On Feb 4, 4:33 pm, D Peter Maus wrote:
IBOCcrock wrote:
Doubtful, that there would ever be a mandate:

Don't count it out. FCC also said there would no digital only mandate
for DTV, too. Have you heard about Feb 17th, 2009?

The ONE thing we've been able to count on from FCC for some years,
now, is that they will do whatever it takes to maximize the confusion,
inconvenience, and abandonment of the broadcast consuming public to the
benefit of special interests.

Sanity is no longer in FCC DNA and hasn't been since before they cut
the balls off the AM Stereo momentum.

"To serve in the public interest as a public trustee," isn't even
paid lip service anymore. It's about the broadcaster. Not the public
interest.

It has been the goal of iBiquity and broadcasters in general to make
this move to all digital service. There have been decades of
technological development. Billions in investment. If HD Radio does not
catch on with the listening public, there will be enormous pressures on
both the Congress and FCC to move forward with an all digital mandate.

Don't think it can't happen. Don't believe their denials. They've
denied before. And done it anyway. This is a political agency, beholden
to a Congress in turn beholden to very high dollar special interests. An
FCC promise is meaningless.

The FCC is in the middle of a Congressional investigation - LOL!

"House Subcommittee To Investigate FCC"

"WASHINGTON -- December 4, 2007: House Commerce Committee Chairman
John Dingell (D-MI) told FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in a letter Monday
that he's concerned about 'procedural breakdowns' at the FCC and that
the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation
will be conducting a probe into the agency."

http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntr...&pt=todaysnews

"HD Radio on the Offense"

"But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing
HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with
the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate
scam, a huge carny shill."

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-0...on-the-offense

"Editorial on the recent approval of HD Radio (IBOC) in the USA"

"... the reason the big boys in the big markets are so pro IBOC is
because they like the hash as it wipes out distant signals getting
into their market. There is no way to stop skip, but if the IBOC hash
wipes the signal out, then the locals will have to listen to their
local station. Kind of like legal jamming. Considering that, then even
if the public does not buy the radios, keeping the IBOC signal might
be worth their while."

http://www.am-dx.com/amiboc.htm

"DEAD AIR: Radio's great leap forward stalling in the Valley"

"KMBH, the National Public Radio affiliate based in Harlingen,
switched to HD this year, but the change did not boost its
inconsistent analog signal in the upper Valley. Monsignor Pedro
Briseño, the manager of the station and its television affiliate, did
not return multiple calls and an e-mail requesting comment on the
station's shift. A fundraising campaign on the station asked local
listeners to contribute to the upgrade earlier this year, touting the
change as a service to listeners that would improve their experience.
The station's business manager said she could not reveal the cost of
the upgrade, saying all media requests have to be routed to Briseño. A
public information request faxed to the station Monday evening has not
yet received a response. Organizations that receive government funding
are subject to state and federal open records laws, but have seven
business days to respond to information requests."

http://www.themonitor.com/news/radio...gital_new.html

"HD Radio: Will More Awareness Translate To Sales?"

"Unfortunately, Ibiquity does not: Yes, they have gotten many radio
stations to make the $100,000 or so investment required to add HD
Radio broadcasting, but what the leave out of their PR spin is that
MANY of these stations were Public Radio/NPR stations that had their
equipment paid for by special funding from Congress. So tell me,
senior executives from, say, Sony, Mitsubishi, Best Buy, etc.: How do
you feel about Ibiquity''s lobbyists getting US taxpayers to pick up
the tab for many of their transmitter sales? Wouldn''t it be great if
your lobbyists could get Congress to mandate that US taxpayers be
required to buy your products, too? Do you even slightly care?
Ibiquity will take their money and run, and HD Radio will join a long
list of failed formats, like Dolby FM radio, Elcassete, mini disk (in
the US), etc."

http://tinyurl.com/37pe7t

"HD Radio: Fun with Math"

"I think it is fair to say that the audiophile community, those people
who take their FM seriously, is dead set AGAINST HDRadio. Not only do
most people never intend to buy a radio, unless as a plaything for
early adopters and collectors, but are aghast at the FCC for even
allowing IBOC to thrash up the FM bandwidth. Plus, people with enough
technical savvy to read the specs are insulted by the false claims of
'CD sound quality' or even 'near-CD sound quality'. These are
transparent marketing hype, beyond mean puffery. Sorry, but HDRadio
has sworn enemies. This goes beyond just business but has political
reprecussions for FCC and for Congress. This has the whiff of
political scandal - and I'm a rock-ribbed Republican! The Corporation
for Public Broadcasting is especially vulnerable. My advice for any
businessman is to avoid any association with HDRadio."

http://www.hear2.com/2006/06/hd_radio_fun_wi.html

Either way, consumers will still not buy HD radios (who buys radios
anymore), and it would just hasten the death of terrestrial radio,
which it already is dying:

"Clear Channel's murky future"

"Sad because eliminating new hires (including sellers), failing to
replace those who leave, stopping all investment in the future, and
halting all advertising and research is the equivalent of saying that
necessity requires us to strangle the goose that lays the golden eggs,
even as the goose is up for sale."

http://www.hear2.com/2008/01/clear-channels.html

You can talk out of your ass all you want, but it won't make any
diffference.