[BC] AP article re HDRadio

[Rich Wood]

------ At 07:36 AM 8/2/2006, Sid Schweiger wrote: -------

>http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060801/digital_radio.html?.v=3

"Then, the biggest question of all: Will it make money? Matt 
Feinberg, the senior vice president for radio at the media-buying 
agency Zenith Media, sees potential in having many more types of 
radio stations. That gives advertisers more choices to target exactly 
the audiences they want to reach, something advertisers like about cable TV."


I sure hope it doesn't follow the cable model or we'll find a "dollar 
a holler" to be overpriced. Ask any cable operator where he makes his 
money. It's with those channels that most resemble mainstream 
networks. To make money they need hundreds of channels to bulk up the 
audience. Why do you think there was such an uproar at the suggestion 
over customers being able to cherry pick channels? If that were 
allowed, we'd lose some very good channels with small audiences. We'd 
be back down to 50 channel cable systems.

I really wish the puffery about the system were a little less 
deceptive. It ain't CD quality on FM and it ain't FM quality on AM 
unless you're used to some awful sounding radio stations.

I keep asking questions and get no answers. We've moved from the HD 
"revolution" being complete in 5 years to 7 years. Let me be even 
more conservative and suggest one receiver per person. That's about 
300 million. How do you distribute that number of units in that time 
when there's no consumer demand and the most important type of 
receiver has yet to be designed?

Again, I made a "Where in the World is Carmen IBUZ" tour of retailers 
and custom installers (adding Radio Shack). The only dealer with a 
semi-functioning (BA Receptor) out of the box receiver has sold 3 
units in the 5 months they've had them on display - to radio 
stations. To date Radio Shack does NOT carry them, either the 
original or a knock-off. Word of this great new technology hasn't yet 
filtered down to their salespeople. As usual, when I asked about HD 
Radio I was led to the TV section. When I described it as digital 
radio I was led to the very large SIRIUS display with multiple very 
small receivers.

I still want to see a business model that shows how we're going to 
sell the inventory of 7,000 additional radio stations when they're 
all identified on the radio with the main channel logo. Less than 
perfect branding/positioning. As I mentioned, WTIC, Hartford, uses 
MIX as its slogan. The secondary is Talk, though it's displayed as 
MIX. Which Mix? How do I fill out an Arbitron diary. If I write in 
Mix, the credit will go to the Music channel.

Has anyone worked up a spreadsheet large enough to answer that 
question? So far, only one agency person with huge ad budgets has 
implied that there isn't nearly enough advertising money in the 
market to make it pay at the rates current analog stations command.

Is the NAB having too many keggers to figure out how to make it pay 
or are they too busy trying to decapitate satellite radio so we won't 
have to compete with them?

Rich