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Clear Channel CEO Looks to Cheaper HD Receivers for Lift
The head of the massive radio station chain says that HD Radio will take off as devices become much cheaper: The owner of 1,200+ stations told Reuters that HD Radio receivers need to be embedded in more devices, like iPods and mobile phones. Of course this requires tinier, lower-powered chips with greater discrimination, as early reports indicated that the first-generation chips and modules--soon to be superceded--required quite a lot of engineering to get good reception.
Mark Mays of Clear Channel wants a $99 price point to see a boom in shipping units. We're still looking at a market with just the $299 Boston Acoustics Receptor Radio HD as the only tabletop model. Even with rebates and further discounts, it runs at least $229 and isn't appropriate for every listener or market niche. Polk and Radiosophy recently stated they'd be shipping around summer, but they said that last year, too. We'll see.
I do expect more receivers with the new chips and modules now available to manufacturers. Those who had sat in the bullpen waiting for better silicon, such as Eton, should now produce radios in a reasonable timeframe.
It's essentially ridiculous to see a product announced in January 2005 that hasn't shipped 18 months later, and that's the case with Polk Audio and Radiosophy; Boston Acoustics took nearly a year. These delays can't be explained simply by engineering problems. Fundamentally, something was wrong, and it's being fixed.
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