Overall HD Radio had a decent week.
First, iBiquity announced that Land Rover will make factory-installed HD Radios available across its entire 2010 product line.
Then, later in the week, BMW indicated that it would make HD Radio available across its entire 7-Series line.
Not sure how many people are willing to pay $80k for a car in this economy, but BMW does remain a status symbol...so this has to be considered a win.
Finally, famed New York Times technology writer David Pogue revisited HD Radio in a long article that came out on Wednesday.
In general, David remained very complementary of HD Radio. But not all was positive.
David had asked his Twitter followers to comment on their experiences with HD Radio. Some of the responses were quite telling:
"Half of them complained, however, about reception problems like “hunting,” where the radio switches back and forth between the HD and regular versions of a channel."
And
"The biggest worry, according to one radio guy, is the concept. What draws radio customers isn’t sound quality, it’s programming...HD’s multicast channels could fulfill much the same mission, but these days, few stations have the money or manpower to work on HD channels."
Hmmm...
Reception issues and limited programming.
We could have written those tweets...and maybe we did:-)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Perhaps You Should Drink a Protein Shake First
Bob Struble's latest blog entitled "The Barbell Strategy: Bulking Up for Radio’s Growth" was an interesting (if not rambling) read.
The "barbell strategy" is for HD Radio to focus on cars and portables. Attributed to his "long time friend" Lew Dickey, Bob writes for several paragraphs about how much he agrees with this strategy.
Bob did, however, add some qualifiers.
"To stick with the analogy, you need a bar to support the barbells, and that bar is traditional consumer electronic radios sold at retail. This traditional CE market is huge in its own right, and penetrating it first leads to more rapid adoption in cars and portables."
Hmmm...cars, portables and the traditional CE market...I think that pretty much covers everyone.
Nice job, Bob!
Despite his pandering, we actually agree with Bob.
Radio does need the traditional CE market to prove itself to car OEMs.
Continuing with the "Barbell" analogy, however, we do see a fatal flaw in this message.
Right now, each side of the barbell is weighed down by multiple players (e.g., OEMs, chip manufacturers, etc.) and viable competitors (e.g., iPods, iPhones, etc.).
Relatively small startup iBiquity is trying to lift both sides at once without a spotter.
This is like a 125 pound man trying to put up 800 pounds.
It is not going to happen.
If iBiquity was hoping that radio broadcasters were going to spot them during the lift with great content, this hope can be pretty much written off in this economy.
What iBiquity needs is a good protein shake to give itself a fighting chance. And that protein shake is an increase in the signal strength of HD Radio.
As we argued in our last post, it might be time to put down the weights for a little while and concentrate on bulking up.
The new NPR study is a good step, but until iBiquity has the requisite strength, HD Radio's naysayers will continue to call it a "Girlie Man"
The "barbell strategy" is for HD Radio to focus on cars and portables. Attributed to his "long time friend" Lew Dickey, Bob writes for several paragraphs about how much he agrees with this strategy.
Bob did, however, add some qualifiers.
"To stick with the analogy, you need a bar to support the barbells, and that bar is traditional consumer electronic radios sold at retail. This traditional CE market is huge in its own right, and penetrating it first leads to more rapid adoption in cars and portables."
Hmmm...cars, portables and the traditional CE market...I think that pretty much covers everyone.
Nice job, Bob!
Despite his pandering, we actually agree with Bob.
Radio does need the traditional CE market to prove itself to car OEMs.
Continuing with the "Barbell" analogy, however, we do see a fatal flaw in this message.
Right now, each side of the barbell is weighed down by multiple players (e.g., OEMs, chip manufacturers, etc.) and viable competitors (e.g., iPods, iPhones, etc.).
Relatively small startup iBiquity is trying to lift both sides at once without a spotter.
This is like a 125 pound man trying to put up 800 pounds.
It is not going to happen.
If iBiquity was hoping that radio broadcasters were going to spot them during the lift with great content, this hope can be pretty much written off in this economy.
What iBiquity needs is a good protein shake to give itself a fighting chance. And that protein shake is an increase in the signal strength of HD Radio.
As we argued in our last post, it might be time to put down the weights for a little while and concentrate on bulking up.
The new NPR study is a good step, but until iBiquity has the requisite strength, HD Radio's naysayers will continue to call it a "Girlie Man"
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Should HD Radio Stop Advertising?
Amanda Alexander's article in Radio World was further validation that HD Radio is not quite ready for primetime.
She spent the bulk of the article talking about problems with the signal:
"My radio had trouble acquiring and keeping a digital signal for three stations in the market.
KJMN(FM) on 92.1 MHz did not get a lock in Denver or Aurora, a suburb 20 miles away that is considered part of the Denver market. The unit would try but could not keep digital more than a second or two. The unit could lock on and retain the analog signal with no problem."
That should sound familiar to HD Radio fans out there.
"Some areas unfortunately are holes for HD Radio. Many stations have nulls, and in these the radio cannot lock in HD Radio. For example, 92.5 KWLI has a transmitter up north near Erie, Colo., several miles from Denver. Erie is about 25 minutes drive north of Denver.
Here in Denver we have Lookout Mountain, home to several stations. On FM, if you are in certain parts of Boulder, you cannot get the HD Radio signal from Lookout Mountain. These FMs have boosters in Boulder, but analog only.
My parents and I have noticed while driving in our part of town, southeast Aurora, that the HD2 and HD3 sides of the station don't stay locked because of the weak signal. Also, west towards the foothills becomes difficult to get an HD lock. At times the analog even gets static."
She closes by saying:
"HD Radio still hasn't caught on like I wish it would."
Her only mistake was not drawing the right conclusion from her article on why this is the case. The rest of her article should make this abundantly clear...
THE SIGNAL IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH.
What to do?
Having dealt with HD Radios for the past 3 years we have come to the conclusion that only a boost in the allowable broadcast power will help. There is only so much better receivers can do....eventually basic physics wins out.
We do know that iBiquity and others are now working on getting permission from the FCC for a 10X power increase, but this begs the following questions:
1) Should the iBiquity continue to push chip vendors and radio manufacturers to put out radios following the existing power profile for HD Radio?
2) More importantly, given how important first impressions are...should the HD Radio Alliance even be advertising to consumers right now?
Unfortunately for us, iBiquity, and iBiquity's investors, we think the answer is "NO".
The supposed millions being spent on HD Radio marketing would be better spent resolving this signal issue.
The economic downturn could be a blessing in disguise. It could give HD Radio the time to put out a better product...assuming its broadcast backers do not fold first.
As Steve Jobs has proved, people will pay more for something if the product is compelling.
She spent the bulk of the article talking about problems with the signal:
"My radio had trouble acquiring and keeping a digital signal for three stations in the market.
KJMN(FM) on 92.1 MHz did not get a lock in Denver or Aurora, a suburb 20 miles away that is considered part of the Denver market. The unit would try but could not keep digital more than a second or two. The unit could lock on and retain the analog signal with no problem."
That should sound familiar to HD Radio fans out there.
"Some areas unfortunately are holes for HD Radio. Many stations have nulls, and in these the radio cannot lock in HD Radio. For example, 92.5 KWLI has a transmitter up north near Erie, Colo., several miles from Denver. Erie is about 25 minutes drive north of Denver.
Here in Denver we have Lookout Mountain, home to several stations. On FM, if you are in certain parts of Boulder, you cannot get the HD Radio signal from Lookout Mountain. These FMs have boosters in Boulder, but analog only.
My parents and I have noticed while driving in our part of town, southeast Aurora, that the HD2 and HD3 sides of the station don't stay locked because of the weak signal. Also, west towards the foothills becomes difficult to get an HD lock. At times the analog even gets static."
She closes by saying:
"HD Radio still hasn't caught on like I wish it would."
Her only mistake was not drawing the right conclusion from her article on why this is the case. The rest of her article should make this abundantly clear...
THE SIGNAL IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH.
What to do?
Having dealt with HD Radios for the past 3 years we have come to the conclusion that only a boost in the allowable broadcast power will help. There is only so much better receivers can do....eventually basic physics wins out.
We do know that iBiquity and others are now working on getting permission from the FCC for a 10X power increase, but this begs the following questions:
1) Should the iBiquity continue to push chip vendors and radio manufacturers to put out radios following the existing power profile for HD Radio?
2) More importantly, given how important first impressions are...should the HD Radio Alliance even be advertising to consumers right now?
Unfortunately for us, iBiquity, and iBiquity's investors, we think the answer is "NO".
The supposed millions being spent on HD Radio marketing would be better spent resolving this signal issue.
The economic downturn could be a blessing in disguise. It could give HD Radio the time to put out a better product...assuming its broadcast backers do not fold first.
As Steve Jobs has proved, people will pay more for something if the product is compelling.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Message is the Medium
Amazon Kindle, developed by Amazon.com, is a software and hardware platform for reading electronic books (e-books). The hardware device uses an electronic paper display and downloads content over the free (no monthly subscription fee) Amazon Whispernet using the Sprint EVDO network. Many of the books on Amazon.com are available in Kindle format.
A couple of weeks ago Amazon opened up its book collection (in Kindle format) for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.
We believe it is a great business strategy because it creates a new distribution channel for Amazon contents. Amazon realizes that their value comes from their content and not from the distribution channels (Kindle or printed books) themselves. It is obvious that more the distribution channels more the reach and hence more the value and revenue. A great example of this phenomenon is "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch . It is available in hardcover, paperback, audio cd, Kindle and audible.com in addition to being freely available on youtube. What is interesting is, this lecture is successful in all formats - 9 million views on youtube and book is one of the Amazon best sellers,
Amazon's strategy makes great sense particularly when so many different types of medium (web, radio, tv, cell phones,etc) are available for users. We wouldn't be surprised if they make the Kindle App available for other smart phones as well.
While we are admiring Amazon's strategy, we are wondering why radio stations still incorrectly believe that their value comes from spectrum license. We hope they will realize soon that their value lies in their brand, content,programs and DJs.
A couple of weeks ago Amazon opened up its book collection (in Kindle format) for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.
We believe it is a great business strategy because it creates a new distribution channel for Amazon contents. Amazon realizes that their value comes from their content and not from the distribution channels (Kindle or printed books) themselves. It is obvious that more the distribution channels more the reach and hence more the value and revenue. A great example of this phenomenon is "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch . It is available in hardcover, paperback, audio cd, Kindle and audible.com in addition to being freely available on youtube. What is interesting is, this lecture is successful in all formats - 9 million views on youtube and book is one of the Amazon best sellers,
Amazon's strategy makes great sense particularly when so many different types of medium (web, radio, tv, cell phones,etc) are available for users. We wouldn't be surprised if they make the Kindle App available for other smart phones as well.
While we are admiring Amazon's strategy, we are wondering why radio stations still incorrectly believe that their value comes from spectrum license. We hope they will realize soon that their value lies in their brand, content,programs and DJs.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
$5 Radio Spots??
Sure the stats are frightening:
According to the RAB, locally generated broadcast ad revenues were down 13 percent across the nation in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the final three months of 2007.
But advertising revenues are down everywhere...including at venerable Google. So these stats are probably more a reflection on the economy than radio.
What's the true story on radio advertising?
This weekend we just happened to be at a national barber chain with several locations in the Boston area and overheard a very interesting conversation between the owner and a few of the employees.
Apparently the owner had received a quote from a radio station in Boston (which we will not name) for a radio spot for $5. Clearly, she was very excited about this possibility as the she indicated that she had never been able to buy a radio spot for so little.
Some of her employees were incredulous as well. Seemed to good to be true.
One of the younger employees grabbed the price sheet and said, "Oh, this quote was for the music playing on "XXX.X.com"
The owner said "Oh, what is that?"
After a few minutes of heated discussion which led nowhere, we could not restrain ourselves and had to jump in to explain.
Finally comprehending what the quote was for, the owner stated "I never even heard of that so forget it."
Before letting the conversation die, we asked a logical follow-on question:
Had the barbershop ever bought online advertising?
The response: "Sure, on CitySearch once, but I really did not understand it and don't know if it even worked."
This raised some alarms bells for us.
1) It's clear that traditional local advertisers are still very skeptical about new media.
2) Radio station sales teams are completely failing to explain the value of their online offerings.
Some might say that for $5, it may not be worth the effort for most sales people.
But if this is radio's future (which RadioSherpa believes it is), in-stream advertising had better start being the focus during the training process of ALL local radio sales teams.
$5 is still better than zero!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Cheap Populism
This clip we saw on John Stewart's Daily Show was too good not to share.
Not when so many people have been laid off because of Wall Street's stupidity.
Our favorite line:
"If I only followed CNBC's advice I would have a million dollars today....provided I started with one hundred million dollars."
This clip would be even funnier was it not real.
We are very pleased, however, that John Stewart pointed to an even bigger problem....
The complete dearth of real journalism in this country.
Its a shame that the only truth about this whole financial debacle is found on a show based on satire.
Not when so many people have been laid off because of Wall Street's stupidity.
Our favorite line:
"If I only followed CNBC's advice I would have a million dollars today....provided I started with one hundred million dollars."
This clip would be even funnier was it not real.
We are very pleased, however, that John Stewart pointed to an even bigger problem....
The complete dearth of real journalism in this country.
Its a shame that the only truth about this whole financial debacle is found on a show based on satire.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Could Struble Be Radio's Obama?
How you react to adversity often defines you.
This week we heard that the economy dropped an incredible 6.2% in Q4 and that unemployment soared to almost 7% (and almost 9% in not-so-sunny California).
So what did President Obama do?
Did he cower away from his campaign pledges?
Just the opposite.
He proposed a stunning $3.7 trillion budget that is not only a repudiation of the past 30 years of Reagon's "trickle-down" economics, but also a down payment for future growth.
He starts his 134-page budget with a 10-page preamble entitled "Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities".
"It is no coincidence that the policy failures of the past eight years have been accompanied by unprecedented Governmental secrecy and unprecedented access by lobbyists and the well-connected to policymakers in Washington. Consequently, the needs of those in the room trump those of their fellow citizens".
Powerful stuff.
But what if Obama was not talking about President Bush's policies over the past 8 years, but rather "Big Radio" and the NAB?
Sadly, Obama's preamble could just as easily apply.
For too long, the folks at Clear Channel and other large radio conglomerates were so busy lobbying Congress for special privileges including ownership rights and killing satellite radio that they totally forgot their most important constituent: the listener.
Thus, it should surprise no one that radio ratings and revenues are falling just as fast (if not faster) than the economy overall.
If only terrestrial radio had its own "Obama".
Any suggestions?
This week we heard that the economy dropped an incredible 6.2% in Q4 and that unemployment soared to almost 7% (and almost 9% in not-so-sunny California).
So what did President Obama do?
Did he cower away from his campaign pledges?
Just the opposite.
He proposed a stunning $3.7 trillion budget that is not only a repudiation of the past 30 years of Reagon's "trickle-down" economics, but also a down payment for future growth.
He starts his 134-page budget with a 10-page preamble entitled "Inheriting a Legacy of Misplaced Priorities".
"It is no coincidence that the policy failures of the past eight years have been accompanied by unprecedented Governmental secrecy and unprecedented access by lobbyists and the well-connected to policymakers in Washington. Consequently, the needs of those in the room trump those of their fellow citizens".
Powerful stuff.
But what if Obama was not talking about President Bush's policies over the past 8 years, but rather "Big Radio" and the NAB?
Sadly, Obama's preamble could just as easily apply.
For too long, the folks at Clear Channel and other large radio conglomerates were so busy lobbying Congress for special privileges including ownership rights and killing satellite radio that they totally forgot their most important constituent: the listener.
Thus, it should surprise no one that radio ratings and revenues are falling just as fast (if not faster) than the economy overall.
If only terrestrial radio had its own "Obama".
Any suggestions?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
