"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...

What I'm seeing, is interest in HD-AM by users who are interested in AM
content, and who regularly use AM anyway. But little or no interest in
users who do not regularly use AM. Regardless of the audio quality....if
there is no interest in the programming, there will be little interest in
how good it may or may not sound.

Viscious circle there... until there is an audio quality that under-45's can
tolerate, there will be no programming. And as the clock ticks, the band
dies.

The only potential uptick I see is in those auto systems where HD is
included as a standard feature. Sampling of HD, at that point, would be a
natural extension of radio sampling in general...playing with a new radio
in a new car is fairly commonplace. See what it sounds like, on both
bands...even if only to set the presets...there's still sampling going on.
In that context, HD may get a fair hearing, and perhaps some encouraging
acceptance.

That is exactly what will be the make-or-break as to AM. FM is healthy. It
will become healthier with HD 2 channels. It can potentially drage AM back
into the game. This is why none of the big operators has sold a viable AM in
years... all believe the value will be enhanced by HD. That is a
many-billion-dollar gamble.

So, as with most radio techological innovations, it's going to have to be
in the cars in order to expose that captive audience to a fair hearing of
HD-AM for an interest to be generated. (This, despite the fact that a
majority of listening is not in cars.) But for those listeners who would
have to actively pursue an HD experience without current regular AM
usage...I'm not seeing it.

Cars are where Americans are forced to get a new radio. Obviously, there is
a trickle down aspect, as not everyone buys new cars (ever) and not everyone
buys a new car every year or two. But this is the opportunity for AM. It is
not an overnighter, but the band is fading, not exploding.

So far, you've been talking about how the stations love HD-AM. You and
I know that the success of any radio station is found in listener centric
product and behaviour. The point that radio stations love HD-AM is
unimportant. It's the listener's embrace that matters. And outside of
controlled demostrations, there is nothing to suggest that there is more
interest in HD-AM than in C-Quam. And the jury will be out for some time
to come.

We are years away from being able to evaluate listener response, which will
be based on product demand. But the few reports that have started coming in
are favorable. On the FM side, we put a Tejano format on last week ont he
KLTN HD2 channel, and we have registered several hundred calls (the format
is on a marginal AM as well) asking about how to buy radios and all were
very excited. This, perhaps and even hopefully will rub off on AM.