"Growing Resistance to HD Radio"

After feeling like I've been shouting into the wind alone for so long
about this, it's great to see others taking a critical perspective on
HD's fundamental flaws. Check the following blogs for lots of
information about this tainted technology, especially since these
folks are also doing an excellent job aggregating news coverage of the
issue:

Is HD Radio a Farce? - A good collection of information on what's
happening both within the radio industry and among consumers, who, by
and large, seem to be holding their noses once they get a whiff of
those "secret stations between frequencies."

HD Radio on the Medium Wave (AM) Band - An excellent, if somewhat
disorganized, collection of coverage about the increasing problems
with AM-HD interference.

Stop IBOC Now! - A coalition of broadcast engineers who are opposed to
the deployment of a "new and improved" technology which may, in
effect, destroy at least one of the broadcast bands. There's been
rumblings of dissatisfaction within the broadcast industry for a long
time now about the prospects of HD Radio, but this is the first quasi-
organized campaign of people who intimately understand the technology
and are well-aware of its shortfalls.

In related news, the "HD Radio Alliance" has committed to spending
another $230 million to market the technology to the public. This
brings the running-total of marketing expenditure for HD to $680
million. Note that this is not a direct cash outlay - the Alliance
(some of whom have already turned off their digital transmitters) is
counting airtime that they'll use to play pro-HD spots as part of
their expenditures.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the Digital Radio Co-ordinating group, a large
part of which includes the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has
issued a report recommending that Canadian stations not adopt the FM-
HD protocol. (Many Canadian stations have already gone digital with an
alternate system). According to the DRCG,

Based on the evidence currently in hand, the DRCG considers that it
would be risky for Canadian broadcasters to proceed at this time with
an unrestricted roll-out of HD Radio services in the FM band, in the
manner implemented in the US. There is no ground-swell of radio
listener interest in this technology so far and the lack of
inexpensive receivers, as well as unique new programming services,
continues to make it difficult to market HD Radio to the public in the
US.

The report also takes special note of iBiquity's proprietary control
over the HD standard: "iBiquity remains a 'gate-keeper' with respect
to who may produce products bearing the 'HD Radio' label, as well as
with respect to any future enhancements to the system. Time will tell
whether this departure from the norm with respect to broadcasting
standards will make it more complicated for regulators in different
countries to adopt HD Radio as a digital standard, voluntary or
otherwise."

http://diymedia.net/archive/1007.htm#102207

Ha! Ha! Eduardo!