, but I don't hate the idea of digital broadcasting. Yes, it is a more effective use of spectrum. Yes, it offers more capabilities. But it just isn't reliable. How do you explain to Joe-Sixer that his radio probably isn't going to work the same way it used to during morning drive? That doesn't work for me. Or any other responsible broadcaster.

How about "HD radio sucks because radio is corporately owned?"

How about "Radio sucks because radio is corporately owned?"

The air interface carrying the programming doesn't make it better programming. Radio sucks, and HD is just an extension of it. Like I've said before, there are radio stations that are just fine. They're just not in the markets most corporate types deem "economically viable".

Go for it. They all make as much sense as each other.

Clouseau.

When you break it down, they sure do.

 

[Carmine5]

I've pretty well written off this board as another cesspool, but it IS interesting to note that more of the HD radio "Fair Chancers" keep saying "Give it some time".

And the rest of the cesspool are trying to proclaim HD radio's death (or at least bad news) because a new survey says "More people have NOT heard of it" than previously thought.

To me this isn't a sign of rejection. It's a sign of "non-exposure" .

Sometime, maybe someone can let the rest of us into the universe where "Aren't familiar with it" equals "Rejected". I won't be holding my breath.

This appears to be more of the "Radios don't exist, radios exist but they are too expensive, radios are being dumped on the market, radios are too cheap" type of Anti HD radio triple speak. Pick a take and go with it.

That is...

Last year we thought 26% of the people had heard of HD radio. This year only 24% of the people have heard of it.

Looks like lots of folks are dying, Lots of folks forgot, The survey is wrong or maybe fewer people than we thought are aware of HD radio.

WHICH OF THOSE IS THE EVER ELUSIVE "FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN" of HD radio?

Yep,That's what I thought.

How about "HD radio sucks because radio is corporately owned?"

Go for it. They all make as much sense as each other.

Clouseau.

Don't you find it more than strange that there is this desperate push to get all of the public and broadcast industry on board right now for HD Radio? After all, if HD Radio is the inevitable future for US broadcasting then it will become ubiquitous no matter what anyone says or does.

If it's about iBiquity remaining solvent as it seeks new funding and paying off investors, who cares? If this is some kind of horse race between satellite, HD and WiMax, then let consumers decide. Nothing the Alliance or the NAB do will push consumers to buy HD Radio if their interest is in other delivery platforms.

Also, don't you find it more than strange that half the engineers in the broadcast industry have given IBOC a thumbs down, particularly if it's supposed to be such a revolutionary innovation for the industry? I can't imagine that all of them are against progress.

And don't you find it more than strange that the public the world over has given digital broadcasting, regardless of the system, a loud yawn and that the concept has failed to take off anywhere?

Apparently, the notion of listening to "free" radio in digital just doesn't resonate with public, regardless of country.

Food for thought.

C5

 

[kyscott]

I've pretty well written off this board as another cesspool, but it IS interesting to note that more of the HD radio "Fair Chancers" keep saying "Give it some time". And the rest of the cesspool are trying to proclaim HD radio's death (or at least bad news) because a new survey says "More people have NOT heard of it" than previously thought. To me this isn't a sign of rejection. It's a sign of "non-exposure" .

Here's something for you to chew on clouseau. The first consumer Blu Ray devices were in stores on April 10, 2003. Roughly about the same time of the roll out of HD radio receivers. What do you think the "awareness" of Blu Ray is compared to HD radio? I'll tell you. A majority of U.S. households now know what a Blu-ray Disc is, while the number of households with a high-definition disc player has crossed the 10 million threshold. A study from media research firm Interpret, finds that 60% of U.S. consumers are aware of Blu-ray Disc, up from zero two years ago.

How about this? "Awareness" of satellite radio is on the rise, and quite signficantly. Both XM and SIRIUS have reached equal awareness levels of 61% among people ages 12 and older. A joint study performed by Edison Media Research and Arbitron interviewed 1,925 Arbitron diarykeepers in January 2006 to give more color on digital radio mindshare.

60% compared to "HD" radio's 26%. People are aware of what they care about, and overall they don't give a damn about broadcast radio. Analog or digital.

Wonder how many people are "aware" of iPods?

 

[Chuck]

Wonder how many people are "aware" of iPods?

I don't know, but the next time you are on a plane, take a look around. Unless they are showing movies on the flight, it is hard to find someone who isn't using one. The hold-outs are using their lap top computers instead.....

Yeah, I know you can't use a radio on an airplane, but it is amazing to me how high the penetration of these devices seems to be. Do you think they might use them when they aren't sitting in an airplane? I'll bet so, and that means they are not listening to radio. To me, that is a big problem.

 

[Play Freebird]

Another HD commentary that a friend passed along yesterday:

http://www.rbr.com/media-news/blog-log/why_hd_radio_may_never_make_it.html

 

[Savage]

Freebird, thanks to the link to an EXCELLENT article that sums it all up beautifully in 300 words or so.

I personally think the anonymous author may have hit on THE key fault of HD Radio which many - admittedly including me - may have completely overlooked in the midst of all the technical debate over interference and poor coverage for HD. And it's a great point which is front-and-center for the real-world radio listener.

The author refers to the dangers of "brand dilution," linking dissimilar programming (or even worse, similar programming) on the subchannels to the main station's long-fought-for-identity. Like it or not, listeners primarily tune to Hot Country 92.5 because that's the kind of music they like. HD asks listeners to tune into a station they potentially don't like so they can step through obtuse tuning procedures to get to something they DO like. Would you guys who hate Chinese food go to the Chinese restaurant so you could get pizza in the back room? We're asking listeners to regularly engage in counterintuitive behavior.

"Brand dilution" is a well-known marketing mistake with a long history of disastrous consequences. An example from the automotive world: the decline and fall of the Packard Motor Car Company. Packard's reputation was made with very high-end luxury cars which were the standard of the world, kind of an American Rolls-Royce, until the Depression. It seemed prudent at the time, but the company fatally shot itself in the foot by introducing a medium-priced car, the Clipper to compete with Oldsmobile and Chrysler which irretrievably eroded Packard's high-end image. Cadillac quickly overtook Packard after WW2 with trendsetting luxury designs and Packard and Clipper were both history by the 1950s.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

To me this isn't a sign of rejection. It's a sign of "non-exposure" .

Sometime, maybe someone can let the rest of us into the universe where "Aren't familiar with it" equals "Rejected". I won't be holding my breath.

When promotion of this new tech consists of using eight figures worth of distressed inventory for promotions such as "now broadcasting in high-definition" (with no indication that in order to receive HD one needs a new radio) or the real kicker, "want to stop listening to the same old boring programming?" (otherwise known as: kick your analog and HD1 signals, WHERE YOUR MONEY IS MADE, in the head to get people to buy radios which will reproduce programming provided by the SAME people programming those analog and HD1 signals), it doesn't take a marketing genius to figure out that consumer awareness after five years will remain in the toilet.

When analysts for Wall Street banking and security firms openly state that there is no business model for HD that makes sense...when radio companies spend millions of dollars for new equipment with no ROI (something that stockholders don't sit still for)...when HD radios languish on store shelves because there is no infrastructure to make the things play in the stores...when HD radio buyers who aren't right on top of a transmitter site have to fiddle with antennas to receive HD, something they've been conditioned over two generations to not have to worry about...and when the radio business has had five years to figure out the solutions to all these problems and have failed to do so...HD's future is not exactly rosy.

 

[kyscott]

When promotion of this new tech consists of using eight figures worth of distressed inventory for promotions such as "now broadcasting in high-definition" (with no indication that in order to receive HD one needs a new radio)

WHAS here in Louisville does this with their top of the hour ID. Now, the average listener hearing this in the analog format with the digital hiss on top of the audio hears this and thinks, "if this is HD then I want no part of it". Not exactly the way to promote it. And these stupid promos that require us to suspend reality for a moment and believe a person taking hostages will only release them upon giving him an "HD" receiver are another matter. Any product that insults my intelligence like that I have no desire to purchase. Again, not exactly the best way to promote it. Because I am an engineer I do have a "HD" receiver and there are exactly three stations with multicast signals. These multicasts are obviously nothing more than a computer sitting in a broom closet somewhere because they sound like crap (I think one of them MIGHT have a modulation level of 25%) and there is no compelling reason to listen to any of them.

 

[Play Freebird]

The author refers to the dangers of "brand dilution," linking dissimilar programming (or even worse, similar programming) on the subchannels to the main station's long-fought-for-identity. Like it or not, listeners primarily tune to Hot Country 92.5 because that's the kind of music they like. HD asks listeners to tune into a station they potentially don't like so they can step through obtuse tuning procedures to get to something they DO like.

There's also a problem with "brand confusion"; for example, KYW News Radio's simulcast on WYSP HD-2 in Philadelphia.

I don't have a problem with this programming decision; at least the FM digital signal covers better and the codec is more listenable than KYW's AM IBOC, and it's worthwhile local content, not a neglected computer in the broom closet. However, when I'm tuned to the news, my radio displays WYSP HD-2, rather than KYW. This would seem to contradict WYSP's current campaign to re-establish its identity as a rock station, following an ill-fated run of the "Free FM" talk format.

Another deficiency: The "Program Service" display on HD radios is limited to just four characters followed by the -HD suffix -- which, of course, is sufficient for a US callsign -- but what if your station's brand is "Magic" or "Power 99" or "Sunny"? You're forced to display MAGC, PWR (or PR99), SUNY -- or put up the call letters, which would otherwise be buried in the legal ID. Even good old reliable RDS provides eight characters in the PS field. Didn't the developers of HD Radio take note of this?

Official promotion of HD Radio has been quite confusing and misleading, to say the least. I was curious to see how KTCK's simulcast on KPLX HD-2 is currently shown on the HD Alliance website, so I entered "HD Radio" in Google and followed the link to "Find an HD Radio Station", then checked the listings for Texas. Not only is KPLX-HD2 still listed as "New CHR", but it's also "coming soon" -- in fact, I see that every digital channel in Texas is "coming soon". For that matter, the New York and Pennsylvania digital channels are all supposedly "coming soon" and many stations (which haven't pulled the plug yet) aren't even shown.

The "Find a Station" link from the HD Radio homepage isn't any better. It still shows "coming soon" WCMF HD-2 as featuring the "Brother Weeze Music Show" even though his contract with Entercom was terminated three months ago.

 

[Chuck]

What should really scare anyone in radio is the fact that the advertising campaign for HD has been so dismal. Thank God it wasn't "real" money. It could lead one to believe that radio advertising simply does not work. After all, if you can't sell your own product, what would lead you to believe that it can effectively sell something else?

I believe that radio really does work, especially when done well, but you'd have a hard time proving it by this experiment.

 

[kyscott]

I believe that radio really does work, especially when done well, but you'd have a hard time proving it by this experiment.

It does. And to prove it, go to any market with under 10,000 people. Small town radio kicks ass. Then again, it's not all about the all mighty dollar down there, either. You want good radio, go to a town of 5,000 people and listen to their LOCAL AM that covers LOCAL news and LOCAL sports. That's the kind of loyalty that every station used to shoot for.

 

[Chuck]

It does. And to prove it, go to any market with under 10,000 people. Small town radio kicks ass. Then again, it's not all about the all mighty dollar down there, either. You want good radio, go to a town of 5,000 people and listen to their LOCAL AM that covers LOCAL news and LOCAL sports. That's the kind of loyalty that every station used to shoot for.

Well, many of you know I run a very local FM station. It's an LPFM with three translators. We do things like lost dog reports, local college sports and "Clean Up Kilgore Day" promos. We are doing OK. You'll hear promos for all kinds of things that you just don't hear on the big chain stations. Things like church fairs, concerts featuring local musicians, local festivals and library book sales. From time to time, we even run music performed by people who can actually hear our station. There are some good local musicians out there. I've had lots of people tell me that they listen simply because we are local, not just because of the music we play.

I know of lots of other small stations, both AM and FM that follow the localism model. They are doing well too. Amazing...

 

[kyscott]

I know of lots of other small stations, both AM and FM that follow the localism model. They are doing well too. Amazing...

It's not amazing if you think about it. Make it relative to that person's life, and they will listen. Make your programming relative to 5 or 10 or 100 thousand peoples' lives and they will listen. While the big guys are out chasing the mighty dollar, I'll serve my listeners.