"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...

Yes, but that wasn't the comparision. How much had been spent on HD radio
content compared to how much had been spent on IBOC hardware?

A lot of stations simply beileve having the manin analog channel content
available in digital is a good gain, which is why less than half the HD
staitons have inititiated HD2 broadcasts.

Those of us who have some HD2 content have spent lots more on content... our
Tejano network on HD2 in Texas speands more on talent in a month than the
cost of each conversion.

And, to get to the point, there would have been good promotional value if
the HD radio early adoptors had something special to listen to, and maybe
brag about.

In some areas, the digital ability to reduce multipath is worth a great
deal.

But people have to at least hear the radios to appreciate any difference.
The market for "crystal clear" simulcasts at high prices is obviously and
predictably small. Better radios at lower prices and worthwhile HD radio
programming would have sold plenty more radios.

Personally, I don't think the HD Alliance campaign is very good... it's
about the creative more than the content. There are plenty of opportunities
to find classical, jazz and other non-duplicated formats on HD2's... country
in NY being a good example.

Not to say that I have any idea if such a rollout would have been worth
it.
The idea of putting more channels on the air without a corresponding
increase in overall listenership and advertising revenues seems
problematical to me but I'm just some guy with a radio, hearing the damn
noise nobody listens to.

I think the justification is in avoiding erosion to other media... yes, it
will fragment the audience, but it the end result is to keep existing
listeners on terrestrial radio, the fragmentation is a small cost.

The ads were on the air and from the radio buying public's point of view,
it
doesn't matter how they were paid for.

Yes, we agree here. But the earlier comments indicated that money was
spent... it was not. And, again, I thought the campaigns have failed to do
anything to make HD appealing. But I am not in the HD Alliance, so my
opinion is worth about what it costs to read it....