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HD Radio Offers Tantalizing Hope for Niche, Hyperlocal Radio Content
The National Association of Broadcasters estimates there are 247 million listeners of over-the-air "terrestrial" radio vs. only about 3 million subscribers to XM and Sirius satellite radio and 4.1 million listeners of the top three online radio networks. Still, broadcast radio is one of the last holdouts of analog technology, and the media landscape is shifting inexorably to digital...to a new technology called "HD Radio", promising more choice from terrestrial radio stations and often commercial-free.
Since the announcement for the first HD radio broadcasts in the last year, more than 500 stations say they are broadcasting HD programming...although the availability of hardware devices to thear the broadcasts is still slowly coming to market for consumers. Boston Acoustics has probably the best high-end device to date; both BestBuy and CircuitCity say they have plans to make HD radio available in store in 2006.
“The HD Digital Radio Alliance” — eight groups coordinate part of its rollout. They’ll divvy up local market format choices on the new multicasting channels. And they’re agreeing to call that channel “HD-2.” Clear Channel’s Peter Ferrara will be president/CEO of the new Alliance — whose stations pledge to spend at least $200 million in marketing in 2006. Here are the Alliance’s charter members — Bonneville, Citadel, Clear Channel, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media and Infinity.
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posted by Unknown @ Friday, December 09, 2005,
