On Nov 21, 7:10 am, D Peter Maus wrote:
IBOCcrock wrote:
On Nov 21, 4:11 am, "Brenda Ann" wrote:
I just received this forward from my friend Pat. The name has been redacted
for privacy purposes.
******** Begin quotation***********
Some interesting conversations recently...
First is with a salesman at the Best Buy auto radio department. I asked if
there was any call for HD Radios. Took him a minute to figure what I meant,
but after he understood his answer was no. It seems this specific Best Buy
has not sold even one of them. None were on display. It's a very busy
store in the corridor between Boston and Providence.
Similar conversation at two local Radio Shacks. No interest, didn't
remember any sold.
Chatting with a guy who works in a local sandwich shop. Early 20's and
would like to work in radio. He was well aware of what HD Radio was and
called it a scam. Bear in mind that he would like to ba an announcer and
has no technical interest at all. His quote was pretty much that radio
sounds fine now and why would he spend the money for something that will
give no improvement. My question to him was what he thought about HD Radio.
Nothing that would lead him in one direction or another. He was much more
negative about HD Radio than I would have expected, and also differentiated
it from HDTV for which he had praise.
There has been a fairly big deal made about the fact that Ford now offers a
dealer installed HD Radio. What they have ignored is the Ford Sync that is
standard in some Focus models, among others. This offers voice-controlled
iPod and other audio choices, but *no* HD Radio. This is a factory-equipped
option and not something the dealer has to do. Seems like Ford isn't really
behind HD Radio after all. Just tossing iBiquity a very small bone.
Local WPRO-630 has had the IBOC turned off for quite a while. And a couple
other local IBOC stations don't decode well at all, even in the city grade
coverage.
I don't see any big interest in IBOC developing for this holiday season.
Maybe even less than last year, if that's possible.
The Fat Lady is warming up in the wings, and she's in analog.
****** *******
Providence, RI
********* End quotation**********
--
Say no to institutionalized interference.
Just say NO to HD/IBOC!
"There has been a fairly big deal made about the fact that Ford now
offers a
dealer installed HD Radio. What they have ignored is the Ford Sync
that is
standard in some Focus models, among others. This offers voice-
controlled
iPod and other audio choices, but *no* HD Radio. This is a factory-
equipped
option and not something the dealer has to do. Seems like Ford isn't
really
behind HD Radio after all. Just tossing iBiquity a very small bone."
Here's the scoop on that deal:
http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/200...sus-fords-deal...
Again, with upwards of half a billion dollars in promotion already
invested, and the R & D costs, don't expect iBiquity or Radio to give up
on IBOC easily. Neither seems concerned at the fact that the public has
no interest.
But remember that the Powell FCC mandated that all new modulation
schemes for broadcast be digital.
That, alone, is enough to keep the IBOC flame burning for years to
come. And it's only a matter of time before someone begins the push for
the transition to all digital broadast.
This product is a farce. And the word 'scam' seems to apply more each
day. But there's now much too much invested for either iBiquity, or the
Radio industry to simply cut their losses and run. Eventually, they'll
either embark on a promotional tack that keys on what the public is
REALLY interested in, or they'll push for a mandated exit of analog
broadcasting, as they're doing in the UK. With mixed results, btw.
Expect the latter.
The IBOC issue isn't dead by a long shot. With the public it's going
nowhere. But Radio has been, for a number of years, now, openly
uninterested in what the listener wants. Radio does what RADIO wants.
And listeners...well, they're just numbers on a grid.
If the listeners' interests were REALLY an issue, half of Fort Worth
wouldn't have been blown off the map by tornadoes while the an
unsuspecting public was listening to unattended radio stations.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
"A Significant Sign in the Death of HD Radio"
"The radio industry is giving off signs that HD Radio is dead, even
though we keep hearing bright comments being uttered by iBiquity
execs... While the public's pulse on HD isn't beating, the latest
glaze over this problem is in a rebuilt HD Radio Alliance web site to
educate retailers and sales personnel on the benefits of HD
Radio...This is death sign #1... HD Radio's death is imminent. It's
only a matter of time, if you read the signs."
http://www.audiographics.com/agd/102607-1.htm
"IBiquity sees digital radio signaling changes to come"
"The company has yet to turn a profit and does not expect to do so in
2007 or 2008, Struble said... Mass marketing and consumer adoption is
the last hurdle, Struble said... Representatives of investment firms
that have spots on iBiquity's board of directors could not be reached
for comment, but Struble said they are excited about the progress the
company is making. The focus is not on exit strategies yet, he said."
http://tinyurl.com/3don5y
"Bellwether BE Makes Some Changes?"
"BE is going through some less pleasant changes right now. Within a
few weeks' time the manufacturer of transmitters and digital audio and
data products lost its global sales VP; it laid off some of its
employees; and it announced the retirement of its CEO of eight years,
John Pedlow -- news that came, at least to me, suddenly... It's
probably no secret that the rate of HD Radio adoption has slowed in
the United States. There are new opportunities that exist in other
countries; Mexico and Brazil come to mind; sales there are few but
promising. The whole industry is in a bit of a null in the HD
transition but I don't think anyone's long-term plans have changed."
http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.9546.html
"Have 200 HD Radio stations gone missing?"
"The HD Radio camp is advertising that there are currently over 1,500
radio stations now broadcasting in HD (from its website, to press
releases as well as in various other promotions)... but yet only 1,300
have filed with the FCC."
http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/ha...e-missing.html
"IS IBIQUITY RENEGING ON A REBATE OFFER?"
"CGC #791 mentioned a limited-time price for the entry-level
Radiosophy HD100 digital radio receiver and there was a handsome
rebate offered from iBiquity. It now appears that iBiquity's rebate
contractor is balking on issuing some rebates, and we'd like to
determine the extent of the problem... We'll let you know if
significant trends develop."
http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2007/cgc807.htm
"Time of Reckoning Nears for HD Radio"
"With a Stalled Rollout and Little Support From the Big Three, Are
Industry Insiders Starting to Doubt HD? 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."
http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0048/t.9030.html
"Is HD Radio Toast?"
"There are serious issues of coverage. Early adopters who bought HD
radios report serious drop-outs, poor coverage, and interference. The
engineers of Ibiquity may argue otherwise and defend the system, but
the industry has a serious
PR problem with the very people we need to
get the word out on HD... In other words, everything you can find on
the regular FM dial... The word has already gotten out about HD Radio.
People who have already bought an HD Radio are telling others of their
experience (mostly bad) and no amount of marketing will reverse this."
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=487772
"HD Radio - Wherefore Art Thou?"
"Just contemplate that thought for a second before moving on, because
there's something around the corner that may cripple HD Radio far
worse than lackluster consumer interest, or inability to get the
product on store shelves. Second's up. If the push to make broadcast
radio pay the same exorbitant fees for "performance royalties" that
internet radio is facing wins, every side-channel that's in this rush
to HD will be included in the invoice. How's that for an HD Radio
killer?"
http://www.audiographics.com/agd/080207-1.htm