Thoughts on HD radio

[editor]

Thanks to a neighbor with a far more interesting life than mine, I am the proud borrower of an HD radio.

As some of you know, I had satellite radio until recently, so it's an interesting opportunity to compare the two for a while until I have to give it back.

I've only had it two days, so here are my initial impressions:

• I get about 30 more radio stations than I used to. About 20 of them are HD subchannels. For the radio nerds, I've attached a list of the stations I'm pulling in and their formats. Italicized stations are HD-only.
  
• I don't have great hearing, but even I can tell that FM sounds better in HD than in regular FM.
  
• I am surprised how good AM HD sounds. I'd say it's just barely below FM quality.
  
• I hear ZERO compression artifacts or digital trash even on frequencies carrying three stations.
  
• I am no longer interested in listening to AM stations that aren't in HD, even if the content is good.
  
• Distance doesn't seem to affect the HD signal all that much. I get HD signals out of Detroit and Cincinnati as well as a few locals.
  
• Most of the HD-only stations are commercial free (for now), which is nice.
  
• It's nice to see a few niche formats on the HD subchannels, but for the most part the formats are a lot of what we already had with FM.
  

Do I think HD radio will kill satellite radio? No. I think there's enough room for both. In terms of program quality, satellite radio is still streets ahead. I think this is primarily because there is one monolithic organization choosing formats, wheras terrestrial radio is a hodge-podge of what you can receive and what your local programmers want to play.

In terms of sound quality, I'd say HD radio is far better than satellite. FM-HD is a little flat compared to regular FM, but you don't hear the compression at all. Satellite radio sounds compressed (both digitally and in processing) by comparison.

I think eventually all radio stations will be HD. I see no reason why not. It's an opportunity for the average FM station to add two new revenue streams, or one new stream and expand the audience for a sister AM station. And it's only a matter of time before HD radios become standard in new cars and eventually they'll spread to the home.

Of course, I thought the same thing about AM Stereo, and I'm the only person I know with an AM Stereo-capable radio.

HDRadioList.pdf

[Mark F. Barnes]

If you really want to try some really great sounds, try Pandora. Pandora is free and the sound is incredible.

www.pandora.com

Eventually FM and AM are going to disappear with the rest of the analog by 2012 if I understand the shut down process correctly. 2009 will be the analog low power VHF. and every year a little more until they clean up all the bands.

Pandora is great on the iPhone

[editor]

If you really want to try some really great sounds, try Pandora. Pandora is free and the sound is incredible.

www.pandora.com

I've used Pandora on and off for a couple of years. It's OK, but it's not radio -- it's a jukebox. Not the same thing, but nice for a change.

Eventually FM and AM are going to disappear with the rest of the analog by 2012 if I understand the shut down process correctly. 2009 will be the analog low power VHF. and every year a little more until they clean up all the bands.

I think you've been traveling too much. 2012 was a proposed date for analog radio shut down in the UK (since pushed to 2015), but nothing has been proposed here in the States. Full-power analog TV goes away in the U.S. in February, 2009 with low-power TV to follow some time later. I haven't heard a thing about dumping analog radio in America, and I'd be surprised if such a movement was afoot with all the pains taken to make HD Radio IBOC (104.7=104.7) instead of being on its own channels (104.7=633.2), which was originally proposed.

After the Eureka 147 fiasco in Canada (there's just one station left, and no new receivers to hear it) I think it will be a while before another all-digital radio standard is attempted in North America.

[Mr. Chenevert]

I said 5 years ago that HD radio will eventually kill satellite radio. One is free, one is subscription, both offer similar service.

However, it looks like satellite radio my kill itself before HD radio gets its chance...

[editor]

I said 5 years ago that HD radio will eventually kill satellite radio. One is free, one is subscription, both offer similar service.

However, it looks like satellite radio my kill itself before HD radio gets its chance...

I still think there will be room for both, simply because there won't be coordination among the HD radio stations so there will be a lot of duplication there while satellite will still be able to pick up the niche markets.

Actually, let me be more specific -- satellite will be able to pick up the NATIONAL niches like blues and folk. But HD radio is a great opportunity for local radio stations to serve local niches.

For example, a Jazz station in New Orleans playing all-Zydeco on one sub-channel and all-Creole on another.

Or a station in northern Maine offering French service on one of its subchannels.

Or a station in Boston carrying Irish news and music on one of its subchannels.

Or a Polish station in Chicago carrying Baltic news and music on one of its subchannels.

Or a Mexican station in Houston carrying music from Guatemala/Ecuador/Central America on one of its subchannels.

There's lots of ways that HD radio can do some real good. I suspect it won't meet its full potential, though, simply because too many station operators will try to do the same things. Just like regular radio.

I did a little research and it turns out that if the stations ever decide to give up their analog signals, they can have seven channels for each FM station and three for each AM. That would increase the number of available radio station x9, again assuming they're not all playing the same thing.

[memebag]

Is there a local HD 1940s or reggae channel? Until there is, satellite gets my vote. And $15/month is cheap enough for me to never hear commercials on the music channels.

[editor]

Is there a local HD 1940s or reggae channel?

Google it to find out. Let us all know what you learn.

Until there is, satellite gets my vote. And $15/month is cheap enough for me to never hear commercials on the music channels.

There are currently no commercials on the HD subchannels. And at $15/month, you've paid for an HD radio in seven months. After that, it's gravy instead of paying $15 a month for the rest of your life, plus rate increases.

[memebag]

Google it to find out. Let us all know what you learn.

There aren't.

There are currently no commercials on the HD subchannels. And at $15/month, you've paid for an HD radio in seven months. After that, it's gravy instead of paying $15 a month for the rest of your life, plus rate increases.

Really? I've read several websites that claim HD radio is full of commercials. If those sites are wrong, what's the business model for HD radio?

[20thStDad]

Wait, there are no commercials, and no monthly fee? I must have missed the part where it gets paid for.

[RWReagen]

One thing that bugs me about HD radio is that they advertise it implying that the HD stands for "high definition" whereas if I'm not mistaken the HD stands for "hybrid digital" referring to the transmission. It sounds better than analog yes but it seems a bit misleading. I personally have no interest in HD radio since it's mostly run by the same radio groups that are universally recognized for ruining regular radio. To me, it would just be more of the same but with better sound quality. And if there are not already, if it lasts, you can bet it will be filled with furniture and car dealership commercials all day. I'll stick with satrad until it dies out then after that who knows maybe in the not so distant future real wifi internet radio.

[editor]

Wait, there are no commercials, and no monthly fee? I must have missed the part where it gets paid for.

Currently most broadcasters are running their HD-2 and HD-3 channels commercial free in order to draw listeners. Of the 20 or so HD2 and HD3 stations I receive (listed above) the only ones that carry commercials are the ones that are retransmissions of AM stations on FM.

[editor]

One thing that bugs me about HD radio is that they advertise it implying that the HD stands for "high definition" whereas if I'm not mistaken the HD stands for "hybrid digital" referring to the transmission. It sounds better than analog yes but it seems a bit misleading.

Yeah, it's a little misleading. From what I recall of the history of the term "HD Radio" it was chosen to piggyback on the publicity from the shift of television to HD. While HD Radio is hybrid digital, so are a lot of other broadcasting methods, like FMX, CAM-D, and DRM+ that some stations use.

Whether the sound is "high definition" or not will forever be up for debate, same as it is for TV. But the sound quality is a very significant improvement, especially if you're used to listening to whistles and hash on AM. Of course, neither AM HD nor FM HD are as high quality as an SACD, but I don't recall that ever being promised.

I personally have no interest in HD radio since it's mostly run by the same radio groups that are universally recognized for ruining regular radio. To me, it would just be more of the same but with better sound quality. And if there are not already, if it lasts, you can bet it will be filled with furniture and car dealership commercials all day.

We can only hope. Right now it seems like the radio stations don't really know what to do with their channels, so how it ends up could be anyone's guess. One promising sign is that there are new networks of niche players starting up and renting time on the HD-2 and HD-3 channels in order to provide content not previously available. One example is the South Asian channel scheduled for Emmis stations WLUP-FM-HD3 (CHI), WQHT-HD3 (NY), and KPWR-HD3 (LA). It's a way for new broadcasters to get into the game. Whether this works long-term is way too soon to say.

From what I can tell, radio stations that were good before HD (in terms of content) are better after. There's a very well regarded adult rock station here that runs an HD-2 channel that focuses largely on new music and local bands.

I still think there is room for both HD Radio and satellite radio. Some people despise the notion of paying a monthly subscription fee to anyone for anything. I think HD Radio will appeal to those people, especially since radio prices are below $100 now and some models are as cheap as $40. Eventually I can see HD being available in all radios by default. Probably in the next three years or so.

I'll stick with satrad until it dies out

I don't blame you. I miss my Sirius.

then after that who knows maybe in the not so distant future real wifi internet radio.

But then you're back where you started -- commercials on the radio.

Really? I've read several websites that claim HD radio is full of commercials. If those sites are wrong, what's the business model for HD radio?

HD Radio is not a national service. Reading a web site discussing a particular radio station's HD content does not make it true for the rest of the country.

[memebag]

HD Radio is not a national service. Reading a web site discussing a particular radio station's HD content does not make it true for the rest of the country.

And the websites I read didn't say that. So what's the business model? How is it paying for itself?

[editor]

There aren't.

There. Was that so hard?

And the websites I read didn't say that. So what's the business model? How is it paying for itself?

Who says it's paying for itself? I didn't make that claim. It's probably losing money like satellite radio has done for years. Most new things do.

My guess is that right now it many of the commercial free channels are loss leaders.

But since it's not a national service with a single owner there doesn't have to be a single "business model." Some stations can make money by renting out their channels to third parties (ethnic groups, colleges, etc...). Others can make money by putting ads on them. Still others can keep them commercial-free as part of a larger package of programming and cross-promotion (this appears to be what WXRT-FM, WXRT-HD, and WXRT-HD2 are doing). Somewhere along the line some clever person will come up with another way.

I guess in that way, HD Radio is slightly more financially resilient than satellite radio. In sat radio, you have to make money off of your monthly subscription fees. That's it. HD Radio stations have a little more freedom to innovate their revenue streams. It will be interesting to see if it happens.

[foxmulder]

I said 5 years ago that HD radio will eventually kill satellite radio. One is free, one is subscription, both offer similar service.

However, it looks like satellite radio my kill itself before HD radio gets its chance...

Regardless of the "HD buzz" Siri Xm has 20 million subs...I doubt many of them would switch back to FM for the crappy service. SCREW FREE.(in this case) I don't need magic jack commercials nor do i want to hear what going on with sports. We pay for CABLE and sit watching 12-15 mins of commercials, Reg tv is decent.

[editor]

Regardless of the "HD buzz" Siri Xm has 20 million subs...I doubt many of them would switch back to FM for the crappy service. SCREW FREE.(in this case) I don't need magic jack commercials nor do i want to hear what going on with sports. We pay for CABLE and sit watching 12-15 mins of commercials, Reg tv is decent.

I haven't seen any hard numbers on satellite subscribers in a while. Not since both Sirius and XM got caught reporting new car buyers on demo subscriptions and radios in demo mode in auto dealer parking lots as "active" subscribers. But 20 million sounds about right.

Still, Sirius lost $525 million last year. There's only so many years in a row you can lose a half a billion dollars.

But this thread wasn't intended to be a satellite versus HD Radio debate. I love satellite radio. I was one of the very first subscribers. I like the HD Radio I was allowed to borrow for a time, but that may just be the "gadget glow" right now. It could wear off in a couple of weeks.

As I said before, there's room for both. At least I hope there is. The more choices, the better.