Terry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 489
Usual Listening Area: east Murray
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Post by Terry on Jan 22, 2022 13:00:35 GMT -6
All Salt Lake iHeart FMs have now dropped their ‘HD2’ digital sub channels — except for 99.5 HD2 which feeds their 99.1 Bloomberg translator.
Looks like KRCL 90.9 has dropped their HD2 World Radio Network.
KXRK 96.3 HD2 is still playing “Classic Alternative” with no ads! Too bad the music doesn’t interest me at all.
KRSP 103.5 HD2 is still playing “Deep Tracks” with few ads. I’m guessing it’s aimed at bikers on acid.
KUDD 105.1 HD2 is feeding their 105.5 translator, “Cool FM” oldies. And now they have an HD3 carrying “U92”. Maybe that’s feeding the translator in Provo?
KKUT 93.7 has dropped one sub channel (KLGL, pop). Their HD2 is now KMGR “Classy FM”, nostalgia. Good stuff! Their HD3 is now Utah County’s 96.7, “Utah’s Goat”.
So, does ‘HD Radio’ have any value for the listener? KSOP HD2 which carries KSOP-AM is definitely worth listening. And KUDD’s HD2, Cool FM, sounds (surprisingly) much better than the audio from 105.5. Beatles music on the HD channel is amazing. Their sound engineering is not just stereo, it sounds 3 dimensional. KUER’s HD2 BBC World Service is valuable to me. And their HD3 classical sounds really good.
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Post by CAwasinNJ on Jan 23, 2022 8:18:09 GMT -6
So, does ‘HD Radio’ have any value for the listener? It's simplistic but first the listener has to be able to hear it and then has to have an interest in what the format is. Xperi (the owner of "HD Radio") is saying that digital reception capability in cars is only roughly 20-30% depending on the area. That's a huge chunk of the listener base. Out-of-car radios I have to think is even less. Then you've got the chicken and egg problem. With the universe of listeners that low, station owners are going to be reluctant to spend a lot of money on programming, and with cheap non-compelling programming listeners aren't going to care. I think Xperi's push to get the technology into cars is a good one, but what would really help would be a "killer app" station that drives listeners to actively seek out digital radio and the way things are now, financially and logistically, I just don't see that happening in the near future.
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Terry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 489
Usual Listening Area: east Murray
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Post by Terry on Jan 23, 2022 13:15:06 GMT -6
A few minor points:
Some people (many people?) don’t know about HD radio. I rode with friends to dinner recently and noticed that his radio showed the HD symbol. I turned on his radio and discovered that it was tuned to KSOP-AM. I asked why he didn’t listen to the HD signal. He said, what is that; do you have to pay for that?
As for the chicken and egg problem, I was thinking that iHeart, for example, was afraid that their HD audience numbers were a growing threat to their existing stations. For example, 105.9 HD2 carried soft rock programming that my wife listened to constantly. And I really enjoyed the smooth jazz on 94.1 HD2 (which was oddly changed to Christian pop, then disappeared completely).
I visited Britain and France before the China virus dimmed my interest in traveling, and discovered that digital radio is predominant there. Not sure why. May be a government mandate; I don’t know.
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HD Radio
Jan 23, 2022 15:02:52 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by David on Jan 23, 2022 15:02:52 GMT -6
From the reading I've done online, iHeart ditched their HD2 channels as part of the cost cutting related to their bankruptcy. As far as I know, the elimination of iHeart's HD2 channels is nationwide, and they disappeared shortly after their last round of employee layoffs.
I don't have an HD radio in my car, and I don't plan on upgrading any time soon. I do have a couple of Sangean HD radios which I use occasionally, and I usually listen to KOOL 105.5 on 105.1 HD2, and KSOP-FM HD2. When iHeart dumped the Easy 99.1 simulcast on 99.5 HD2 for Bloomberg Business News, they lost me as a listener. I do enjoy listening to KXRK's HD2 channel on occasion, but that's about it. IMO, the three HD2 channels that I listen to aren't worth the investment in an HD receiver, but I bought my Sangean HD radios before iHeart got rid of their HD2 channels.
I know one person who lives in the Los Angeles area who bought an aftermarket HD receiver for his new Honda, because the stock stereo system didn't have HD capability. Steve bought an HD receiver for his car specifically to listen to the oldies on KSUR 1260 "K-Surf" in HD, and then the station's eccentric elderly owner flipped 1260 to a classical music format a few months after Steve invested in an HD receiver for his new car. That's par for the course with Saul Levine, who's changed the format on 1260 KMZT at least a half dozen times in the past 5 or 6 years.🙄 I'm sure that KMZT sounds better in HD if you're close enough to the transmitter to get the HD signal to lock, but I still don't think there's much of an audience for classical music on AM in 2022.
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Post by oldiesfunhouse on Jan 24, 2022 9:35:50 GMT -6
We have an HD radio in our car and it works great. One night we were in Barsto, California and I was getting the skip signal for KSL on 1160 and when it would come in really well, the car radio would pick up the HD. Of course it would come and go. It appears stations like KFI and KNX in Los Angeles have dropped their HD signals in favor of those signals being carried on HD sub channels on company owned FM stations. At least that seemed to be the case when we were there at the end of September. A couple of HD channels that weren't mentioned--Soft Sunday Sounds on 100.3 HD2, the Mormon Channel or whatever they're calling it now on 102.7 HD2, BYU Radio on 89.1 HD2, and Bob FM on 92.5 HD2. It's been a little bit since I've listened to those so there's a chance they may no longer be on but I think they are.
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Post by amanuensis on Jan 24, 2022 10:27:12 GMT -6
Isn't there still Christmas music on 100.3 HD3?
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HD Radio
Jan 24, 2022 19:07:19 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by David on Jan 24, 2022 19:07:19 GMT -6
Isn't there still Christmas music on 100.3 HD3? Nope. If KSFI had an HD3 channel during the holidays, it's gone now. All I'm getting on 100.3 with my Sangean HDR-16 is the HD1 & HD2 channels. KNX stopped broadcasting in HD sometime in the spring of 2020. I remember turning on my Sangean HDR-14 at the time and being surprised that the HD indicator wasn't flashing. I doubt KNX will ever broadcast in HD on AM again, since they have a full power FM simulcast on 97.1 now. I've tried getting the HD signal from 1260 KMZT in LA to lock a few times, but there's too many other AM stations on that frequency causing interference with KMZT's signal.
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Terry
Silver Level Member
Posts: 489
Usual Listening Area: east Murray
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Post by Terry on Jan 24, 2022 19:37:51 GMT -6
KSFI has never had an HD3 channel. On their Website they had shown a link labeled KSFI HD3 that carried Christmas music.
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