Why HD Radio makes no sense

According to Mark Ramsey, HD Radio is being sold to consumers (and the Australian federal government) on the benefit of

“It’s Digital!” i.e., better audio quality? To the industry (and any consumer who does their homework) HD Radio is positioned as “Pure Digital. Clear Radio.” The pitch, in other words, is that this is technologically better radio. Where’s the evidence that audio quality is a meaningful benefit, that “bad audio” is one of Radio’s audience problems? Most people don’t have a problem with the audio quality of their radios. The vast majority of your audience is not comprised of audiophiles. In fact, your listeners are less likely to be discriminating musicologists and more likely to be tone deaf.

As Marketing guru Seth Godin wrote me on this topic: “Yikes, [audio quality as a benefit for HD Radio] is such a hard sell. I just spent thousands of dollars LOWERING the quality of my stereo at home by switching my CD’s to MP3s and buying a Sonos player. The iPod vastly outsells turntables because people don't want quality, they want control.”

And where’s the “control” with HD Radio? In the hands of broadcasters, that’s where, not listeners.

Comments

[Phillip Molly Malone]

Correct me if I am wrong but the difference in quality is less about the music sounding like a cd compared to an MP3 as much it is about not quite getting the right channel so you get a constant hiss in the recording.

Having said that, I don't know anything about digital radio and there might be problems of coverage. But if I can have a hissles coverage in the same location that the analog is very hissy, I might think about upgrading.

JMTC
Molly

[Steve]

I don't listen to radio for the audio quality, and never intend to - however there is another advantage that digital radio brings over conventional radio, which I find reasonably appealing (not enough to convince me to pay for a new radio, however)....

"DAB digital radio sets come equipped with a small screen which carries information about the programme you're listening to. This may be a plot summary to a play, the name of the track currently being played, email addresses, up to the minute sports results or competition details.

Some stations also scroll news headlines and other up-to-date information. It is anticipated that this service will develop even further in time - providing free, useful information and Electronic Programme Guides (EPG) to make listening to DAB radio an even better experience."

[Tom]

To infer that "it's digital" = better audio quality is ingorant. The point of digital radio is that yes, you will not only get better quality (AM stations will sound like FM) but also multicasting and data capabilities. Multicasting is the splitting of a signal, so that stations like NPR could offer Morning Edition on one channel and jazz on another signal. Data implications are that you will be able to receive information no different than a computer, so the song titles, weather, and other info could be beamed to your HD radio.