Especially on the AM band.
Radio World, bless them, has yet another article about the public’s lack of awareness regarding HD Radio®. Calling it “lack of awareness,” is overly kind and I think they are missing the point. It would be better phrased “apathy” or “indifference.”
There is a general misconception in the world that one either loves or hates something. That is not true, the opposite of love is indifference, not hate. The public has voted, with their wallets, for things like 3 and 4G wireless devices, satellite radio, iPods and other entertainment venues. Why? Because HD Radio® is not an advance, it is a repackaging of old ideas with slick marketing. The general public has viewed the great digital radio conversion with a jaundiced eye, opting to sit on the fence and wait for something better. What has iBiquity given them?
The technology itself is a step backwards with many band aids needed to affect the same coverage area as analog FM. A technology that has poorer building penetration, less coverage area , mobile reception issues with no appreciable difference in sound quality or program material offerings. A power increase from 1% to 10% analog carrier power (20dBc to -10dBc) hasn’t really made a difference. Now, studies are underway looking at asymmetrical sidebands and same frequency repeater networks for FM IBOC. All of these things, not to improve radio reception, but rather to achieve the same coverage as analog FM.
The AM HD Radio® has even greater issues.
There is nothing at all surprising about the public indifference toward HD Radio®.
At the rate things are going it looks like HD Radio will die at a much slower pace than AM Stereo. The debacle started with the core development of the system. If the codec was designed around an already accepted standard developed by a recognized entity (i.e., Apple Quicktime, Microsoft Windows Media, Adobe Flash Media, etc) I thing there would not only be more acceptance but the cost related to licensing would be much more reasonable. The article I previously authored for Radio World entitled “HD Radio Faces Rocky Road” not only explained this but touched upon why public acceptance has been slow. Older adults aren’t going to replace radios that appear to operate fine while the younger set has pretty much abandoned radio in favor of portable MP3 entertainment and/or streaming media. I wish they would just pull the plug already – AM DX is next to impossible thanks to those stations who insist on running this junk in the evening and the few FM analog stations I would get from out of the area have been obliterated thanks to first adjacent HD splatter.
I 100% agree with Bill. This junk-technology needs to disappear, as it only serves to line the pockets of iBiquity and its investors. It has damaged our airwaves on both AM and FM (especially AM). I have seen HD Radio supporters make fun of DX’ers, as iBiquity is attemptng to force listeners to listen to their local HD Radio stations only, through adjacent-channel interference. What about all of those truckers, for example, that used to WLW’s midnight Truckers Network, but WLW is now getting clobbered by WOR’s hash. This has been a disgrace from the beginning, and only serves to embarrass the radio industry.
@Bill, the difference between AM Stereo (C-QUAM) and AM HD Radio is that AM stereo did not cause massive interference and it worked relatively well on a broadbanded AM tower. There are still a few stations using it today. AM HD Radio, on the other hand, makes a bad situation worse.
@Greg, I remember the Trucker’s Network, we ran that on WPTR (1540 Albany, NY) in the mid-90′s. AM skywave used to be a viable listening mode, now all (or most all) of the big AM stations are caring the same syndicated programming. Plus, all those shows are available on Sirius-XM or via the internet. It is more of a hobby than anything else, which is not to say that it isn’t fun. What is a shame is when the local AM pee-shooter gets drowned out by adjacent channel skywave HD hash. I would think those owners actually have some basis for legal action against the FCC and iBiquity.
@Paul:
Legal action has been mentioned on The Broadcast Archives:
http://lists.radiolists.net/pipermail/broadcast/2011-October/124371.html
John Anderson (DIYmedia) also mentioned that as a possibility:
http://diymedia.net/archive/1010.htm#101310
Of course, Bob Savage explains the proces that would need to occur, as it relates to the FCC:
http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=159494.msg1362248#msg1362248
Greg
I think there is growing public resentment towards most broadcasters, and HD radio is just seen as another profit-driven gimmick they don’t need serving up more audio junk-food. Many still resent the cost and reception problems of the switch to digital TV, and that had obvious advantages. Too bad it wasn’t around in the days when there were typically 9 minutes of ads an hour.
Gentle clean processing on internet streams (think Optimod 8000A set to slow) would probably do more to reach these people on radio than HD radio ever will. At least they don’t need to get new radios for that.
I think with the increasing number of ads since the requirement for a self-picked limit on license renewal applications was dropped, lack of diversity in programming, dense audio, news coverage focused on the unimportant, and a mega-corporate image, people are offended and will switch to any alternatives they can get their hands on.
I can only think of one thing powerful enough to actually convince the public that broadcasters are really acting as responsible trustees of the public interest. It would be doing away with paid political advertising, running only non-mandatory non-paid balanced public affairs programming to inform. The hatred of corporate greed and corruption go hand in hand. Broadcasting, with the FCCs help, could cut the stream of campaign cash that invites and fuels corruption. The futures of our children and our country depend on democracy functioning well. Between fueling corruption, broadcasting misleading ads, poorly covering stories that matter, doing a poor job to educate and foster creativity, and generally lacking any sort of artistic dedication to anything but cash flow, U.S. broadcast media deserves its share of blame for the state we’re in.
I expect HD radio to end up like 3D TV, evolving from unheard of to being viewed as just another gimmick. At least the tv sets have the potential to be used for viewing wireless streamed 3D video from remote-controlled toys. Let them transmit ATSC so the neighbors could watch their model planes too. That beats shaking flab and people eating unspeakable parts of animals.
In some but not all ways, the deregulation of broadcasting has been just as devastating as the deregulation of banking. Will the greed never end? More radio channels with HD?
It was a big mistake not going with the full quadrature AM stereo system as first proposed by Harris. With the full amplitude quadrature component the signal to noise ratio would have been much better, and receivers with synchronous detectors could have had very low distortion, plus products from nearby frequencies would not cause interference at lower audio frequencies. Existing radios would still work. In my area the local club of DXers and guys that liked to restore classic old AM radios has disbanded giving the lack of anything they feel is worth listening to. People at a car show made the same complaints with frustration over what they heard when restoring vintage radios. Most gave up and settled on little transmitters for iPods.
This message isn’t meant as an attack on anyone regardless of what organization you’re with. Most of this is beyond our individual control. A wake up call is needed. What we’re doing isn’t working for America.
Here is a good one for you… on January 30th, the 1kW daytimer oldies station the little farm town west of me just rolled out, get this, not HD, but C-QuAM Stereo on their station!!!!
Installing HD NEVER crossed their minds, but they’ve been toying with the idea of turning the stereo on for some time. I’m glad they finally did, and I hope Iniquity chokes on that!
HD Radio… coming soon to your local e-waste recycler!
@DBug, my point, exactly.
@Ed, I am surprised that a station would go to the trouble to install C-QUAM. I know where several C-QUAM exciters and mod monitors are currently stored, which would likely be given free for the asking.
The main use of the HD2 and HD3 subchannels is to feed 250 watt translators. This allows the big group owners to get around market concentration rules and crowd out the LPFM’s. Brilliant!
@A. Lloyd: You see, we are not as stupid as they think we are. Now what to do about it. There is an upcoming decision by the FCC on the great translator backlog of 2003. It will likely come in the form of an NPRM with public comment. Stay alert, tell the FCC what you think of these translators, many of which will be used just as you say.