Radio: Hypocritical Deceiver

I pose this question to the HD Radio Digital Alliance and iBiquity.

Why lie?

Liars lose credibility.

Liars forget what lies they told and to whom.

Even those who want to believe these clowns aren’t.

The only radio industry proponents for HD Radio are those who are getting paid to be through the Alliance and others stuck in a situation where voicing their opinions would cost them their job. And that’s the truth.

Couldn’t you HDiciples at least have the gumption to add the line – We are compensated for our endorsement of HD Radio?

It’s bush league not to.

Ever hear of full disclosure?

Ever hear of a fool on a fool’s errand?

They must’ve enlarged their monthly spif to the Coot. He has more strings being pulled by HD Radio Digital Alliance head Peter “Sgt. Bilk-o” Ferrara than Howdy Doody ever had from Buffalo Bob.

Here’s a guy that turned his alt-rock stations in a format that appeals to only those who can be described as chemical garbage pails. Put it in front of them and they’ll drink it, snort it, shoot it, or smoke it.

Let’s see. The Ford Edsel, New Coke, Blue Pepsi, toothpaste in an aerosol can…and HD Radio. I wouldn’t include the Betamax or 8-tracks. At least some people bought those.

Admit it. You had to love the HD Digital Radio Alliance’s “study” done by the Clear Channel-owned Critical Mass Media (pause for laughter) on the “awareness” and “consumer adoption” of (get this play on words) “the new HD technology.”

Does that mean the lead question was “How familiar are you with the term HD?” Oh, did we negelect to mention the word “radio?”

Minor point.

This one was rolled out just in time for the latest Fumbles Folly – the NAB Show 2008 in Las Vegas.

According to the Critical Mass study (pause for laughter), which was released on April fool’s Day, awareness of HD Radio is at 77 percent among radio listeners.

The HD Radio Alliance compared those results to a study from a year earlier by Mark Kassof and Company, which showed HD radio awareness at 38 percent. So, by combining two divergent research studies, Sgt. Bilk-o’s HD Radio Alliance now claim a product awareness increase at just 39 percent in one year.

Karl Marx once said, “history repeats itself, the first time as a tragedy, the second as a farce.” Ol’ Karl never was right about much – but he was right on with that assessment.

That was enough for the HD Digital Radio Alliance to launch their new promotional tagline "HD: It's Time to Upgrade," (pause for laughter), which shifts their campaign from raising awareness to persuading consumers to buy HD radios. Riiiight!

I paid my eleventh monthly visit to Best Buy and Wal-Mart this past week. They still don’t know what I’m talking about when I ask if they have any HD Radios in stock.

But then along came a research study on HD Radio from the reputable (as opposed to questionable) Edison Media and Arbitron. It found that HD Radio consumer awareness actually dropped from 26 percent to 24 percent! The American Media Services report, which was based on a national telephone survey conducted Edison and Arbitron, revealed that just 35 percent of U.S. adults know of HD Radio while the remaining 65 percent never heard of it.

Do we even have to ask the question about who’s the liar here?

I wonder why no one talked about SESAC’s plans to increase its fees an additional 10% for the HD primary channel, and another extra 10% for the HD-2 channel. For starters, that performance rights organization has Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond amongst its songwriters. If you want to play their music on HD, be prepared to pay the freight.

You have to feel for the small operators that bought into this scheme and paid the exorbitant fees to build digital studios that serve only iBiquity.

Researcher Kurt Hanson, whose RAIN has been critical but patient about HD Radio’s shortcomings, held a summit at the NAB titled, “What to do about HD?”

Edison Media’s Tom Webster moderated. Partaking were Don Kelly, director of broadcast marketing for iBiquity Digital; John Gehron, GM of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Radio – and a former broadcast executive with CBS and Clear Channel; Dan Halyburton, who manages Emmis Broadcasting’s New York stations, including the new WRXP; webcaster Rusty Hodge of SomaFM’s Internet stations, some of which provide programming for NPR’s HD Radio stations, and Jeff Vidler, who runs Solutions Research Group of Toronto, and was there to impart the Canadian perspective, which he summed up in four words: “mend it or end it.”

Kelly looked like someone who’s used to spending large amounts of other people’s money – but the longer he spent at the podium the more he looked like a badger trying to back into its hole. It’s too bad that the video’s not in HD – HDTV, that is. That way you could count the drops of sweat on his face that proliferated with every passing lie.

Rusty Hodge is an interesting character, too. Initially, he was somewhat of an activist, protesting the RIAA’s interpretation of the Digital Millinnium Copyright Act – which calls for Internet Radio stations to pay royalties to the organization for the privilege of playing music on that medium. It was later learned that Hodge had a partner, Elise Nordling, who may be in

conflict of interest since she – coincidentally -works for the Independent Online Distribution Agency (IODA), which promotes independent artists and labels to terrestrial, Internet, and satellite radio. IODA distributes MP3s from indie bands that signed up – and can afford – the service. And inquiring minds want to know if Hodge cut a backdoor royalty deal with RIAA, which, in effect, could turn his service into a pay-for-play operation.

Rather than review the panel, I’ll leave it up to you. Click here for the video and see and hear it in all its glory.

If you do want my truncated opinion – here’s the spoiler: The HD Radio proponents talked about their promotional and marketing problems while evading the deficiencies of HD Radio. But no one said that there is zero consumer interest, no need for the product, it’s never going to work, and to continue this ruse is a waste of time and money.

It’s too bad they didn’t have a camera on the crowd. A friend who was there told me that everyone gave Kelly a “what – I’m an idiot?” look.

I was surprised that the panelists didn’t end the discussion by singing the first chorus of “Kumbaya.”

Since this crowd is in love with its slogans, I think you can sum up trying to sell consumers on HD Radio with this one: It doesn’t take a genius to tell the difference between chicken salad and chicken sh!t.

And that’s why consumers are wise enough to stay clear of HD Radio.

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Rusty Hodge of SOMA-FM and others respond in comments. Click here and page down for other viewpoints

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