Kurt Hanson over at the Radio and Internet Newsletter recently posted an insta-retrospective of the tenure of David Rehr as (former) President of the National Association of Broadcasters. The piece focuses on “possible errors” made by the NAB et. al. during Rehr’s reign. Number two on the list is HD Radio:
Unfortunately, it turns out that “going digital” in radio’s case is not going to happen via the distribution method of IBOC (In-Band On-Channel), but rather via the delivery mechanism of the Internet. Already the latter method has tens of millions of weekly listeners on PCs, plus millions more on smartphones (many in cars), while cumulative HD Radio sales are still under a million units. (And the gap is spreading.)
Radio’s effort to contain digitally-delivered radio to their scarce FCC-licensed frequencies has cost radio hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment upgrades — and, worse yet, more than $1 billion in wasted on-air promotion value.
And, meanwhile, most of the great Internet radio opportunities are being grabbed by outsiders…. Continue reading “HD Going Global? Check the Map”
Month: May 2009
Enforcement Action Database Update
As part of a long-standing effort to get the legacy-projects of the site up to speed before delving into the dissertation, I’ve compiled the “final” statistics for the FCC’s enforcement actions in 2008 and brought the Enforcement Action Database up to-date for this year.
Unfortunately, the agency just missed hitting the 400 mark with enforcement actions last year – though due to the various methods by which the Enforcement Bureau inflates its enforcement statistics, it’s safe to say that most likely fewer than 200 stations were actually “dimed” by the agency in some way last year. Continue reading “Enforcement Action Database Update”
Del Colliano Chroncles the Cratering of Radio
I know I’ve mentioned Inside Music Media before but its proprietor, Jerry Del Colliano, has been on quite a roll over the last couple of months. Some examples:
IMM predicted mass-cutbacks at Clear Channel weeks before they were announced – and then gave the most accurate figures publicly available on the real size and scope of the layoffs. Continue reading “Del Colliano Chroncles the Cratering of Radio”