[BC] NO HD RADIO FOR CHRISTMAS

[Rich Wood]

------ At 08:45 PM 11/28/2005, Ernie Belanger wrote: -------

>  iBiquity is  waiting for the receiver manufacturers to advertise 
> the receivers... or maybe the radio stations to advertise the 
> receivers......or for radio to broadcast in living "HD Radio" live 
> from in front of the MTV studios in Time Square so consumers could 
> ask "WHAT IS HD Radio Anyway... and Where can I buy one????"

I was thinking about that (dangerous thing to do). iBorg really 
doesn't have to advertise anything. The industry is so convinced that 
it's very continued existence depends on this that everyone else 
should do their work for them. Right now the real money is in 
snookering radio stations. Phase 2 will be when stations and receiver 
manufacturers come to their senses and realize they're polluting the 
spectrum for nothing. There's no one to listen. It's a sort of 
Catch-22. Ultimately, the real money will come from license fees for 
the 1.5 billion receivers that have to be replaced. That's decades 
away. Right now cash from stations is like shooting fish in a barrell.

>It will take each of them working together like a symphony orchestra 
>to build  a great work. Not one lonely player (Radio) beating a 
>single drum, all by itself, struggling desperately to be heard in a 
>world of well organized and rehearsed marketing orchestra's  playing 
>the praises of other consumer technologies like MP 3, iPod and 
>Satellite Radio.

I'm afraid this great symphony is being played by the Moncton 
Auxiliary Orchestra. Only the tuba and tambourine player showed up. 
The rest had to work in the morning.

This is a tiny part of a manufacturer's product inventory. A radio 
station promoting something that's not available simply makes enemies 
of it's listeners. If stations want to promote it the copy should 
read "We're broadcasting in HD Radio. You can't have it."

>But I don't think the powers at be  (whoever they are) have figured 
>that out yet. I  truly hope they do, before their 15 minutes of fame 
>slips through their fingers and HD Radio is lost in abyss of failed ideas.

The fact that it does damage and risks listener abandonment will give 
us less than 15 minutes of fame. The audio file Barry posted should 
give us all a clear idea of what's going to happen to our AM 
stations. It's a little more than a "wisp" of noise

>If iBiquity would spend half the energy it spent selling the 
>broadcasters on HD Radio, on selling consumers, perhaps this 
>technology would stand a chance against its competitors.

That's the biggest problem. It has no competitors. The stations do. 
Right now, consumers are irrelevant to iBorg.

>Well there's always Next year...  So we can hope someone gets their 
>act together by then ..that is ... If HD isn't RIP Radio by then.

It's one of the worst marketing jobs I've ever seen. I used to write 
copy for KODAK's new products. It still amazes me how perfectly 
synchronized each department was in creating and promoting products, 
both consumer and industrial. This ain't no KODAK.

Rich


Rich Wood
Rich Wood Multimedia
Phone: 413-303-9084
FAX: 413-480-0010