A little feedback on HD Radio

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Is anyone surprised to see stations shutting off their HD signals (12/29/08 RBR #250)?


It’s a flawed technology designed only to line the pockets of iBiquity.  We didn’t have to pay Edison to use the incandescent light bulb…we bought the bulbs but didn’t have to pay to use them.  That arrangement with iBiquity is insane…a can of worms which should have been buried, not opened!  I’ve seen a lot of changes in technology in my 40 years in broadcasting and I have embraced most of those changes, but I’m not wrapping my arms around this one.

Furthermore, HD is not necessary because radio can no longer compete as a music medium so let’s get over it, let’s give listeners something they can’t get on their iPods.  Radio is an information medium and it doesn’t matter if that information is delivered via analog or digital transmission.  I’ve always said that we use music to fill in the time when we have nothing important to say!  The analog signal puts out a lot more punch over a longer distance so I would say it is the superior technology.

The younger listeners I have talked with have no interest in HD radio….the older crowd doesn’t care about CD quality audio and don’t want to plunk down a $100 bill for a new receiver, they already own a lot of analog units.

HD Radio is an idea whose time has not come.  Let’s make it our New Years Resolution to drop this debacle before it destroys radio altogether.

–Maynard Meyer, Chief Engineer/GM
KLQP-FM Madison, Minnesota
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