Disqus - Latest Comments for PocketRadio

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:00:24 -0000

There is an incredible amount of mis-information about HD Radio, mainly just promotional material for this stillborn technology. Both the iPod and iPhone have chosen iRadio:

http://www.hear2.com/2007/11/presto-that-iph.html

http://www.hear2.com/2007/11/radio-on-the-ip.html

It will be interesting, when/if Ford installs HD Radio next year, the number of angry consumers that will be returning their "defective" radios:

“Is HD Radio Toast?”

“There are serious issues of coverage. Early adopters who bought HD radios report serious drop-outs, poor coverage, and interference. The engineers of Ibiquity may argue otherwise and defend the system, but the industry has a serious PR problem with the very people we need to get the word out on HD... In other words, everything you can find on the regular FM dial... The word has already gotten out about HD Radio. People who have already bought an HD Radio are telling others of their experience (mostly bad) and no amount of marketing will reverse this.”

http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=487772

Of course, Ford is an investor in iBiquity - no progress otherwise. This house-of-cards will eventually implode. HD Radio is DOA:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/

Re: Fred Wilson Dot VC

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:54:03 -0000

HD Radio will not be appearing in the iPod and iPhone, as Fred Wilson states:

"Why HD Won't Save Radio, And Why Fred Wilson Thinks It Will"

"Update: Fred Wilson, who's an investor in HD Radio developer iBiquity, says that HD is great and that when your car, iPod or iPhone comes with HD built in, "consumers will be able to tap into the thousands of new free radio channels that have been launched using HD technology in the past couple years. And when they do that, they'll see how great digital radio is.'"

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/01/why-hd-wont...

"Radio on the iPod? Only if it's Internet Radio"

"He said (with a straight face) that Apple had no immediate plans for a 'radio-type' function on its players because 'Steve considers traditional radio to be a an old technology and he doesn't want to 'taint' his cutting edge technology.'"

http://www.hear2.com/2007/11/radio-on-the-ip.html

"Presto: That iPhone is now a Radio!"

"Now comes word of a SHOUTcast player for your iPhone allowing you to stream thousands of stations to your phone (using WiFi - or not)."

http://www.hear2.com/2007/11/presto-that-iph.html

There is zero consumer interest in HD Radio:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:00:15 -0000

"I'll place my bet to win this radio battle on the format that best mimics Last.fm. It probably WILL be Last.fm anyway. CBS had a plan when they bought it for $280 million. Something tells me that this was it."

Last.fm, Pandora, and Slacker al all INTERACTIVE, which HD Radio is NOT - look at the level of interest in HD Radio versus these other technologies:

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/hdradio.com+pa...

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:04:55 -0000

Terrestrial radio can't even win back listeners with proogramming on their main analog channels. The HD channels are jsus clever reworks of the main analog channels and offer no compelling content. The HD channels would just fragment the listener audience fiurther:

"HD Hypocrisy"

"Here's a few more reasons why only iBiquity and a few clueless radio group heads could make a big thing out of HD radio tagging... The very damn radio stations that broadcast in HD offer no programming worth listening to. HD Radio is a virtual sewer of formats owners don't want on their terrestrial frequencies and other assorted garbage that no one sane would listen to -- let alone spend money for new radios -- tagging or not."

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/hd...

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:09:17 -0000

Pandora, Slacker, and Last.fm are all INTERACTIVE, which HD Radio is NOT - HD Radio has the same problems as satrad, being noninteractive and no graceful way to surf the overabundance of channels.

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:11:22 -0000

Take a look at consumer interest in Pandora and Last.fm versus HD Radio - HD Radio has been flat-lined since inception:

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/hdradio.com+pa...

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:13:48 -0000

I use Slacker at work every day and get to create my own "personalized" radio stations, instead of some HD Radio pprogrammer deciding what I should listen to. Looks like plenty of listeners prefer Pandora and Last.fm over HD Radio:

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/hdradio.com+pa...

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:19:49 -0000

It is just the HD Alliance stations that have the FCC giveaway of our airways to this monopoly:

“HD Radio on the Offense”

“But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill.”

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-03-07/music/...

iBiquity claims that there are 1500 HD stations, but:

"Have 200 HD Radio stations gone missing?"

"The HD Radio camp is advertising that there are currently over 1,500 radio stations now broadcasting in HD (from its website, to press releases as well as in various other promotions)... but yet only 1,300 have filed with the FCC."

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/have-200-hd-r...

And, the AM-HDs are starting to abandom HD/IBOC:

"Editorial: AM IBOC in Distress?"

"Citadel Director of Corporate Engineering Martin Stabbert embodied questions about the efficacy of full-time AM HD when he ordered all his AMs that had already converted to cease transmitting HD at night, using language that must have given Ibiquity officials heartburn. Separately and for different immediate reasons, Cox, in a “let’s wait and see” move, has tried HD on most of its AM stations but is taking it off the air day and night, once tested at each facility."

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.9917.html

Re: HD Radio In Your Car, Your Music Player, and Your Phone

PocketRadio — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:24:10 -0000

“Can Sony Make HD Radio A Winner?”

“So, the old consumers don’t want HD. Young consumers think the concept is laughable. Big retailers can’t sell it. And radio companies won’t invest in it. Sounds like a winner to me.”

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2007/05/ca...

Re: Fred Wilson Dot VC

PocketRadio — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:08:01 -0000

It's interesting that they didn't quote Best Buy, Radio Shack, Circuit City, and Wal-Mart, where HD radios have not been selling, and have been put on clearance, or discontinued. HD Radio is a farce:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

Re: Fred Wilson Dot VC

PocketRadio — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:41:46 -0000

"Who needs 'Tagging' for HD radio?"

"No 'HD tagging' required. No HD radios required, in fact. Why buy a new radio in order to tag your songs when you can do it on an iPod right now?"

http://www.hear2.com/2008/02/who-needs-taggi.html

"And the good ideas keep on coming..."

"So let me understand this... HD radio has been reduced to being a storefront for iTunes? So I listen to my HD radio, tag the songs I like, download them to my iPod, and listen to my iPod rather than my HD radio, right?"

http://www.hear2.com/2007/09/and-the-good-id.html

Who needs an HD Radio? BTW - Radio Shack and Best Buy DO have their HD radios on clearance, and other retailes have HD radios on dusry shevles at the back of the stores, and in many cases, aren't even plugged in. With HD's dropouts, poor coverage, and interference most of these HD radios have been returned as defective.

Re: Fred Wilson Dot VC

PocketRadio — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:28:25 -0000

HD radio are selling? Take a look at Amazon, where the Sony Sony XDR-S3HD HD Radio is ranked around 2,000th in consumer electronics (yes, I do remember that recent article that the clown in charge of iNiquity's retail side touted that online purchases were doing so well, and that in-store retailers were not a priority):

http://tinyurl.com/532g9l

I know you are an investor and on the Board of iNiquity, so please, say hello to Strubie for me - I hope that he is enjoying my blog, as I have posted over 3,000 links to it on the Internet:

http://tinyurl.com/4ome62

Oh yes, I do remember Bob's old comment that, "half the AMs could disappear, and no one would notice". Nice guy! I'm sure he could care-less about radio, and doesn't care that he is destroying the industry, by driving away listeners with adjacent-channel interference. HD Radio is a scam:

“HD Radio on the Offense”

“But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill.”

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-03-07/music/...

"Radio: Ponzi's back!"

"In 1918, we had Charles Ponzi. Ninety years later, we have Peter 'Sgt. Bilk-o' Ferrara. Schemes. From Ponzi to HD Radio. Ibiquity has the license and collects the fees. The HD Radio Alliance, which Sgt. Bilk-o runs, does the fast-talkin’, slow walkin’ hype. Right? Like the other schemes, the HD Radio edition begins with a hard-sell sales pitch to hook you in and establish the product. Right?"

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2008/03/rad...

Re: iBiquity Digital raises yet another round to fuel HD Radio ambitions

PocketRadio — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:24:10 -0000

What a bunch of suckers - HD Radio is a farce:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

Re: iBiquity Digital raises yet another round to fuel HD Radio ambitions

PocketRadio — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:40:45 -0000

“HD Radio on the Offense”

“But after an investigation of HD Radio units, the stations playing HD, and the company that owns the technology; and some interviews with the wonks in DC, it looks like HD Radio is a high-level corporate scam, a huge carny shill.”

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-03-07/music/...

Re: iBiquity Digital raises yet another round to fuel HD Radio ambitions

PocketRadio — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:59:47 -0000

Re: iBiquity Digital raises yet another round to fuel HD Radio ambitions

PocketRadio — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:51:25 -0000

@Glenn

"I’m pretty bearish on the technology despite about 2,000 radio stations broadcasting in HD format."

"Have 200 HD Radio stations gone missing?"

"The HD Radio camp is advertising that there are currently over 1,500 radio stations now broadcasting in HD (from its website, to press releases as well as in various other promotions)... but yet only 1,300 have filed with the FCC."

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/have-200-hd-r...

Missing-in-action, Glenn?

HD/IBOC also jams itself, and others, on both FM and AM:

"HD Interference: Not Just For AM Anymore"

"Radio World Engineering Extra dropped a bomb this month with a very provocative cover story: 'What Are We Doing to Ourselves, Exactly?' Written by Doug Vernier, the man who authored the technical specifications for an ongoing Corporation for Public Broadcasting-sponsored HD Radio interference analysis, the report is the first of its kind to document interference between FM-HD stations around the country. Using anecdotal reportage, some sophisticated contour-mapping, and presumably 'early data' from the CPB study, Vernier's article conclusively proves how stations running in hybrid HD/analog mode can (and do) interfere somewhat significantly with not only themselves, but their neighbors on the FM dial."

http://diymedia.net/archive/1207.htm#122307

"AM Broadcasters Back Away from HD Deployment"

"This is a major setback for the adoption of HD Radio, especially on the AM dial, and Citadel is the first large broadcast conglomerate to back away from full deployment of the HD broadcast technology. Although the company's gone out of its way not to characterize its move an indictment of iBiquity's proprietary digital broadcast standard, the problems with AM HD broadcast interference are well-known and -documented."

http://diymedia.net/archive/1007.htm#101307

Let's tell the whole truth here, Glenn.

Re: Tivoli Does Radio Right

PocketRadio — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:37:22 -0000

Reception with HD radios requires AM-loop and externally-mounted FM-dipole antennas to even have a chance to pick up the low-powered 1% digital channels. HD channel content are just repetitive playlists cut from the main analog channels. HD Radio is a total farce and it is failing from lack of ocnsumer interest:

Re: Austincredible!

PocketRadio — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:23:00 -0000

"NAB Radio Show Report" September 22nd, 2008

"There was continued top-down advocacy of HD Radio from David Rehr, but little support from attendees, and even small signs of revolt on the subject. It was good to see the clear disconnect on this issue, as it is forcing radio’s leaders to look more diligently toward viable solutions that fit the demands of today’s consumer, rather than depending on a delegated entity to secure radio’s longevity."

http://tinyurl.com/4ynxyk

HD Radio is a farce:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

Re: Rumor Mill : Interep to declare bankruptcy

PocketRadio — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:18:45 -0000

Hope that this helps to kill HD Radio:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/

Re: HD Radio: A technology only an engineer could love

PocketRadio — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:19:45 -0000

"Arbitron/Edison study chills the already thin air of HD Radio"

"All you need to know about this research is this: It says relatively few know about HD. It says that number hasn't gone up. And it implies that folks are aware of what they care about, not vice versa. It also strongly suggests this isn't going to change any time soon - as in, forever."

http://www.hear2.com/2008/04/arbitronedison.html

Ramsey's latest post, confirming that HD Radio is dead. Actually, engineers hate HD/IBOC because it jams on AM and FM:

http://www.stopiboc.com/