tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32516736.post2852005047559490121..comments2024-02-26T22:31:02.623-05:00Comments on Finding Beauty in Ephemera: HD Radio - The Grand IllusionRalph Graveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758413012114957573noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32516736.post-10626579744733052972009-01-09T20:06:00.000-05:002009-01-09T20:06:00.000-05:00Sean Tubbs don't waste your money, they're not wor...Sean Tubbs don't waste your money, they're not worth having even if they paid YOU 30.00 for the annoying fact of having stations drop out, of having adjacent stations hissing over each other, and of having your receiver range cut to at least 50% of analog. In ten years HD radio will be a huh? what's that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32516736.post-86498212753867352342009-01-02T17:15:00.000-05:002009-01-02T17:15:00.000-05:001) "Editorial: 'Tagging, You're It'""Among all the...1) "Editorial: 'Tagging, You're It'"<BR/><BR/>"Among all the new ideas introduced to U.S. radio broadcasting in 2008, we believe among the most exciting is the addition of music tagging to analog FM. When the tagging concept was announced as an additional feature for HD Radio, we found it interesting, but upon learning how cumbersome the process was to actually execute by listeners, and how few devices actually supported it, we tacitly concluded it was much ado about very little, at least in the near term."<BR/><BR/>http://www.rwonline.com/article/71716<BR/><BR/>Tagging now being done on analog - Apple's products do it seamlessly without HD Radio.<BR/><BR/>2) Consumers buy few radios these days - RadioShack is no longer a "radio shack". Even Struble admits this much:<BR/><BR/>"First and foremost, AM/FM receiver unit volumes are way off. For at least a decade, more or less 100 million devices with AM/FM tuners in them were sold every year, 15-18 million or so in new cars, and 85 million in all other segments: home stereos, clock radios, aftermarket auto, boom boxes, etc. Well just a few years ago, we noticed something disconcerting, 100 million had become 80 million, almost overnight."<BR/><BR/>I can buy an excellent Sony ICF-S10MK2 for $10, or an excellent AM/FM/SW Kaito WRX911 for $15.<BR/><BR/>3) Extra channels - niche channels, like CCU's Format Lab are a failure:<BR/><BR/>"Harvard Business Review: Should You Invest in the Long Tail?"<BR/><BR/>"Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, argues that the sudden availability of niche offerings more closely tailored to their tastes will lure consumers away from homogenized hits. The 'tail' of the sales distribution curve, he says, will become longer, fatter, and more profitable... What she found may surprise you: Blockbusters are capturing even more of the market than they used to, and consumers in the tail don't really like niche products much."<BR/><BR/>http://www.citeulike.org/user/mmkurth/article/2984768<BR/><BR/>"CC Radio’s Format Lab gone?"<BR/>November 2008<BR/><BR/>"So bottom line, the Format Lab is no longer available on the web and has cut some of its formats down to the most successful/desirable. The www.iHeartMusic.com website seems to only list the main audio streams of CC stations--not multicast HD formats--but does offer a few off to the side: erockster; Pride; Verizon New Music; Smooth Jazz; Real Oldies; Slow Jams and New Country. There used to be something close to 100 formats listed on the site."<BR/><BR/>http://www.rbr.com/radio/11252.html<BR/><BR/>4) HD Radio may not be free for long, and RadioGuard will obsolete current HD radios:<BR/><BR/>"Now on HD Radio: Subscriptions, Pay Per Hear, and More"<BR/><BR/>"A new 'conditional broadcasting' feature for HD Radio called RadioGuard, from NDS, will allow owners of compatible HD radios to pay for premium content via a subscription, a one-time charge, or as part of a sponsored deal... They're primarily looking at home and car use right now because it's hard to design a device like this to consume so little power that it can be carried away from a power source."<BR/><BR/>http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/04/now_on_hd_radio.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32516736.post-41067648983580464172008-12-31T13:13:00.000-05:002008-12-31T13:13:00.000-05:00I'd pay $30 for one, and that would only be as a n...I'd pay $30 for one, and that would only be as a novelty. I'd like to hear what WVTF/Radio IQ are putting on their auxiliary channels, and would love to access to program one of them. Of course, what's the point if there aren't listeners?Sean Tubbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12703508034749435266noreply@blogger.com