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Motor City Has 23 HD Radio Stations
The Detroit News weighs in on digital AM/FM: There's a direct connection between Detroit and HD Radio as the technology's owner desperately needs more cars to come equipped with receivers that tune analog and digital terrestrial stations. This report notes that BMW offers HD now, and that eight more automakers will offer it on 36 models over the next two years. This will drive one million HD Radio-equipped receivers into consumers' hands by the end of 2006, iBiquity forecasts.
iBiquity's head makes the strategically risky move of playing up next-generation receivers' features, such as a Buy button to purchase songs and digital recording, when the first-generation devices are in the hands of just a few people. And the broadcast flag issue is unsettled. If the recording industry gets its way with Congress--not a sure thing since members of Congress now own iPods--all current HD Radio receivers would stop working without a significant upgrade, and new receivers would have severely curtailed digital recording capabilities.