HD Radio's Big Month

I haven't blogged much about one of my favorite topics lately, that being HD Radio.

As many readers know, through Flatiron, I am an investor in and board member of iBiquity Digital, the creator of the HD Radio technology that the broadcast radio industry is using to go digital.

However, I feel the need to point out what a big month November was for HD Radio.

In the middle of November, iBiquity announced that Intel has made a strategic investment in iBiquity and in that announcement, Intel said:

“This investment signals Intel Capital’s support for HD Radio,” said Sriram Viswanathan, Managing Director for Intel Capital’s Mobility investments. “We view HD Radio as an exciting new addition to the digital media landscape and look forward to evaluating a host of exciting opportunities to enable affordable, portable and low-power digital media devices that include HD Radio.”

"Affordable, portable and low-power digital media devices that include HD Radio".  HD is not your mother's transistor radio for sure.

Then, later that week, Clear Channel announced that it had already converted over 200 stations to digital broadcasting.  That's in less than a year.  And that is just one station group, although the biggest station group.

Then at the end of November, Boston Acoustics announced that it is shipping a great new table top HD radio. I am getting one for my office so I can show off all the new free multicast channels that are going to be coming on air.

It's been a long haul making HD a reality, but it sure feels real now.

Comments

[jackson]

I don't think Mom had a transistor radio.

[Ted]

Fred,

Congrats!

I WANT to love the idea of this concept, I really do but the number one issue to me is that the same old players will be controlling it (i.e. Clear Channel and Infinity). I hope that perhaps people like yourself who are passionate not only of technology, but of music can challenge the powers that be to diversify and bring back great local radio.

I finally was able to hear the audio fidelity and I must say it was quite impressive-far superior to the highly compressed XM (I am certain that HD Radio is probably compressed as well, perhaps they have a more advanced CODEC).

[P-Air]

Fred, can you elaborate on where HD stands in comparison to satellite radio (ie. Sirius)?

[Tony Alva]

I can't wait to hear what this sounds like.

[Paul W. Swansen]

Certainly sending the current homogenized content we have here in Denver,(a market dominated by Clear Channel) over HD digital, isn't enought to make me want to listen to commercial radio. It makes me glad to have an iPod.