Any day now this HD-thingy will pop...

[Cameron]

CNET Calls Satellite, HD Radio 'Flops'

Satellite radio and HD RADIO are sharing a dubious honor with their inclusion in CNET.COM's list of "The decade's 25 biggest tech flops."

Satellite radio landed at seventh on the list, with CNET calling the concept "great, but the business model was suspect: Even with commercial-free music stations and coast-to-coast coverage, how many people are willing to pay for radio after getting it free for so long?"

And for HD RADIO, CNET wrote that it "was supposed to be the next great thing in "free" radio, offering clear, digital 'CD quality sound' and more listening choices. But it's been slowed by the manufacturing costs of both the HD Radio chips and the radios themselves--as well as poor marketing." The release of new receivers, the site added, is "giving hope to backers and fans that the technology will find more success next decade."

...maybe NEXT decade.

[Bob Campbell]

Right after AM Stereo goes big.

[David Paleg]

As if CNet cable channel was a big success. Then Tech TV. G4. I wonder if I recorded any of it on my Beta tapes.

[engineer]

CNET Calls Satellite, HD Radio 'Flops'

Satellite radio and HD RADIO are sharing a dubious honor with their inclusion in CNET.COM's list of "The decade's 25 biggest tech flops."

Satellite radio landed at seventh on the list, with CNET calling the concept "great, but the business model was suspect: Even with commercial-free music stations and coast-to-coast coverage, how many people are willing to pay for radio after getting it free for so long?"

And for HD RADIO, CNET wrote that it "was supposed to be the next great thing in "free" radio, offering clear, digital 'CD quality sound' and more listening choices. But it's been slowed by the manufacturing costs of both the HD Radio chips and the radios themselves--as well as poor marketing." The release of new receivers, the site added, is "giving hope to backers and fans that the technology will find more success next decade."

...maybe NEXT decade.

OK turtles; get your head out of the sand! Did you not hear about the proposed 10 dB power increase for HD radio? It fixes all known problems. Repeat after me....... increase, increase, increase. Seriously, anyone remember Lucent and USA digital back in the early 90's. There were a lot of smart people back then saying in band adjacent channel (what it really is) would never work. But the NAB pushed it to death to protect larger coverage areas of the Class C stations. We could not all have the same power. Well, in the end, just the opposite happened. Some of the best HD coverage can be found on the lower power stations. When the analog channel is shut off, and the main carrier is used, HD will work. But right now 99.99% of the public is listening to analog with really no complaints other than content. Turn it up 10 dB and many stations will be lost in the hash. HD stations will still complain about the coverage, and next will be a 20 dB increase. When the local 50kW here actually has their HD on (sometimes off for weeks at a time) it is not very impressive at all. The audio is clean, and has more clarity than their analog, but the signal is patchy and unpredictable! If they increase it by 10dB, the station at 100.9 will be lost on analog clock radios.

[AmpedNow]

Guess nobody heard about the Zune HD and that other HD portable at Best Buy... Also Ford, Nissan, and several other luxury lines' plans to make HD standard in all vehicle models in the not-so-distant future.

Granted, it should've happened 4 years ago... But the chips are finally starting to just "be" in radios through no extra effort on the consumer's part.

Satellite is being hit hard by the economy, as it's very expendable to many people's budgets... At least if you're in a large market with more than hee-waw music to choose from, but I still can't imagine going without it at this point in time.

It may be yesterday's news from a tech point of view, but it's still a very valuable service.

Above all, though, it really will be an iPhone world.

[Cameron]

OK turtles; get your head out of the sand! Did you not hear about the proposed 10 dB power increase for HD radio? It fixes all known problems. Repeat after me....... increase, increase, increase. Seriously, anyone remember Lucent and USA digital back in the early 90's. There were a lot of smart people back then saying in band adjacent channel (what it really is) would never work. But the NAB pushed it to death to protect larger coverage areas of the Class C stations. We could not all have the same power. Well, in the end, just the opposite happened. Some of the best HD coverage can be found on the lower power stations. When the analog channel is shut off, and the main carrier is used, HD will work. But right now 99.99% of the public is listening to analog with really no complaints other than content. Turn it up 10 dB and many stations will be lost in the hash. HD stations will still complain about the coverage, and next will be a 20 dB increase. When the local 50kW here actually has their HD on (sometimes off for weeks at a time) it is not very impressive at all. The audio is clean, and has more clarity than their analog, but the signal is patchy and unpredictable! If they increase it by 10dB, the station at 100.9 will be lost on analog clock radios.

(And don't they have to turn-off the HD-sync during live sporting events so the muckety-mucks in the stadium don't complain when the touchdown is scored eight seconds before the call.) I bet that "blend" sounds great.

Thats why NPR Labs is proposing the 20dB increase go on only one of the two sidebands. Somebody somewhere gets to decide either upper or lower sideband and what adjacent-channel station gets wiped off the map.

Guess nobody heard about the Zune HD and that other HD portable at Best Buy... Also Ford, Nissan, and several other luxury lines' plans to make HD standard in all vehicle models in the not-so-distant future.

Your guessing right.
Anyone care to go to Best Buy and quiz them on HD Radio? I'd be anxious to hear some of the answers.
(ex-CCC full-timers working there MAY have an advantage, though.)

[engineer]

Also Ford, Nissan, and several other luxury lines' plans to make HD standard in all vehicle models in the not-so-distant future.

Summer 2003 "HD radio will begin to become standard equipment in 2004-2005 passenger vehicles. By 2007 all production vehicles should see standard HD radios."
That was promoted by the HD alliance or Ibiquity back in 2003. It's 2010 model year, and less than 3% of standard vehicles have HD radios. Less than 1% of the total radio listening audience is listening to any kind of HD radio.

[Lester]

And many "first adopter" markets (raises hand) still haven't provided sh*t for programming options (if at all).

[Cameron]

Also Ford, Nissan, and several other luxury lines' plans to make HD standard in all vehicle models in the not-so-distant future.

Summer 2003 "HD radio will begin to become standard equipment in 2004-2005 passenger vehicles. By 2007 all production vehicles should see standard HD radios."
That was promoted by the HD alliance or Ibiquity back in 2003. It's 2010 model year, and less than 3% of standard vehicles have HD radios. Less than 1% of the total radio listening audience is listening to any kind of HD radio.

The reading-for-the-blind FM subcarrier-receivers have better market-penetration than that!

[Hoosier Daddy]

HD Radio failed because two very elementary business principles weren't followed. First, the product was poorly marketed, and Second, most stations with HD streams offer *nothing* in terms of compelling, can't-find-it-anywhere-else content that makes you seek out an HD receiver. Epic Fail by a bunch of people who should have known better.

[AmpedNow]

HD Radio failed because two very elementary business principles weren't followed. First, the product was poorly marketed, and Second, most stations with HD streams offer *nothing* in terms of compelling, can't-find-it-anywhere-else content that makes you seek out an HD receiver. Epic Fail by a bunch of people who should have known better.

The chips just needed to be added to radios from the start, with no extra effort from the public. Kinda like how RDS is showing up everywhere now.

As for the technical issues, HD Radio can work in digital only as well. Maybe it's time to seriously consider an all-digital cutoff date, just like HDTV.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Agreed, and agreed!

[Arp2]

Anyone care to go to Best Buy and quiz them on HD Radio? I'd be anxious to hear some of the answers.

Did that a long time ago....you know, back when the first table-top and car stereos supposedly showed up. Did it three times in two different places.

The results? In each case, had the staffer been Twitter, a whale would have popped up on his face.