You don't need a lot of insight to know when a skunk is in the room, I suggest you talk to the "other side" and get a more balanced view. I am a ham and KNOW what it is doing at night on AM. iBiquity is selling a product and of course you are not going to get a balanced view if you only take their word for it or the word of the choir. It is hardly in place and is causing a great deal on sideband interference already on AM, on FM the range is severely shortened with little change in fidelity unless of course you talk to someone who is employed or is connected with iBquity or the IBOC Alliance.
This Blog is not Agog
Bob suggested I check out the hdradiofarce blog so I did. As one reads the site, you find not all is rosy in HD Radio's crusade to convince the public of its importance. Here are a few comments cited from various other sources which reading hdradiofarce led me to:
"The HD rollout seems to have gotten caught in a bit of a Catch-22. With every passing month, I’m sensing a larger number of industry insiders growing more apprehensive about the rollout and whether HD-R technology can or will ultimately succeed." - Guy Wire at rwonline.com (pseudonym)
"HD Radio has been around for three years now, and last year there were perhaps a couple of hundred thousand sold. If the rate of sales had accelerated this year we probably would have read about it. However, the HD Alliance has been rather quiet on sales lately. Let’s face it, as new-tech toy sales go, HD Radio sales have been a dud." - Richard Harker at fmqb.com
"Could the cracks in the HD Radio picture be starting to show? Is there a change underway in the mindset of radio industry execs that HD Radio - as it is being positioned - is not the answer to radio's future? There are signs that this facade may be coming to a close... The writing has been on the wall for HD Radio since its inception..." - Audiographics.com
These are just a few examples of an undercurrent of dismayed opinion from professionals who have followed HD Radio, its impact and ramifications.
I alluded to HD Radio’s potentially anemic contribution to the future of radio in a recent article called "Top 10 Milestones in Modern Radio" when I stated in the introduction:
"You will also notice I did not include HD Radio on this list. Proponents of HD Radio will strongly disagree with me. But, I personally do not think its development is as significant as the other technologies on this list in terms of where Radio is headed."
Less Receivers = Less Listeners
I think it is important to keep in mind that for all of HD Radio’s positive press (inspired by press releases from iBiquity Digital Corporation - the technology’s developer - trade groups like the HD Radio Alliance, and the radio stations who have invested in the equipment) it is meaningless unless a reasonable amount of radio users buy into the concept and actually purchase receivers. As Guy Wire wrote at rwonline.com:
"Lots of HD Radio naysayers tend to favor the status quo. Just because it's digital doesn't mean it's better, they say. Analog AM is still receivable on radios made over 80 years ago. Over 500 million of them still serve their owners well in this country alone."
