Exploding Radio (continued)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on one of my favorite topics, HD Radio.

The New York Times’ Glenn Fleishman did a nice piece this morning called Revolution on the Radio.

Glenn writes:

Plug a set of headphones
into a radio tuned to an FM jazz station. Hear the hiss at the bottom
of the range and the fuzz at the top. Remember why you like compact
discs.

But don’t be impatient: wait eight seconds. An "HD"
light appears on the tuner. And now the bottom drops out. The hiss
turns to silence. The stereo channels separate, opening a cramped room
into a performance hall. And the high fuzz is now crisp high notes from
a trumpet or Ella Fitzgerald.

This is all true, but I honestly don’t believe the superior audio quality in both the FM and AM bands is going to make HD Radio popular.

I think its going to be the explosion of new formats and programming that will result from broadcasters ability to multicast two, three, or even four signals on a single FM channel.

I think other data services like "buy now", something that XM and Napster are rolling out for satellite radio now, will also prove to be big hits with consumers.

But if you are interested in the future of broadcast radio, go read the article.