Savage said:
"I never listen to the radio any more," they'll say. "It cuts in and out and there's all that static. I get what I need on the web."
Duhpotatoes, people say that about regular radio
now.
If you want to say that HD is a lateral move in that respect, fine. It's true. If you want to say that the subchannels aren't providing anything useful to attract those people back to radio, fine. That's also true. But to act like analog FM and AM don't cut in and out and don't have static is just asinine. Most listeners tune in
despite the static, especially if it's something they want to hear. I agree listening through a jarring out of sync "blend" from digital to analog to digital ad nauseum is a horrible thing, which is why I advocate an off switch for those stations who can not or will not fix their problems.
I don't understand why we can't get past this notion that if it won't work a class A in Bumpass, New Hampshire, it won't work at all. It's a useful addition in select markets where there isn't enough dial space for additional stations. It's a useful addition to selected NPR and public radio affiliates who wish to offer more choice for their donors. It's a useful addition in many medium markets in the midwest and south where the sound quality improvements are noticeable. But because it's NOT a solution in the crowded New England dials or in parts of California we're all to scrap this scheme? I don't think so.
I don't like that the whole system went off hack cocked with low powers and poor coverage. I don't like how the subchannel formats are the neglected stepchildren that never get enough attention. And I don't like that the delay issue wasn't better dealt with before rolling out this system. But it's all radio has as far as expanding horizons without going to web-based delivery, and stations and companies should at least be trying to make the most of it.
radiogooroo said:
The public has rejected all stand-alone radio products as unwanted and unneeded. The selection of Walkman type radios at Best Buy is astonishingly small compared to what it was 10 years ago. The boombox aisle has completely disappeared.
You know what's odd about that? Most of the radio I hear in public, whether it be at little stores in strip malls or at gyms or anywhere public music is desired, is that the sound is coming from a boombox. Everyone seems to have one (somewhere, my JVC Kaboom in overtly gay pink is sitting in a storage shed, ready to thump again when needed) but no one's really making them anymore.
radiogooroo said:
People are abandoning AM radio anyway. You have to really, really want the content these days to put up with the noise, even on 50kW stations. Driving beside power lines, my local Rush and Hannity affiliate goes away. At stoplights equipped with LED traffic lights, it's the same thing. With computers and devices containing microprocessors everywhere now, it's next door to impossible to listen to AM in an office environment. CFL light bulbs certainly aren't helping with home reception.
Where can you listen to AM radio with clarity? At least in my town, on the HD3 channels of sister FMs.
The rural midwest. Parts of the south. That's all I can think of. 8)
Our Rush/Hannity talker is a poor thing. 1 kW right on the gulf coast. It has no chance of overcoming daytime interference in its licensed market, much less of making it anywhere at night thanks to foreign interference. But it sounds very good on HD-2. It goes from about 15 miles of solid daytime coverage and 2-5 miles of nighttime coverage to a good 50 miles+ of spotty HD coverage.
