Yet another semi-manic Monday

Here's a little of what's happening today...

"Clout" goes celeb-crazy

Air America calls the concept "Pollywood" (the intersection between politics and Hollywood). And now, they're beefing up the weeknight show "Hollywood CLOUT!" with the permanent addition of 10 celebrities to its weekly line-up. According to AAM, "these celebrities, chosen for their depth of knowledge and commitment to political, environmental, social and spiritual issues and their unique perspectives, will add their comments via The Hollywood CLOUT! Hotline or serve as co-hosts with Richard Greene, live on air during the 9-11P ET (6-8P PT) time slot."

Here's the lowdown:

Mondays:

Peter Coyote comments on what the Progressive political community must do in the Age of Obama
Heather Mills comments on lifestyle, health, vegetarian and animal rights issues, and how to fleece aging rock stars... oops, sorry for the editorial content.

Tuesdays:

"Hollywood CLOUT! Think Tank" Executive Director Noah Wyle co-hosts with Richard and discusses the news of the day

DL Hughley and his "DL Minute" bring humor to the issues of the day

Wednesdays:

Billy Baldwin (as opposed to his crazy wingnut brother Steve) co-hosts with Richard and discusses the news of the day

"The L Word" star Mia Kirschner talks about social justice and international issues

Thursdays:

Fran Drescher comments on women and other issues

Bai Ling brings her unique international and spiritual perspectives

Fridays:

James Cromwell adds his sage commentary on politics and lifestyle

A different musical or comedic star joins for "Friday Music Night" or "Friday Comedy Night".

Friday, July 17 - Jon Lovitz
Friday, July 24 - Trumpeter Chris Botti
Friday, July 31 - Alanis Morrissette

So there you have it.

Cullen to launch web show

Lynn Cullen has been a long-time Pittsburgh radio fixture and a moneymaker for WPTT (1360) before it changed formats last year. Her current station, WAMO (860), is set to soon flip to a Catholic format. Now, enter another local station. The Frischling family of Pittsburgh, owners of WLTJ and the Pittsburgh City Paper alt-weekly, has approached Cullen about doing a mid-morning online show.

The show will air live 10-11am and can be downloaded any time after that, starting August 18.

Webb killer gets 20 years

The mentally ill man who killed former Seattle talk-show host Mike Webb with an ax in 2007 was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

The sentence of Scott Brian White, 29, was 10 years more than the defense attorney asked for and eight years more than even the prosecutor asked for. The judge considered the plea agreement submitted by the prosecutor, but imposed a stiffer sentence for second-degree murder, downgraded from first due to his mental condition and drug use, suggesting that the murder wasn't premeditated.

After being missing for several months in 2007, Webb's decomposed body was discovered under his house in June of that year. White confessed to killing him soon afterward.

Funny, I remember when they'd lock up the murderers and throw away the key.

New portable HD Radio hits market

The much-beleaguered HD Radio technology has gotten a significant boost, as a new affordable and portable device hits the marketplace.

It's a portable radio capable of receiving HD Radio signals, and it is available at Best Buy stores via their Insignia in-house brand.

The unit is the has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, an armband, and the ability to store 10 pre-set stations. And at $49.95, the price is at least reasonable. Plus, with a device like this, perhaps it wouldn't be unreasonable for radio stations to use them as giveaways.

Sure, HD Radio has a ways to go before it shows any hope of being a factor in the industry. Let's face it, it isn't an iPod. But with devices such as this, it sure does seem like they're going in the right direction.

Cleaning out the closet Part 1: The industry shell game

Quite often, there are many little goings-on in the radio and media world that are difficult to really flesh out into individual articles. Or there is quite a bit that I may have missed over the course of a few days or weeks or whatever. Over the past month, there were a few items that fell by the wayside. As I write this, I found that I had so much to talk about that I actually had to split it up into three parts. Let's play catch-up, shall we? Here's part one, in which we touch base with happenings in the broadcast industry.

First, there's been a lot going on in the industry. The Sirius/XM merger got closer to reality, as the Department of Justice gave their stamp of approval to Sirius' $5 billion buyout of its satellite radio rival. despite the hurdles thrown out by the land radio-based lobbying group National Association of Broadcasters, regulators felt that the merger is not likely to substantially hurt competition or consumers. The merger still has to pass FCC muster, but it looks like it will get the green light from Chairman Kevin Martin, a notorious fan of overly-consolidated radio.

Although the merger of the only two satellite radio companies will basically create a monopoly, the move could be good for listeners who have had a difficult time choosing between the two. Sirius honcho Mel Karmazin has been floating around the idea of a la carte packages, available for as low as $6.95 a month, to make it go down smoother.

Though detractors claim that the satellite radio merger will create a sanctioned monopoly, all parties involved may see a new kind of competition, from the phone companies. AT&T and Verizon were the big winners in the recent FCC spectrum auction, in which chunks of the 700MHz broadcast spectrum were sold to the two telephone giants. In addition, the conditions of the sale will also allow third parties, such as Google, to participate in one form or another. What's to become of the so-called "C Block"? Likely, we'll see some form of the much-promised Wi-Max technology, which will bring more wireless internet service to portable devices. And with that, people could simply listen to internet radio or more personalized services such as Pandora. with much more efficiency. Nobody knows what exactly will go on with this reallocated spectrum, which is currently being used by television channels 52-69 and will be vacated next February when the country switches full time to digital broadcasting. Which reminds me, have you antenna heads requested your DTV tuner box coupons yet?

While Sirius, XM and the telecommunications industry have something to smile about, the same could not be said for Clear Channel, a company that saw its fortunes skyrocket during the Bush Era. Unfortunately, those same fortunes turned to dust as the Bush Era economy has gone down the toilet. With banks currently afraid of lending money to anyone, this bodes poorly for their proposed sale to a pair of venture capital firms. What comes around goes around...

Elsewhere in the radio industry, the HD Digital Radio Alliance only wishes it had the problems of these 'Masters of the Universe' (borrowing a line from Tom Wolfe). Yes, HD Radio is still around and they're still peddling this poorly-promoted technology, which as of late seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. The cure for this ailment? A new marketing campaign, of course.

They're claiming that consumer awareness of HD Radio is high, at around 77%. But let's get real here - the Alliance's bungling has made it too difficult, expensive and confusing to actually obtain a radio capable of hearing it. Granted, a few auto manufacturers have signed on, most notably Ford and Volvo. But just try finding an after-market audio unit that doesn't require a separate tuner (bringing back the dreaded days of the old FM converters for AM factory units back in the 70s). The earlier generation HD Radio units had their flaws, and seem to have disappeared from the marketplace. Retailers have no clue how to sell them. And where are the portable units? People don't listen to radio that's plugged into a wall socket, unless they're at work, and broadcast signals often have problems penetrating those big glass cubes that house many of these workers. HD Radio has potential (except for the AM part of it, which is a really bad idea), the side channel concept is a really good one, and the technology has room to grow. But it's simply not ready for prime time, and until the Alliance becomes less concerned with collecting royalties off it and becomes far more focused on attracting consumers, it may go the way of AM Stereo. Such wasted potential.

Post-holiday soundbytes

UPDATED 1/4/08

Here it is, the year 2008, and it's time to do a little post-holiday cleaning of some stories that have been missed. I didn't get a chance to write about any of this stuff,

1. Mr. K is Mr. Gone

In anticipation of their sale (again, it isn't to Mitt Romney), Clear Channel has been cleaning house at stations nationwide, slashing overhead and staff. Funny, I thought that usually happened after he corporate raiders took over. The sole progressive talk victim is at KTLK in Los Angeles, where Marc Germain, a.k.a. Mr. K, gets his walking papers. In the interim, weekenders such as Johnny Wendell are filling in. No permanent replacement has been named.

2. Stacy Taylor starts new gig today

Down the coast in San Diego, as previously reported, Stacy Taylor starts his new job today, doing the afternoon shift at XEPE (1700AM). You can hear him from 4-7PM PT (that's 7-10PM ET). Thankfully, "San Diego 1700" streams, so you can check out Taylor's show here. Like taylor's former home, KLSD, XEPE offers podcasting. Whether Taylor's show will be archived in whole, in parts or at all is unknown. And you can read a really good article about Taylor in San Diego CityBeat.

3. Apple bets on HD Radio

Earlier last year, I claimed that HD Radio would at least have a chance of surviving if two things were to happen. First, a portable device (i.e. one that runs on batteries) needs to be introduced. Second, Apple would have to get involved. Well lo and behold, Ibiquity, the bumbling company behind HD Radio, has indeed teamed up with Steve Jobs and company as Apple is getting ready to roll out HD Radio-compatible boomboxes and iPod docks at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco later this month. The new receivers will have tagging capability, which enables songs played on HD-equipped radio stations to be 'tagged' and pulled up on iTunes later, for preview and/or purchase. So far, many of the big radio station owners are working at encoding the music at their end to make it iTunes compliant.

Ibiquity has stumbled badly with HD Radio over the past few years, with product rollouts being mostly mediocre, unwieldy or overpriced. It seemed the company was more concerned about intellectual property than with putting product in peoples' hands, which has slowed down the rollout of HD Radio and gotten them some horrible press. HD Radio does have some technological issues, but all new innovations do. Those get ironed out. HD Radio in itself is not a bad idea. I've heard it and think that, with some simplification of the product, that it could work, even if Ibiquity does their best to shoot themselves in the foot. Apple knows how to create and move products that people don't realize they want. The iPod wasn't the first high-capacity MP3 player, but they soon dominated the market. Last year, they got people to pay $500 for a cell phone! Needless to say, Apple knows how to do what Ibiquity obviously doesn't. And that's pushing new technology. Ibiquity should stop being so overprotective, step back and see how it's done.

4. Goin' digital

There's only a little over a year to go until our TV dial goes completely digital. Come midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations are required to turn off their analog signals and broadcast in digital-only. if you've got an older set with rabbit ear antennas pulling in signals from the air (imagine that!), you'll get a lot of static. However, if you go out and buy a special converter box, you'll get all your local channels and then some, in crystal-clear digital (depending on where you live in proximity to the stations). January 1 was the first day that the public was able to apply for $40 vouchers good toward purchase of these converter boxes (slated to run $50-70). So, where are the converter boxes? Look for them in your favorite electronics store next month. In the past two days, the government has gotten over half a million requests for vouchers.

So, are you all confused by this? Don't feel bad, you're not alone. To boil it all down, if you already have cable or satellite service, do nothing. You won't notice anything. If you bought a new set within the past year, it's probably already DTV-compliant.

Why is the government switching off analog? The analog spectrum takes up a ton of space in comparison to DTV (not to be confused with HDTV, which is only a part of this whole technology). The rest of the world is currently in the process of doing this upgrade, and much of Europe is moving quickly to change over as well. The advantages are many, with clearer pictures and sound, multiple channels (many NBC affiliates are already carrying local "Weather Plus" side channels and public television stations already have a wide array of subchannels as well. In the near future, expect to see other stations adding more channels as well.

If you are going out to buy a new television (and the prices for DTV-compliant sets are dropping like mad), be aware. All new sets manufactured since last March are required to be compatible, but there may still be a few older units that aren't. They'll be tagged as such, but ask a sales associate to be sure. If you see older sets at too-good-to-be-true prices (like those portable $10 B&W jobs at Walgreens), chances are you'll need that converter box by next February lest it become a paper weight. See the government's site, DTV2009.gov, for more information and to apply for a voucher, or call their hotline, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-800-388-2009). You can see an earlier article I wrote here that describes the digital switchover in more detail.

Oh, and if you have one of those portable radios that pick up VHF TV feeds, they won't pick them up at all come next year. So far, there are no similar radios being made that will have that same function for DTV channels.

5. DeFede's got a brand new gig

Jim DeFede, former columnist with the Miami Herald and Miami New Times and former morning host at WINZ in Miami is back on the radio. AllAccess says that DeFede has been hired to do 4-7PM ET at WFTL in Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach. The new show starts January 7.

"I’m thrilled to be back with my own show and to be working for WFTL," said DeFde. "I came here because no other station in South Floida is as committed to local talk as WFTL. And let’s face it, living in South Floida, we all should be committed."

6. Open up the pipes

And finally, some good news for readers who would like to leave comments here but don't want to sign up for Google accounts. As part of a reconfiguration by Blogger, OpenID is now configured for LTR. Meaning that you can sign in and leave comments via OpenID-enabled services such as WordPress.com, LiveJournal, and AOL Journals, or even with an AOL/AIM account. You can read more about OpenID here.

HD Radio: Bat Out Of Hell

Like with many people, it was a new technology I had heard quite a bit about, but thought it was all just a myth. A rather elaborate and expensive hoax.

Sure, the broadcasters bragged about improved sound quality that made AM sound like FM and FM sound like CDs. And there were those subchannels, a station within a station that allowed an alternate channel playing obscure programming like blues, 80s new wave or bluegrass to be heard. They told us that it would basically double the number of station choices in town. And there would be no static. And we could hear it in cars or in our Walkmans, which is where roughly 70% of radio listening occurs.

Well, that's fine and dandy, and being the tech geek that I am, I even talked about this new technology, dubbed HD Radio, a few months back. Sure, satellite radio is still there, but it costs a monthly fee, and gets a bit tiring after awhile. iPods in the car are cool, but do we really want to be fiddling with that little dial thingy while driving? And it looks like widespread WiFi, which could realistically mean the ability to listen to online radio on the go, itself has a long way to go, particularly with so many metropolitan areas backing out of citywide wireless access deals. Other wireless options are basically the domain of the small crowd of dedicated geeks, though it is possible via cell phones and the like. In short, this stuff hasn't made it big in Peoria yet. With all of this working in their favor, HD Radio seemed to have at least some potential. Because after all, we still have a love/hate affair with radio, no matter how irritating it can be.

A while back, I did a little investigating. I checked out a few of the big electronics retailers in town, particularly since I was in the market for a new in-dash receiver for the car (the factory unit is not satisfactory for me). I checked out the JVC KD-HDR1, priced between $170-199. Not a bad unit, though it lacked the iPod adapter in the front, which is a must-have for me. Sad to say, it was one of the very few mobile HD Radio units available in the marketplace. I decided to check it out. I went to Wal-Mart to see theirs. To my utter astonishment, they had it hooked up, but there was one problem - the antenna wasn't plugged in (this is necessary for digital signals, otherwise all you get is silence). And in the big cinder block and metal warehouse that housed this Wal-Mart, good luck with pulling in anything. And I was sure the $6/hr. clerks working there would be no help. If I mentioned "HD" they would likely direct me to TVs. So I went to Best Buy., thinking they would have their act together. After all, I had bought other car receivers there, and had good results. Their unit wasn't even plugged in. At all.

Regardless, I soldiered on. Next on the agenda was Radio Shack, since I had to go there for something anyways. Now, they don't do car audio, but at least I'd be able to check out one of those ubiquitous overpriced tabletop radios, the type that the HD Radio folks were trying to push on the masses that had no use for such an appliance. Not surprisingly, Radio Shack's tabletop demo wasn't even working. That certainly didn't stop the middle-aged sales clerk (and those guys at Radio Shack are persistent) from trying to sell me the damned thing in the most half-assed way possible:

Clerk: Are you familiar with HD Radio?
Me: Hey, is this thing even working?
Clerk: Uhh, no. It's broken. But with HD Radio, uhh... you can pull in alternate channels like classical music. Are you thinking about buying an HD Radio?
Me: I've done some research on it. I was kinda curious to see it first hand. But it seems like nobody has a display unit that works. Besides, I'm not an early adapter of new technology. I let others pay to do the beta testing.
Clerk: It's only $200. Uhh... wanna buy it?

Now, I basically stopped this guy, particularly since I probably knew more about HD Radio than he did. But at the same time, I was scratching my head at all of this. Is iBiquity shitting me? Is this really the way to roll out a product? I remembered back in 1997 when DVD came out, and it exploded on the marketplace. At Best Buy, they had a huge setup playing "GoldenEye" and it looked and sounded freaking amazing, much better than the crappy VHS tape version I had at home! Needless to say, DVD players and discs flew out of stores and became one of the biggest tech rollouts in history, especially years later when the price dropped down to virtually nothing.

As for product variety for receiving HD Radio, there's hardly any. It was mostly tabletop radios, a high-tech version of the kind of unit your grandparents had in their living room. Let's face it, in order to take off as an audio medium, HD Radio has to be portable. Nobody wants tabletop radios these days. People want their radio on the go. And that mostly means car audio. Unfortunately, the HD Radio folks must be living in the past, because many of the car listening options available were add-on units, similar to those old FM converters (that plug in to the factory AM unit) your dad probably had in his '76 Plymouth Volare. And some of us remember what a pain in the ass those were. What about stuff for the current generation, like boomboxes and pocket units? Or even fully-contained in-dash units like the JVC model? Initially, portable units weren't feasible, allegedly the power draw of the first generation of HD Radio chips was too staggering. Supposedly, this is close to being remedied and they promise an actual HD boombox in the coming year. As for why there aren't more in-dash units, who knows?

Now, I certainly didn't expect HD Radio to come out of the gate like DVD did. Hey, it's radio. That's old school compared to HDTV, TiVo, XBox, iPods, HD-DVD, BluRay, Nintendo Wii, Dolby Digital Surround home theater systems and all the rest. Radio just isn't as sexy to most people. But I at least expected there to be a little bit of hype. Or even some salespeople who knew what it was, aside from the iBiquity training manuals. Or even working demo units. This HD Radio thing was starting to resemble other dismal product rollouts of the past, like the Edsel, Betamax, DIVX, and the Arch Deluxe. Too bad, since with all its flaws, HD Radio wasn't an altogether bad idea, though it needed some serious refining to make it ready for prime time.

But just when everyone thought HD Radio was dead in the water, it is now showing signs of life as it rises kicking and screaming from the ashes. The HD Radio Alliance has been on a roll as of late. More stations are adding sidechannels with original programming. And retailers actually have working displays now. I was in Best Buy last week picking up "Death Proof" and saw an endcap display with not one, but two working units. And they actually pulled in stations! Sound wasn't too bad either, and I acutally dialed in a few of those ballyhooed subchannels quite easily. I was shocked I tell ya, shocked!

In addition, home shopping channel QVC is currently shilling HD Radio. Smart move for the Alliance. Speaking as one who actually worked for a home shopping channel many years past, people who watch channels like QVC will buy any kind of shit they see on TV, whether it be gaudy jewelry, porcelain dolls and even mattress sets. Once they hawk it, the stuff flies out of warehouses! Utterly jaw-dropping. They do HUGE business! Convicted infomercial huckster Kevin Trudeau still sells tons of bogus self-help books, snake oil remedies and other garbage thanks to TV, and that's with most of the population knowing he's a complete fraud! Ron Popeil sold spray-on hair in a can! People will buy anything they see on TV. And this bodes well for the HD Radio people.

And just yesterday, the Alliance has reeled in its biggest whale yet. Enter the Ford Motor Company, which this week announced that they will offer HD Radio as a dealer-installed option in many of their 2008 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models. They'll also do a huge promotion of it, via POP displays and a big media blitz. Now, this is pretty big news for the Alliance. Sure, BMW added it to their audio options a few years ago. But that's BMW. This is meat-and-potatoes Ford we're talking about. Now, the hype can be heard in an F-150 or the ubiquitous Mustang. The dealers are also able to install it in 2005-07 models as well. Quite a coup for the HD gang.

I predicted last time that some day, the people behind HD Radio would get their act together and make it work. With so much money tied up in it by iBiquity and the radio station owners who have partnered in promoting it, they have little choice. Sure, HD Radio has a long way to go. The technology is still a bit crude, with signal strength issues, erratic sound quality at times and that whole controversy about HD on the AM band and the associated interference issues. But technology has to start somewhere. Hey, it took Edison hundreds of tries before he made a working light bulb. With the world of technology moving so fast, in a day and age when I can cram my whole album collection in a little device half the size of a Hershey bar, it will be interesting if this whole HD Radio thing succeeds, and what it will be like years from now, once they iron out the kinks.

And make radios that people would actually want.

FM? AM? HD? IBOC? Digesting the alphabet soup

By now, you've probably all heard of a young technology on the radio dial. Supposedly, it will make AM sound like FM, and FM sound like digital CD quality. In addition, it has the potential to double, triple, even quadruple the selection of programming on the dial.

But the question all of us are asking is, what the hell is HD Radio?

I've been thinking about writing something about HD Radio for awhile. As readers of LTR know, audio technology, in the form of webcasting, WiFi, podcasting and satellite radio has been a frequent part of this site. I guess what inspired today's entry is the news out of Cincinnati that venerable online (and former local station) WOXY.com will be making a return to the Queen City airwaves thanks to this semi-obscure technology. Today, we turn our focus on a different type of radio animal, HD Radio. Now, I am far from an expert on this, and I may even get a flaming comment from some tech geeks. Think of it as a rube talking to other rubes, trying to explain it all in simple terms.

But the question is, how does one listen? What does it cost? Can I pick it up in my everyday Chevy beater?

In short, what the hell is HD Radio?

HD Radio was developed by a company called iBiquity Digital Corporation. And it is a brand name of a form of digital transmission for your everyday AM and FM radio stations. The HD Radio system allows stations to broadcast crystal-clear audio and a variety of text and data-based services, in addition to more FM channels, without changing to new frequency bands.

To help avoid confusion with HDTV, a much faster-growing technology, the 'HD' in 'HD Radio' does not stand for 'high definition'. It's basically a brand and trademark of iBiquity. There's really nothing 'high definition' about it, except that the signal it receives is in the form of ones and zeros. In short, it's digital. The 'HD' doesn't officially mean anything in iBiquity's scheme of things. If one were to attach a meaning to it, I guess 'hybrid digital' would be adequate.

In keeping with the rest of the world, and as the FCC is heavily foisting HDTV upon the masses, to the point that all analog television broadcasting will be kaput in a year and a half, the commission selected HD Radio as the standard for digital radio broadcasting. Evidently, they learned their mistakes from the AM stereo blunder in the 1980s, where they fumbled in establishing a broadcast standard, to the point that when they finally settled on a technology, Motorola's C-QUAM standard, nobody really cared anymore. Hell, the only place I've ever heard AM stereo was in an old Dodge K-Car. Think typical AM sound, but with channel separation. Still sounded pretty cool, though.

Now, I guess the best way to describe HD Radio is by comparing it a little with its TV counterpart. Keep in mind that TV uses a totally different technology. But some of the main components are similar. The content is sent digitally, rather than in plain analog. Meaning that in pure digital mode, there is no static or ghosting. You either get it or you don't. Today's HD radios, however, are designed to switch back and forth between analog and digital, depending on the strength of the signal (like in digital TV, the digital signal in radio is far weaker than the analog one). So if you venture outside of reception areas, it may flicker back and forth a bit. Kinda like stereo to mono on typical FM. Fret not, they're working on the signal strength issues, and newer receivers will be more finely tuned. And unlike HDTV, in which stations use a separate dedicated digital channel, digital radio piggy-backs on current frequencies, making transitioning a little more complicated.

Hearing radio in far superior sound quality may or may not be enough to entice consumers to go out and buy new receivers. But the icing on this cake does hold some promise. Namely sideband channels. HDTV is already well-known for this. You can see for yourself on your local NBC affiliate, which will likely have an all-weather side channel. Or your local public TV station, which may have different side channels devoted to children's programming, Spanish-language shows, and even the really cool 'Create', which consists of lifestyle, travel and how-to programming.

Digital FM (AM is not a possibility) will have something similar. This concept is called IBOC (in-band on-channel). For example, people in Los Angeles listening to KROQ on their HD units can flip over to the HD2 channel to hear a separate "ROQ of the '80s" channel, complete with all the old music they used to play and even really old liners and promos). Or they can hear a secondary channel consisting of jazz, classical music or eclectic rock on their local NPR outlet. People in Sheridan, Wyoming, who would otherwise never get to hear liberal talk on a local station, can tune into KYTI's HD3 side channel and hear the straight Air America Radio feed. Their other two sister stations carry ESPN radio and comedy on their sidebands. And so far, aside from talk formats and AM simulcasts on the sidebands, it's all commercial free.

The cost to receive the programming? Zilch. So far, many of the big radio companies, such as Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom, Citadel, etc. have upgraded their broadcasting and transmission equipment for this and over a thousand stations nationwide are broadcasting digitally, side channels and all. Clear Channel even went to the workshop and came up with "Format Lab", 75 distinct automated formats for their stations (and others) to pick up. Formats like bluegrass, dance club music, classic and alternative country, golden oldies, blues, indie rock and others. They also have Pride Radio, targeted toward LGBT listeners, and even a channel programming nothing but classic Casey Kasem countdowns from decades past. Aside from audio programming, some companies are exploring other options, such as commuter traffic data.

So, you're probably thinking this sounds pretty damn cool. What's the catch? Well, in order to hear this stuff through a radio, you gotta get the right equipment. A typical receiver will not pick this stuff up, only the venerable analog signal. An HD Radio-compatible unit is required. And this is where iBiquity and their partners have screwed up. Sure, they promote the hell out of it, but it's all very confusing, particularly since there's a competing (but somewhat compatible) technology out there called FMExtra. The biggest problem is that there's hardly any product out there. There's a few household and tabletop units available, but not as many people really listen to radio that way. Most of the listening is done in cars, and so far, there's not many options available. BMW and Volkswagen supposedly are offering it as an option on their factory-installed units. Some car dealerships are following suit. A few companies have HD Radio car converters available (remember those old FM converters from the '70s? These are a bit more advanced.). And so far, only one company, JVC, manufactures a complete HD-ready aftermarket head unit for about $199, with other companies such as Sony and budget line Jensen to soon follow suit. But that's not enough. In order to grow, people have to have an easier way to hear it. And for that to happen, they need to get receivers out there, and especially in cars. And they need salespeople in the Best Buys and Radio Shacks of the world who know what the heck it is. Often, there are stories about salespeople who have no clue as to what the hell HD Radio is. They're most likely to take you to the TV section.

Another hurdle for HD Radio is competition. Satellite radio services such as XM and Sirius are fairly well-established, and are widely available from the car manufacturers and in aftermarket kits. Many car receivers made today have connection plugs for easily plugging in an iPod or similar device. And with new technologies such as WiFi and phone-based internet services, the day when we can actually hear internet radio conveniently in the car may soon arrive. Where does HD Radio fit into this grand scheme?

HD Radio does have some advantages. Namely, the infrastructure is already there. AM and FM radio are not going away anytime soon, and many stations have or are working on upgrading to the technology. Unlike TV, which is being forced to upgrade by the FCC prior to the analog shutoff in February 2009, the commission is letting HD Radio cut its teeth first, allowing the marketplace to determine its destiny. HDTV also has an advantage in that all TVs sold today are capable of digital reception (older TVs are S.O.L.). For radio, this will take a bit longer.

The HD Radio standard is different than digital radio in other countries. iBiquity's technology is in use only in the United States, Brazil and now the Philippines. This allows digital signals to piggyback on already existing AM and FM ones. Many countries are going with a different standard, Digital Audio Broadcasting, which broadcasts in a different frequency spectrum (and yes, the U.S. has been experimenting with this one). One system found in some European countries is Digital Radio Mondiale. Of course, these different technologies are in no way compatible with each other. Confused?

The slow rise of digital radio can best be compared with FM radio. FM hit the marketplace in 1940, with stations located on the 42-50MHz band. After WWII, all the FM stations moved up the dial to the present 87.9-107.9MHz, leaving the few FM radios out there instantly obsolete, save for tinkering radio geeks and collectors. FM didn't make an impact in the ratings until KPEN (today's KIOI) in San Francisco became the first to crack the top five in the early '60s. It took until the mid-late 1960s, the advent of stereo FM and distinct formats such as easy listening and freeform progressive rock to actually draw listeners in general. And it took until the early '70s to tweak FM technology so that people could actually listen to it in moving vehicles (i.e. 'circular polarization'). FM receivers weren't really installed in cars until that decade. The FM band didn't overtake AM in popularity until 1978 or so. So, FM radio took over a quarter of a century to get anywhere with consumers, and so far, it has stuck around. Likely, digital radio will take some time as well.

Like with most other innovations, there are some very vocal critics out there. They claim that HD Radio is a non-starter. That it's dead in the water. That it's useless technology. That it interferes with analog signals. Now, I don't really get some of the more die-hard critics. Hell, there's one guy, who calls himself "Pocket Radio" who seems to be on a personal obsessive vendetta against it, practically spending his every waking hour trashing it. What I don't understand is, why? What's wrong with technology? He obviously isn't footing the bill for it, so who cares? As for interference, most listeners may not notice it. It's more prevalent on the AM dial, since the digital signal stretches the already narrow AM sidebands to even more extremes. Apart from radio geeks who like to DX distant radio stations (i.e. dial around at night to pick up stations from hundreds of miles away), most people are indifferent. Let's face it, DX'ing stopped being fun when every powerful radio station in the land decided to put George Noory on at night and baseball teams started moving their games to weaker AM stations that would cave in to their excessive demands (like in Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco and other markets). DX'ing was more fun back in the day when CKLW, WLS and WABC blasted the country with the hottest hits and jocks in the land. Today, most AM radio sounds the same, so DX'ing is no longer as much fun. And the point is moot anyway, since, as a casual DX'er, I have had little problem pulling in stations from even a thousand miles away after dark. So essentially, casual listeners to analog radio will likely not notice any issues due to HD Radio.

So, what will be the ultimate fate of HD Radio? Well, it will survive in one form or another. It has to. There's a lot of money tied up in it, far more than was tied up in AM stereo. And the technology will get better. Just like the original FM technology was impossible to pick up in cars prior to a few tweaks, digital radio will get better. The equipment will improve and be more readily available. The signals will get stronger. As will the programming choices. I say give it some time. More listening options are not necessarily a bad thing, are they? Now why would anyone complain about that?

(Note: I originally posted this entry yesterday, but for some reason, was not pinging correctly. Hopefully, this repost will show up on feeds, search engines, etc.)