"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."
 

"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."

You can't make this stuff up.

How would you like it if one you believed to be a business partner did
an about face and supported the very thing your industry is fighting
against?

Memo to terrestrial radio: iBiquity and the HD Radio Alliance just
double-crossed you.

The dynamic duo closed their dismal year by firing off a letter to the
FCC on December 20 urging that if the merger between XM and Sirius
satellite radio companies is approved - HD Radios must be included in
all satellite receivers.

Riiiiight!

That means when terrestrial radio promotes HD Radio it'll be pushing
satellite radio, too.

iBiquity's management and legal team also managed to meet with some
lower-level FCC staffers just before the Christmas break in an attempt
to grease...er... plead their case.

Poor NAB boss Fumbles. He doesn't even have juice to meet with the
entry level types at the Commission. He'll always be a mouse studying
to be a rat.

Does it astound you as much as it does me that at the NAB convention
last September -enemy numero uno was still XM and Sirius - and that
proposed merger had to be stopped at all costs?
Unlike Fumbles' NAB, which vehemently opposes the merger, iBiquity and
the HD Radio Alliance - that purportedly serves terrestrial radio
owners - evidently does not.

Should the merger be approved iBiquity wants to obstruct the company
from any exclusive arrangements with suppliers, retailers, and car
makers. They claim that not doing so would provide the merged company
a major advantage over HD Radio.

Peter "Sgt. Bilk-o" Ferrara and his HD Radio Alliance troop already
know that their product roll-out ought to be rolled-up and tossed away
- but there's too much money at stake for those in the deal to leave
on the table even though HD Radio's outcome is fated.

After stealing the stove - he'd come back for the smoke.

iBiquity argues in that a "combined XM-Sirius could be in a better
position to hamper their ability to introduce HD Radio technology into
the marketplace."

Introduce?

Let me read to you a portion of a press release from HD Radio Alliance
issued on April 10, 2006: "In response to a surge in consumer demand
for HD Digital Radio(tm) receivers, three major retailers now plan to
offer HD Digital Radios in their stores nationwide beginning this
month and have announced sweeping marketing and education campaigns to
support new customers....."

Seventeen months later and you're still introducing your product?

How many products has Steve Jobs announced during the same time frame?

I have to add include this line from that April '06 press release -
just to rub it in - where it described HD Radio as "...what promises to
be the biggest trend in consumer entertainment since the advent of FM
radio."

So, let's say that in iBiquity's blue sky universe users could choose
from both satellite and HD Radio.

No one will argue that when you can pick up and listen to a
terrestrial radio station that the quality is close to and competitive
with satellite radio. But have you ever listened to the sound of HD
Radio side channels?

It's somewhere between AM and present-day FM. That is, when you can
receive them.

XM has exclusive deals with GM, Honda, and Nissan, and Audiovox's Terk
Electronics distribution, which also distributes Sirius satellite
antennas.

Sirius has exclusives with Ford, BMW, and Mercedes Benz automakers,
retail outlet Radio Shack, and Direct Electronics, which also
distributes premium sound systems and vehicle security.

In response to the latest laughable HD Radio demand, XM and Sirius
responded in a joint statement saying, "This is evident from the
strong support our merger has received from a broad array of
businesses and organizations. iBiquity's own filing highlights
satellite radio's competition with HD radio," and calling iBiquity's
latest scheme, "...nothing more than a self-interested attempt to use
the regulatory process to promote HD radio's market share in this
highly competitive landscape."

You know, I could've sworn that the HD Radio Alliance claimed that a
number of retail locations - including the top retailer in America -
sold HD Radios.

Bilk-o's not what one would call a details guy. He disregards facts.
Here's another one. Most dealerships that offer exclusivity to one
system also sell after-market satellite radios of its competitor. A
friend who's a Honda dealer pushes XM and contractually required to do
so. But the same dealership also sells after-market Sirius units for
customers that prefer their offerings.
*
I'm certain car dealers would find shelf space for HD Radios, too.
That is, if anyone would buy 'em.

Bilk-o can't come to grips with the fact that more ahooga horns were
sold for cars last year than HD Radios.

I'll give him credit for one thing. He's made iBiquity and HD Radio's
technical hi-jinks incessant radio industry blog fodder for the past
year.

We'll pay very close attention to next week's Consumer Electronics
Show in Vegas to witness the response HD Radio receives there.

In a world of silk purses, HD Radio is a sow's ear.

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/...bilk-o-in.html

"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."
 

"IBOCcrock" wrote in message
...
"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."

You can't make this stuff up.

How would you like it if one you believed to be a business partner did
an about face and supported the very thing your industry is fighting
against?

Memo to terrestrial radio: iBiquity and the HD Radio Alliance just
double-crossed you.

The dynamic duo closed their dismal year by firing off a letter to the
FCC on December 20 urging that if the merger between XM and Sirius
satellite radio companies is approved - HD Radios must be included in
all satellite receivers.

Riiiiight!

That means when terrestrial radio promotes HD Radio it'll be pushing
satellite radio, too.


No, what it actually means is that satellite radios, finally getting to a
decent price point, will have to add IBOC, which will bring that price point
back up a minimum of $100, and force consumers to buy something they don't
want, and are ignoring in droves.

And before someone says something about FM... nobody EVER forced
manufacturers to put FM on all the AM radios they built or sold.
(interesting, that, though, considering that they HAVE required, in turn,
UHF tuners, CATV tuners and ATSC tuners in television sets (at least above
the 13" size) over the years.)

"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."
 

On Jan 4, 6:51 pm, "Brenda Ann" wrote:
"IBOCcrock" wrote in message

...





"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."

You can't make this stuff up.

How would you like it if one you believed to be a business partner did
an about face and supported the very thing your industry is fighting
against?

Memo to terrestrial radio: iBiquity and the HD Radio Alliance just
double-crossed you.

The dynamic duo closed their dismal year by firing off a letter to the
FCC on December 20 urging that if the merger between XM and Sirius
satellite radio companies is approved - HD Radios must be included in
all satellite receivers.

Riiiiight!

That means when terrestrial radio promotes HD Radio it'll be pushing
satellite radio, too.

No, what it actually means is that satellite radios, finally getting to a
decent price point, will have to add IBOC, which will bring that price point
back up a minimum of $100, and force consumers to buy something they don't
want, and are ignoring in droves.

And before someone says something about FM... nobody EVER forced
manufacturers to put FM on all the AM radios they built or sold.
(interesting, that, though, considering that they HAVE required, in turn,
UHF tuners, CATV tuners and ATSC tuners in television sets (at least above
the 13" size) over the years.)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Satrad doesn't even support interoperable receivers:

"Satellite Radio Facing Bankruptcy?"

"Satellite radio companies have been suffering heavy losses - and
plunging stock prices - even as they continue to add subscribers. And
a front-page story in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal warns that the
worst may be yet to come... Industry leader XM Satellite Radio
Holdings Inc. lost $667 million last year, and rival Sirius Satellite
Radio Inc. lost $863 million. The big losses have shaken investor
confidence in the industry. XM shares have lost 71 percent of their
value this year, and Sirius shares have lost 51 percent... For one
thing, a substantial number of people who buy vehicles with pre-
installed satellite radios don't activate them, nor do many who
receive a radio as a gift. It's estimated that 10 percent of all store-
bought radios given as gifts during the last holiday season were never
activated. Also, those who do subscribe often abandon the service
after a period of time, some switching to iPod adapters to provide
music in their vehicle."

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/...5/175258.shtml

"Regarding the Technical Aspects of the SDARS Providers XM and Sirius"

"There are significant differences in certain technical aspects of the
two SDARS systems as deployed by XM and Sirius. The systems as
currently deployed are not interoperable. That is to say, an XM
receiver cannot receive the Sirius signal and vice versa. Thus, as is
true today, if the proposed merger of XM and Sirius were consummated,
consumers would still need to purchase a new interoperable receiver in
order to receive the signals of both providers. These differences in
system operation, function, and structure make the design and
implementation of a single unified and interoperable receiver both
complex and expensive. In fact, both XM and Sirius have been working
in a joint venture to develop an interoperable radio since 2000. At
this time, no interoperable radios have been introduced into
commercial production."

http://tinyurl.com/2kek8t

It's a no-go, anyway...

"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."
 

In article
,
IBOCcrock wrote:

"Radio: You don't want HD Radio's Bilk-o in your foxhole."

You can't make this stuff up.

How would you like it if one you believed to be a business partner did
an about face and supported the very thing your industry is fighting
against?

Memo to terrestrial radio: iBiquity and the HD Radio Alliance just
double-crossed you.

The dynamic duo closed their dismal year by firing off a letter to the
FCC on December 20 urging that if the merger between XM and Sirius
satellite radio companies is approved - HD Radios must be included in
all satellite receivers.

Riiiiight!

That means when terrestrial radio promotes HD Radio it'll be pushing
satellite radio, too.

Snip

Whatever. In any event I don't know about other people but I'm hearing
more HD radio commercials on AM besides the HD - BMW car commercials.
They sound lame and unconvincing.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California