Why are HD alt channels not advertised?

[Don CT]

Our local NBC station in CT promotes Cozi every chance they get.

 

[wattsup]

Very interesting!
In the evenings when KJZZ HD-1 and HD2 are playing the same program, is that from the same remote source? When I compare those back-to-back, there is clearly a difference in the sound. I assume that is related to the bandwidth allocation difference between the HD-1 and 2 transmissions?

No, the source for the evening simulcast is local. And yes, the HD-2 has less bw than the main.

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

Going back to the original question, it's pretty simple:

They don't care.

When the HD channels were first rolled out, it was thought that they'd make traditional radio more like satellite, with multitudes of more channels and, ideally, a wide variety of stations that would be more "niche" than the main ones. So you could have a classic country to complement the mainstream one, a comedy station to go along with your talker, etc. And while some of that did happen (KOOL has had a 70s channel on their HD for awhile) the effort put into these stations is the absolute bare minimum.

Since until very recently there was no money involved, there was no budget, and we all know that radio companies aren't going to put a dime into something that doesn't make any money. So they've been handed off to maybe the APD or MD (or someone even lower on the food chain) to "program," and that usually consists of sending a month worth of music logs over whenever they remember. Or it's just handled by automating some feed from corporate so that something is on the air.

HD radio had promise, at first. Yet without some financial incentive to make those signals worth it, corporate radio was never going to put effort into them for long.

 

[TheBigA]

HD radio had promise, at first. Yet without some financial incentive to make those signals worth it, corporate radio was never going to put effort into them for long.

Yet somehow it's lasted over 15 years. Not bad considering there's no financial incentive. The fact is that because of translators and the growth of HD in cars, HD radio is getting more usage now that ever.

 

[bulwnkl]

No, the source for the evening simulcast is local. And yes, the HD-2 has less bw than the main.

Well, I particularly like the evening program, so good job KJZZ!

 

[EricStein]

Yet somehow it's lasted over 15 years. Not bad considering there's no financial incentive. The fact is that because of translators and the growth of HD in cars, HD radio is getting more usage now that ever.

It's only been about five years since they've started to push the technology into cars. It was there before, but only in limited models. They've been battling satellite radio (which benefited from auto maker investments initially) and now streaming services for room on the dashboard. There's more competition than ever compared even to the early days of FM, and that still took 20 years to really take off.

 

[EricStein]

Hi, I’m new to this site. My wife has had HD radio reception in her vehicle(s) for a few years, but I only very recently got an HD radio. I love it! I’m curious about a couple things, though.

First and mainly: Why don’t any of the stations here promote their HD sub-channel offerings in any way? For that matter, why don’t they promote or even talk about HD broadcasts at all, even on the main channel? I _may_ have heard a single mention on KEZ of their ‘Breeze’ HD2 channel, but no better than I recall it, I may have simply heard an announcement on that channel that it was HD2. LOL. It appears to me that there will continue to be little or no demand or support for HD radio so long as listeners continue to have no idea it’s even there, let alone how much better it can sound.

Another question I have is why some HD sub-channels here sound very good (KJZZ’s HD2 jazz channel is an example), whereas others are decidedly poor (KOOL’s HD2, KROQ(?), is an unfortunate example here).

Anyway, ‘hi!’

Maybe the engineers at Entercom Phoenix have been reading this thread. KOOL HD2 sounds alright, at least in my car. It's on the loud side though.

 

[davideduardo]

It's only been about five years since they've started to push the technology into cars. It was there before, but only in limited models. They've been battling satellite radio (which benefited from auto maker investments initially) and now streaming services for room on the dashboard. There's more competition than ever compared even to the early days of FM, and that still took 20 years to really take off.

And Automakers benefited mostly from the monetary incentives they get for each radio and each subscription.

I'd expect that Sirius would continue to incentivize car makers in the future by rewarding the placement of their streaming product on the dash, too

 

[TheBigA]

I'd expect that Sirius would continue to incentivize car makers in the future by rewarding the placement of their streaming product on the dash, too

Hmmm, the difference being there is no competitor to Sirius, but there are lots of big money companies that offer streaming. If I'm Apple or Spotify, and I see Pandora is getting something I'm not as far as placement, I'll make a stink. If money is the only impediment, Google and Apple have money.

 

[bulwnkl]

Okay, my last grouse for this thread (possibly):

I had the radio on in the garage as I was replacing chain and sprockets on the bike this morning. It was on an iheart station. That station played several promos for a different iheart station throughout the morning, but never a peep about the HD Alternate channels it runs. The other iheart that was the object of the promos has similarly never said a word about its HD Alt channel(s), that I've heard.

 

[TheBigA]

The other iheart that was the object of the promos has similarly never said a word about its HD Alt channel(s), that I've heard.

Keep in mind it's not an actual station with staff and someone programming it. It's likely running an iHeart music channel from outside the area. Not really on the radar of the actual station staff, other than engineering, who keep it on the air. Do they promote the Pride channel or the EDM channel? They're also available on HD Radio too.

 

[bulwnkl]

I have heard the ihearts promote none of the HD channels; not even a word about how good the main channel(s) sound in HD. I understand that much (most, I think?) of the iheart stuff is not locally programmed. I may have mentioned previously here that I was unsuccessful in getting anyone to answer any of the telephone numbers at one of the ihearts over a period of a week or more. Nevertheless they (iheart) make it a point to advertise sister stations here in this same market, including samples of the songs they play on said sister stations, so clearly they don't mind sending listeners 'away,' so long as they go 'away' to another iheart choice. I'm glad they have the HDs on. It just seems very strange to put no effort into letting anyone know they're there, particularly if there's then any thought or talk of low profitability from them. That seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anyway, I'm done griping. I like HD radio, and am happy to have several stations broadcasting both main and alternate HD channels here. Perhaps someone who has influence over programming will read this at some point and give some serious thought to mentioning the HD broadcasts, including the 2s and 3s.

 

[TheBigA]

I understand that much (most, I think?) of the iheart stuff is not locally programmed.

Not true. Each of the main channels in Phoenix have a local programming staff who work together in a local office. Some on-air shows may come from outside the market, but the decision of which outside talent to use was made locally. Certainly KFYI has a local news staff, and the iHeart Total Traffic & News staff is pretty big. A lot of the national services are actually based in Phoenix. What I was saying is that none of them are directly involved in programming the HD channels. However, the Entercom people at times are involved in programming the HD, and I posted one example of that earlier in this thread.