July 26, 2007
Washington Post on HD Radio
Not much news here: The article contextualizes HD Radio within the arguments made by XM and Sirius that digital terrestrial radio is one of the competitors to satellite radio, along with Internet radio and MP3 players like the iPod (but not the Zune; couldn't resist).
July 10, 2007
Philippines Allows HD Radio
Manila's iFM 93.9 dwKC started broadcasting in HD Radio format in 2006: The Manila Standard Today reports that they moved from test to full-power transmissions with multicasting this month. The analog signal is 35,000 watts; the digital, 1,000 watts. (In the U.S., the digital signal is typically no more but usually exactly as much as 1/100th the analog strength.) The station is transmitting three channels.
How many receivers are there in use in the Philippines? Probably close to zero, but that's the next move. Broadcasters are eager to get up and running so that there's a signal to tune into. In the early days of television in the U.S., manufacturers were able to show demonstrations and sell sets even in areas with no actual stations broadcasting!
July 9, 2007
Clear Channel Sends Traffic Data over HD Radio
Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network is using HD Radio to transmit traffic data in 48 of the largest U.S. metropolitan area: The problem is that no receiver can currently pick it up. This is noted left-handedly in the first sentence of the press release: "Clear Channel is working with a variety of receiver manufacturers to make the specially-equipped receivers available by the end of this year." Still, it's just another data path for the broadcasting chain's traffic arm, which already transmits data to a variety of radios and GPS-based navigation systems. It's clear that Clear Channel wanted the data live to make it easier to test--but it's rare you issue a press release about that!
July 3, 2007
Finally, Some Sales Numbers
The Washington Post rounds up the state of HD, and reveals some sales: The HD Digital Radio Alliance, the broadcasters group promoting the new standard (and a rather bland set of not-competitive-in-each-market secondary FM broadcasts) said that about 200,000 HD Radios were sold in 2006 and 1.5m are expected to sell this year. I find that rather hard to believe given cost, availability, and anecdotal reports from retailers and manufacturers. Still, alliance has little reason to inflate this figure, because if they have, other retail sales tracking will eventually reveal that.
HD Radio can't reach a mass audience until it's built into mobile devices and found as a cheap or default feature in factory-installed mid-range cars.