HD Radio Gear: The Good and the Better

http://www.thestreet.com/s/hd-radio-gear-the-good-and-the-better/newsanalysis/personal-technology/10413394.html?puc=googlefi&cm_ven=GOOGLEFI&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

There's AM, FM, shortwave, satellite, Wi-Fi -- and now HD.

HD Radio is the broadcasters' answer to XM(XMSR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Sirius(SIRI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) -- digital streams of music and talk that are broadcast on the FM dial -- along with the stereo analog signals we've listened to for years.

(There's HD AM broadcasting too, but since the AM band is mostly for speech, and not music, HD AM doesn't really matter at the moment.)

AM radio not feeling buzz of digital

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/033008/STE_BG6GEEC2.004.php

We always expect technology to come running to our rescue. The latest cell phone or computer always packs more power or features, so the last thing you'd expect would be a technological advance that takes us a step backward.

But that's the story when it comes to digital AM radio. Now, don't be confused: Digital FM radio is being rolled out -albeit very slowly - without problems when it comes to reception. It's on the old AM dial where the trouble is.

You remember AM - where top 40 once ran free with jabberjaw deejays, jangling jingles and near-constant promotion. Today's youth are probably barely aware of the band's existence, living in their "I" world of iPods and iTunes.

Yet AM radio now faces a problem more insidious than just being ignored. A so-called technological upgrade - the conversion to a digital delivery system - threatens to turn the dial into a sea of static.

Let’s Go Shopping: HD Radio in Cincy

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0049/t.11929.html


One Man’s Buying Experience in Ohio Suggests The Receiver Push Is Having Mixed Success

by Thom Moon, 3.12.2008

Moon has spent more than 30 years in radio, mostly developing and analyzing audience research; he describes himself as an even longer-term, all-around radio geek. Reach him at tsmoon@zoomtown.com.


There has been any number of stories in the trades about the lack of HD Radios at retailers and retail people who know little or nothing about the technology.

Radio World suggested that I see if that had changed any recently.

So I made the rounds of stores that sell electronics in the Cincinnati area. What I found was some improvement; but a lot is yet needed.

Black Friday for HD Radio

http://www.hear2.com/2008/03/this-weeks-desp.html


Black Friday for HD Radio

This week's Convergence conference in San Jose was a terrific gathering of broadcasters and their partners who feel radio's best days might very well lay ahead. No sticks in the mud, these. Rather, folks with brains and vision and a plan, or at least the hopes of developing one.

This was no place for spin doctors and conventional wisdom. So I was not surprised when Kurt Hanson spoke on radio's future with an emphasis on radio's inevitable future on the Internet.

Nor was I surprised when Kurt veered left to discuss - and dismiss - HD Radio.

What fascinated me was the reaction.

Any room full of broadcasters is full of HD radio doubters, nowadays. But the vibe in this room was remarkable for the eye-rolling and audible snickering that greeted virtually any mention of HD.

HD: If a Tree Falls & No One Hears It . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020801035.html

Chasing an audience that has migrated to iPods, Internet radio, pay satellite services and the burgeoning world of cellphone music, the AM and FM radio industry has spent the past couple of years beckoning listeners to discover the "secret stations" of HD radio.

But what is the secret? If you were to shell out somewhere between $80 and $300 for a new radio capable of receiving the digital signals that have added about 1,600 stations across the country, what would you hear?

I spent the better part of a week listening to the HD offerings on Washington stations, and came away impressed by the commitment two stations have made to the new technology but underwhelmed by the great majority of what's on HD.

Turning some tight corners for IBOC

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0054/t.10984.html

The Big Picture by Skip Pizzi
Radio World Feb 1 2008


Sentiment against AM IBOC is gradually morphing from a fringe movement to a serious threat, as official complaints are being filed with the FCC and major AM stations are pulling the plug on their IBOC exciters. It will be interesting to see what response comes from the FCC in the coming months, if any.

The lack of strong consumer interest in HD Radio is well documented, and the longer this malaise continues, the harder it will be to reverse.

Will Small Markets Convert to HD Radio? Survey Suggests Not Soon

http://www.rwonline.com/leslie_report/

Jan 28 2008

Much has been written about large-market adoption of IBOC. A college instructor has been tracking conversions in smaller markets in Pennsylvania and identifies several factors as so-called “gating” items for its success.

Gary McIntyre, a broadcasting/mass communications instructor at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, in the northern portion of that state, tells me he mailed out 100 questionnaires to stations in Arbitron markets No. 150 and higher.

The survey consisted of 15 questions asked of station GMs, ops managers and CEs; the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters provided contact information.

McIntyre asked them whether the stations intended to convert their facilities in the next 12 months; he also made queries about multicasting, HD-R receiver availability and station promotion of IBOC.

Of the 100, he received 50 surveys back. Of those, only one station had converted to HD-R.

“Eighty-six percent of the remaining respondents indicated it would be highly unlikely or somewhat unlikely” they would convert their stations over the next 12 months, according to his report. Six percent indicated it would be neither likely nor unlikely, and only 6% indicated it would be likely, he told me.