The Search for HD Radio
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Search for HD Radio, that is, Google HD Radio. See if you can find anything that talks about the programs a consumer will find on HD.
You can't, which is a big problem that seems to be ignored by the radio industry.
Here's a tip. You can Google HD Radio in two ways: 1) searching the internet's index or 2) searching for news about HD Radio. It doesn't matter which way you go. There are no reports on the programming. Mostly, you'll find the same type of stories, carrying the same words featured in an iBiquity press release : "It enables FM stations to
offer new channels as well as AM and FM stations to broadcast in crystal-clear digital sound. It displays the artist
name and song title information and doesn’t require any monthly subscription fees."
It's the same drone of non-news
that's been pushed since HD Radio's introduction.
Search for HD Radio in another way too by stopping into your Radio Shack or Best Buy. Try to find a clerk who's knowledgeable about the product, or who can explain it without using the words: "It enables FM stations to offer new channels as well as AM and FM stations to broadcast in..." (When I requested a demonstration from a Best Buy employee, he couldn't figure out how to tune into any stations.)
HD Radio has problems. Though, you won't find the radio industry trade magazines talking about them. Nobody is talking about them, except respected publications such as BusinessWeek and Radio World Online. (I know, Radio World is a respected industry trade, but it is the only trade that discusses radio's warts.)
You will find the Associated Press' story about Sony rolling out an HD Radio Receiver when you search "news." Perhaps you'll also stumble across a story or two on how BMW offers HD. (Read my personal experience on "how" BMW is selling HD Radio, here.)
The PROBLEM is that there is a lack of words on the programming being featured on HD Radio, in virtually any story you read. Why? Could it be there's nothing to talk about?
Each week I seek out HD Radio stations online to add to our listings at RadioRow. Each week I'm met with the same problem, finding anything that resembles an HD program. The exception is Clear Channel. It does an excellent job of presenting HD products to consumers, online.
Here's an exercise that will take three minutes: Click on each of the top ten listed stations at RadioRow's HD Radio page; see if you can find the words "HD Radio" on any of these home pages. Here's another tip: You'll have to look hard at the first listing's home page, as "HD Radio" is hidden at the top. Then, rest your eyes until listing number 9. (Again, look hard. It's not a big "HD Radio.") The stations in between lack any mention of HD Radio on their home pages.
Search for a sample of HD Radio at iBiquity's web site. Select any station listed there that's not labeled "analog now, digital coming soon." You're not likely to be satisfied with the results if your intent is to hear for what it is that iBiquity is urging you to pluck down $250.
Searching for HD Radio in another way shows how the public is searching for HD Radio. Take a trip to Google Trends.
Compare the public's curiosity for HD with that for satellite radio, internet radio, and iPods.
Google Trends Returns
HD Radio is in need of a makeover, and it hasn't even hit public awareness yet. (Look at this report from Bridge Ratings.)
The industry should take its focus away from trying to paint itself as "new technology." Why not start presenting to the audience, via online, samples of those "stations between the stations" that are the reason behind radio's urging people to "discover it"? Then maybe we'd see a rise in the paltry 450,000 weekly listeners to radio in HD.
It's only a suggestion, but hearing the new programs is the only thing that's going to persuade consumers to choose an HD Radio over an iPod or internet radio. You see, both of these are what is perceived as "new" to the public today.
Until the audience gets a chance to sample the sound and hear a difference, HD Radio is still the same quality content that you hear out of your car's speakers - and that's not worth searching for.
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