# HD Radio - Growing or Dying?



## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

I was pleased last year when I added and HD Radio module to my car stereo. There were several sub-channels available in Tucson and 3 stations on AM that broadcast in HD Stereo. I've noticed the stations dropping the subchannels slowly and realized today that there is only one FM station that continues to broadcast a sub-channel. On the AM side, there remains one station broadcasting music (and it sounds great). So it appears that the Tucson market is no longer utilizing the HD spectrum. I've travelled through Phoenix and Los Angeles and enjoy listening to the variety that is still available. 

So is your market growing HD stations or are you losing them?


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

Constant here.

We have quite a lot of HD stations and most have a few substations.

I love HD Radio, the sound is so good on some stations it is amazing.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

While the *concept* of "HD Radio" (meaning: digital radio) is good, the execution was HORRIBLE. Radio has been a "portable" thing for almost a century, but the FCC awarded the contract for digital radio encryption to a single company, using their proprietary (read: expensive) encryption chip that requires too much power to make small portable radios feasable.

Then, the early HD radio models released were hugely expensive and had low sensitivity, and were all fairly large. And given that the biggest driver for radio is the car, it would make sense that HD radio would have been designed around car radios, but the folks in charge did a horrible job working with car companies and aftermarket radio manufacturers, so there was very little product and very low sales.

HD radio isn't free for broadcasters, and certainly programming additional channels costs money, so if there isn't anyone to listen to your feed, why spend the money to produce it? That's what happened to HD radio.

HD radio should have been an open standard with minimal licensing, and it could have been a big success, but unfortunately, I think it's going to die.


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

from the ads I hear I think channels just stable here.. see less ads for the hardware now tho..

Personaly I never saw the use for it in a noisy automobile.. I'd rather listen to my CDs or MP3s anyways..


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

With the expenses in mind, I don't understand the benefit to broadcasters. Most sub-channels I've heard were commercial free. They are basically competing against themselves with, sometimes, a superior product. KLPX in Tucson was using the same basic playlist on their sub-channel sans the commercials. It has long since been shut down.


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## max1 (Aug 12, 2005)

In omaha there are not that many hd 2 stations maybe 4 or 5-and it hasn't grown. I sent an e-mail to star 104.5 and see if they could do like an all 80's channel-and the response i got was we cant afford to do it. Got same response from other stations. I will stick with i pod-and i p hone-i can stream cbs radio,I heart Radio and listen to other stations. I hooked up a portable speaker to I phone and it sounds great. So i would say Hd radio in our area is a bust-I hope they add more but doubt it.


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

It looks like in the San Diego market we have 21 HD channels available. But I have to admit, I had to Google it to find out. I have seen virtually no advertising for HD here, and oddly enough, the main terrestrial station I listen to has an HD component, but they never mention it on the analog side, and I certainly don't recall seeing it on their web site.

Go figure....


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

BattleZone said:


> While the *concept* of "HD Radio" (meaning: digital radio) is good, the execution was HORRIBLE. Radio has been a "portable" thing for almost a century, but the FCC awarded the contract for digital radio encryption to a single company, using their proprietary (read: expensive) encryption chip that requires too much power to make small portable radios feasable.
> 
> Then, the early HD radio models released were hugely expensive and had low sensitivity, and were all fairly large. And given that the biggest driver for radio is the car, it would make sense that HD radio would have been designed around car radios, but the folks in charge did a horrible job working with car companies and aftermarket radio manufacturers, so there was very little product and very low sales.
> 
> ...


Yes but it is changing. Now there are portable players with HD radio (like the Zune) and more auto manufactures are having it standard or as an upgrade. The home players are also small now and coming way down in price. A lot of higher end receivers come with it built in.

It is a very good technology, it does sound sooo much better even in the car than regular radio.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

If you go to www.hdradio.com, you get the impression that HD Radio is growing. However, the general public is either unaware of its existence or treats it as a novelty. The industry has not done a good job of promoting HD Radio, and the cost of receivers and tuners acts as a deterrent. For example, the site lists only two tuners under $100 for upgrading existing home systems: one by Insignia (Best Buy) and one by Sony. Of the two, the Insignia tuner seems to have better spec's. Although most of the major HT receiver manufacturers have models with built-in HD radio tuners, they are pricey.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

I just bought the Insignia tuner from Best Buy, and it is really nice. Sound is excellent (both analog and digital), and it picks up all our Little Rock stations great. We havent gained or lost any subchannels since Ive had it. Enjoy falling asleep to the commercial free music.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Cholly said:


> If you go to www.hdradio.com, you get the impression that HD Radio is growing. However, the general public is either unaware of its existence or treats it as a novelty. The industry has not done a good job of promoting HD Radio, and the cost of receivers and tuners acts as a deterrent. For example, the site lists only two tuners under $100 for upgrading existing home systems: one by Insignia (Best Buy) and one by Sony. Of the two, the Insignia tuner seems to have better spec's. Although most of the major HT receiver manufacturers have models with built-in HD radio tuners, they are pricey.


Is 1080P HD radio any better then 1080i HD radio?

I'm in the NYC area and the ONLY advertising I have heard for HD Radio was the local all news channel CBS880. I'm sure there must be more but they sure aren't promoting it.

"Music" Radio in general is going the way of the newspaper what with MP3 players and the like.


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

Here they advertise it a lot, but not as "HD Radio". They just say that they are broadcasting in HD. 

I think most just don't understand you need a different tuner and such to get the "HD" version.


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

I remember several years ago, before I went satellite, the local station started touting they were the first station to go "All HD".

What they meant of course was that they have completely converted all music to digital and it was stored on *H*ard *D*rives.


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## kc1ih (May 22, 2004)

Another plus is that the FCC just approved a four-fold increase in the power level of the HD sidebands. Don't expect any immediate change because most stations will have to purchase and install new equipment to implement the change, but it will result in better reception, especially if you are on the edge of the signal area.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

This is sad to read. I bought a JVC head unit for my Jeep several years ago and loved it. When I traded that in for a 2009 Escape under Cash for Clunkers last summer, I pulled it since the Jeep was headed for the scrap heap anyway and I gave it to a friend. 

Ford was supposed to include HD radio in all new models after about 2007, but then Sync came along. Sync is great, but now I'm stuck with Sirius as the only broadcast alternative to AM/FM and there's no way I'm paying $12.95 a month for radio. The whole point of having a radio in the car is the local nature of it - weather, traffic, and local events. Satellite radio is useless for that. There is supposed to still be an HD module that can be added to the Sync unit, but if HD is dying, I guess I'll pass. BattleZone is absolutely correct about the way it was implemented.


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## kc1ih (May 22, 2004)

I would take the statement that HD is dying rather subjectively. I think to some extent it depends where you are, it seems to be doing better in bigger markets, and the power boost will probably help there.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'll say it again, the problem with radio is not the audio quality. The problem is the over-reliance on cheesy commercials, tight playlists and goofy, talky DJs. Compared to an iPod, commercial radio is a poor substitute. 

I do not have an HD radio, because I do not listen to radio stations that claim to play music (although it would be equally valid to say that they play commercials occasionally interrupted by music.)


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I'll say it again, the problem with radio is not the audio quality. The problem is the over-reliance on cheesy commercials, tight playlists and goofy, talky DJs. Compared to an iPod, commercial radio is a poor substitute.
> 
> I do not have an HD radio, because I do not listen to radio stations that claim to play music (although it would be equally valid to say that they play commercials occasionally interrupted by music.)


Yup. Most just listen to radio because they are forced to in the car if they do not pay for extras like iPod docks or CDs, etc. It is easy to just flip on the radio.

I have HD/Sirius/iPod/Local Hard Drive in the car and flip between them all depending on my mood. Local HD radio is nice at times, but gets repetative usually. Sirius is fun, but can get dull at times too. iPod and the Local Hard drive are unlimited but limited to what I own and put on them, so hard to find new music at times.


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## MikeW (May 16, 2002)

Cholly said:


> If you go to www.hdradio.com, you get the impression that HD Radio is growing. However, the general public is either unaware of its existence or treats it as a novelty.


They do not keep the site updated. There are several stations listed for Tucson that no longer broadcast in HD. I would have thought it was due to something like equipment maintenance, but the fact is most of them have been off for more than 6-9 months.

I sent an e-mail to their "contact-us" link and got a message back for what appeared to be a live human within a half-hour. He said he would look into it. Never heard back.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Stuart, we have two HD stations here that play music (same music they play on their FM analog channel) but with no commercials at all, except for the top of the hour station ID. That was the biggest reason I bought it. I have XM in my work truck, because I detest changing stations every hour while driving across the state through the mountains, but HD radio at home is great. I hope it survives. I also listen to the "commercial" version of the same station driving to and from work in my car, so their commercials are getting my ear, even though I dont listen to them at home, so they arent losing any ad money in my case.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

The number has been climbing steadily. Here in CE we currently have 42 HD channels.

I think it will continue to grow.

Mike


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

TBlazer07 said:


> Is 1080P HD radio any better then 1080i HD radio?
> 
> I'm in the NYC area and the ONLY advertising I have heard for HD Radio was the local all news channel CBS880. I'm sure there must be more but they sure aren't promoting it.
> 
> "Music" Radio in general is going the way of the newspaper what with MP3 players and the like.


1080 p and 1080i have nothing to do with HD radio. They areresolutions associated with HD TV. 1080i is the standard used by most TV broadcasters stands for 1080 pixels/line, interlaced scanning). 1080p (1080 pixels/line, progressive scanning) is not used in broadcast TV, but is supported primarily in Blu-ray movie DVD's.

Music radio is far from dead. Granted, the best music radio stations are publicly supported (PBS affiliates). You also see a lot of stations that subscribe to canned program services. More and more, stations stick to a specific genre of music - pop, metal, classic rock for example. Jazz and classical are generally found on the non-commercial stations or on HD radio.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I'm resurrecting this old thread to put in a plug for HD Radio. Last October, I was able to get an Insignia HD Radio turner from Newgenoutlet.com. A Best Buy product, it is no longer carried in their stores. Like Davenlr, I'm very pleased with it. There are quite a few FM and AM stations in the Charlotte area that provide HD Radio feeds. For the most part they replicate their regular broadcasts, but some also have special interest programming. I listen to the HD feeds of two local NPR stations: WDAV HD-1, which simulcasts its regular FM classical programming, and WFAE HD-2, which is Charlotte's only all jazz source. This, combined with Pandora (obtained via my internet-ready TV and Blu-ray players) has enabled me to drop my subscription for 4 XM satellite radios, and save a bundle of cash.
Yamaha, Denon, Marantz and Sherwood all make home theater receivers with HD Radio capability, and there still are many vendors of car radios with HD radio capability.


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