Thursday, March 13, 2008

No HD Radio Spin

I hate writing about HD Radio. Why? Because there's really not much more that can be said. Thus far, the free market has spoken. Virtually nobody cares. It's like beating a dead horse. Could it turn around? Ahh sure, anything is possible.

OK, so why bring it up? Good question.

My friend and former colleague Mark Ramsey, President of Hear2.0 and Mercury Radio Research, was at the Radio Ink convergence conference in San Jose and wrote an excellent post on this very subject and I thought I would share it with you. The conference was more about what can and should be rather than what never was.

From Mark Ramsey and hear2.0:

Black Friday for HD Radio

This week's Convergence conference in San Jose was a terrific gathering of broadcasters and their partners who feel radio's best days might very well lay ahead. No sticks in the mud, these. Rather, folks with brains and vision and a plan, or at least the hopes of developing one.

This was no place for spin doctors and conventional wisdom. So I was not surprised when Kurt Hanson spoke on radio's future with an emphasis on radio's inevitable future on the Internet.

Nor was I surprised when Kurt veered left to discuss - and dismiss - HD Radio.

What fascinated me was the reaction.

Any room full of broadcasters is full of HD radio doubters, nowadays. But the vibe in this room was remarkable for the eye-rolling and audible snickering that greeted virtually any mention of HD.

Kurt disassembled HD's premise by dividing the total number of radios now in circulation by the markets in which those radios live and other relevant assumptions (I did something like this a while back myself). He arrived at the conclusion that the average HD radio advertiser in any given market could reach more prospects by standing at the bottom of their driveway and handing out fliers.

In a panel session immediately following Kurt's, the lone iBiquity spokesman filibustered on his talking points, spitting one after the next, but the effort seemed surprisingly desperate. You could almost hear the sweat forming on his brow as he reiterated his case, oblivious to the thrashing that had just occurred.

Although he described himself as Kurt Hanson's "evil twin," the feeling in the room was that he was at least half right.

It left me feeling that a corner had been turned. That broadcasters understood new media presented scores of new opportunities, few of which had anything to do with selling newfangled radios to consumers who don't want or need them.

This should create great hope for those of us in radio: Hope that good ideas really will rise to the top. Hope that we're too smart to be taken in by pyramid schemes. Hope that those with a vested interest will be revealed for what they are. Hope that those with the interests of broadcasters and listeners and clients at heart will create the kind of future those constituencies demand and deserve.

All along, HD radio was designed as the industry's counterpunch to XM and Sirius. As the satellite titans near a merger (which I do believe will happen and could come any day now) in order to save themselves, as satellite's control over one pocket in the dashboard accelerates, as another pocket opens up for all-things-Internet, HD radio will rapidly dim into obsolescence like the technological also-rans which preceded it.

All technology is transitional, but some never make it to the transition.

In this new media world, opportunities are actually less about "convergence" than about emergence. Chaotic storms of passion bring audiences together. Their whims and tools and discussions allow them to take the driver's seat. We are and always will be in service to them.

HD radio was always about what the industry wants, not about what consumers want. That's why it was doomed to fail from the start.

And, unless there's some remarkable consolation prize embedded into the satellite radio merger decision, that day shall be Black Friday for HD radio.

Encouraging!

Today CBS Radio launched a new top 40 station in Houston and from the story/press release on All Access it looks like they had all their ducks in a row--HOT 95-7 will launch with a full complement of digital applications, including streaming audio, text messaging, online communities, podcasts and downloads.

Rumors become reality as CBS jettisons Smooth Jazz KHJZ/HOUSTON in favor of Top 40/Mainstream HOT 95-7 under OM/PD JEFF GARRISON.

In addition to the on-air programming, HOT 95-7 will launch with a full complement of digital applications, including streaming audio, text messaging, online communities, podcasts and downloads. Listeners can log onto www.hothitshouston.com for the complete interactive experience.

GM LAURA MORRIS, said, "We've built HOT 95-7 for the listener. We don't pick the hits; they do. Every hour, listeners can vote for the top hit of that hour and we'll play the song at the top of the next hour. We'll do that 24 hours a day ... it's the first and only station we know of giving listeners that kind of control."

GARRSION added, "We're about today's new music, celebrity artists, pop culture, lifestyle and trends ... whatever is HOT now. We're online, on demand and in touch with the pulse of the next generation of radio listeners."
Nothing on the website appears to be "under construction" and the stream worked well including the interactive "vote for your favorite song" function. Very nice! For a station looking to attract a young audience these enhancements need to be standard equipment.

I'm not here to shill for CBS Radio, but instead to use what appears to be a smooth launch as an example of what is necessary to do it right in 2008. Now, I only listened to the station for 1 piece of imaging and 2 songs, so I won't comment on the programming.

And...

Another Smooth Jazz station bites the dust. Subtracting a handful of still-successful SJ stations the format looks like it's cratering. Yes, it's been aging for a number of years now and yes, the format strayed from one of it's original mantra's of being not only smooth, but fresh and yes, the definition of what made up the Smooth Jazz coalition has shifted. But no, the format which adds a unique and historically successful flavor to the radio dial doesn't have to die.

More on that another day.