What's the deal with HD radio?

[Woochifer]

Wooch,

I have to disagree. For one, I listen to my tuner quite a bit and it's an old one too, with (gasp) a rotary dial and no presets. I've had fancier digital ones from Marantz and Onkyo, but this Nikko sounds quite good and cost me just $20. Of course, since I listen to classical most of the time, and I live in the LA area, I don't really change the station much. But long-story-short, I do listen to FM quite a bit, and would wager to guess that on an audio forum such as this one, you'd find quite a few people who own higher-end tuners and enjoy them plenty as well.

But, again you're in the minority. It's well documented that radio stations focus their programming towards the morning and afternoon "drive times" because these are exactly the times when you got the biggest audience and a captive one at that. I mean, when was the last time that you saw any home audio component manufacturer touting the features on their AM/FM tuner first?

When I'm at home, I generally like to pick the music myself. If I want someone else to pick the music for me, I'll tune into the XM feed thru Directv or tune to an internet station. Since corporate consolidation of radio stations started running rampant, I've pretty much tuned out of FM radio for the most part and I'm not alone -- the overall radio audience has declined continuously since the 1996 telecommunications act. Multicasting new and interesting music feeds might entice me to listen to more FM in the car, but at home my radio listening days are pretty much over. Too many more attractive options, plus I can always pick up a radio station's internet feed if I want more "local" content (that is, if the DJ's not some automaton beamed in from back east).

As for car audio, I disagree as well. That's where HD radio has been trying to compete and frankly, that's not been going well for them, has it? HD radio is a high-definition format, which by its name implies better sound. If people can't hear that, then why should they bother? In a car, they're not going to hear that. For me, and several other people I know who listen to classical music, the prospect of listening to distant radio stations with greater fidelity and less static is the very reason why HD radio remains on our radars.

As I pointed out to hifitommy, much of the sound quality benefit of HD Radio will likely get negated, since most radio stations use digital media servers (and presumably compressed audio files) and compress the dynamic range before it gets to the transmitter. If the HD Radio feed uses this same degraded source, you won't hear much of a sound quality improvement. Where I see the selling points for HD Radio are 1) multicasting - hearing multiple specialized feeds from a favorite radio station is an easy-to-demonstrate benefit and draws favorable comparisons with satellite radio; 2) better range with less static - THIS is where you'd hear the sound quality improvement in a car audio system.

The focus on car audio has everything to do with the fact that this is radio's biggest audience. Getting into the OEM car audio market from what I can see is HD Radio's make-or-break marketing push. If they don't get into the OEM car audio market, HD Radio will be a small niche product at best. And right now, HD Radio is competing with XM, Sirius, and the iPod, which have all made inroads into the OEM market.

I really believe that in addition to a pathetic marketing campaign, HD radio has been pushing in entirely the wrong markets. I, for one, am going to take a serious look at that Sangean player that Tommy suggested. At $150 it's still a bit pricey, but who knows, maybe I can find a used one for a much better price. I'm sorry that radio is not that important to you, but I know lots of people for who it is.

And these "lots of people" that you know still don't make up the majority of the market. In case you haven't noticed, the home audio component market is the most stagnant segment of the consumer electronics industry right now. If HD Radio wants to gain traction, they're much better off focusing their attention on the markets where there's growth and where there's an audience -- and that's in the mobile markets.

As I keep pointing out, the HD Radio marketing has been phenomenally successful with broadcasters, but it will only work with manufacturers if they see HD Radio as a money-making proposition (i.e., something that people want and will pay extra to get). Keep in mind that HD Radio can't even make a push into the portable devices market until it introduces low powered chipsets (presumably later this year), and as I've posted before, right now the sales of Apple's iPods alone total more than double the entire home audio component market.

What do you think would make more of a market impact? HD Radio getting onto all new home audio receivers? Or if HD Radio tuners made their way into all new OEM car audio systems? Or perhaps if HD Radio started making its way into MP3 players?

If the goal is to get as many HD Radio tuners into consumers' hands as possible, focusing on home audio is hardly the way to go since at home there are so many other options, and most people are loathe to spend more just to get an enhanced radio tuner. In the car, the entertainment options are more limited, and HD Radio has a better chance of getting noticed.

Come to think of it, what about the millions of small shop owners who don't want to pay for XM/Sirius or cable service? They're typically looking to minimize cost, right?

Two words: commercial-free (which is why many businesses will pay services like Muzak to provide the background music; plus there are ASCAP and BMI licensing issues associated with playing music in a public place of business)

And using a clock radio to play music throughout their stores really isn't an option. They would be much better served with a component-type tuner. Granted this isn't a hi-fi application, but a store is also not an environment where static and bad reception would be acceptable. Besides, they will usually already have some kind of amp and CD player set up, so adding a tuner is a no-brainer. What about assembly shops, manufacturing assembly lines, restaurant kitchens? Currently they are all listing to staticky FM.

Nope, they're listening to iPods.

The point is that there are lots of applications that the HD radio consortium is completely ignoring, to their detriment.

And I think that if they focus on the markets that you say they should, then that works to their detriment, because the mobile markets are where HD Radio has the strongest pitch. Convincing people to buy a separate HD Radio radio tuner is a hard sell when XM and Sirius have lower hardware costs (because they basically subsidize these costs), a XM/Sirius subscription brings a whole new programming palette to the consumer, and most people already have a AM/FM tuner on their system (i.e., how many people are going to pay extra for an enhanced version of what they already get for free?). Getting a HD Radio tuner with a new car purchase is a much easier step to getting consumers on board with HD Radio than convincing them to consciously go to a store and buy a new tuner or radio for their setup. People who get HD Radio with their new car are more apt to discovering the format's benefits and then seeking out other HD Radio devices for their home or office.