HD Radio sales spike in fourth quarter.
Nick Name
Speaking today at the Monetizing Audio Technology Virtual Event,
iBiquity CEO Bob Struble said 734,000 HD Radio receivers have been
sold year to date, more than double the amount sold in all of 2008.
Earlier, Struble told Inside Radio 494,000 HD receivers had moved off
store shelves through the end of September, indicating the pace of
sales has accelerated over the past two months.
On September 15, Microsoft launched the Zune HD. Less than two weeks
later, Microsoft’s Javier Farfan said the company was “pleasantly
surprised” by “better than expected” sales. Last month, the Gigaware
Navigation Control HD Radio Receiver went on sale, enabling iPhone and
iPod Touch devices running Apple 3.0 software to receive HD broadcasts
for the first time.
Both appear to have increased HD receiver sales. Struble tells the
Virtual Event audience that receiver sales have trended from 28,000 in
2006 to 140,000 in 2007 to 366,000 last year to 734,000 year to date.
That’s roughly 1.3 million total HD radios sold.
friend's ipod with commercials
Is that good positive news or is that bad? I can't decide.
SMS
<snip>
> Both appear to have increased HD receiver sales. Struble tells the
> Virtual Event audience that receiver sales have trended from 28,000 in
> 2006 to 140,000 in 2007 to 366,000 last year to 734,000 year to date.
> That�s roughly 1.3 million total HD radios sold.
I was talking to a rep at Crutchfield (the largest seller of aftermarket
car stereos in the U.S.) today because I wanted to buy another Dual
XHD7714 for another vehicle and it's gone from their web site. He said
that they just can't keep the receivers with HD built-in in stock,
they're flying out of the warehouse. The manufacturers put the factories
in China on overtime to crank out more units, but the sudden demand at
the end of the year caught them by surprise, and it takes too long to
build the units then ship them across the ocean. It's not like they can
divert stock going to other countries because HD is uniquely U.S. for
now. He said the recent agreement between NPR,NAB, and iBiquity has
driven sales, because until the power increase agreement there was doubt
about the chances of HD Radio being successful.
I asked him about units in the Crutchfield Outlet store but he said that
returns are extremely low on HD units, and indeed upon checking the
outlet store they had only two units for sale with HD built in, but over
100 units with XM and or Sirius for sale in the outlet store. Buyers of
the receivers with digital FM radio are very happy with their purchases
and are not returning them, where-as XM/Sirius buyers are apparently not
all that happy.
SMS
<snip>
>> Both appear to have increased HD receiver sales. Struble tells the
>> Virtual Event audience that receiver sales have trended from 28,000 in
>> 2006 to 140,000 in 2007 to 366,000 last year to 734,000 year to date.
>> That�s roughly 1.3 million total HD radios sold.
>
> Is that good positive news or is that bad? I can't decide.
Yeah that's not a lot, even though the growth rate is high. The big
increase in digital radio is coming in 2010 as so many higher end
vehicle manufacturers are adding digital radio as standard equipment.
The next big increase after that will come as the higher volume, lower
cost vehicles begin to include digital radio in 2011 or 2012. It's
different scenario than the digital TV switchover where, people buy TVs
as a separate purchase, and of course the FCC has not yet announced a
date for the shutdown of analog radio like they did for analog
television. I doubt if you'll see even 50% penetration of digital radio
by 2015 since people are keeping their vehicles longer than in the past.
Looking at it objectively, a bunch of factors and events seem to be
working toward the widespread adoption of digital radio:
1. The impending power increase.
2. The increasing number of vehicle manufacturers including digital
radio as standard equipment.
3. The increasing sales of after-market digital radio receivers for both
vehicles and non-vehicle use and the extremely low return rate.
4. The decreasing cost of including digital capability as more chipsets
are put into production. Already you're seeing only about a $10 price
adder at the retail level for digital, which means that the cost to the
manufacturer is sub $5.
5. The realization by broadcaster that there's a revenue model for
digital radio.
6. The growing number of broadcast stations whose transmitting equipment
is digital-ready, so adding digital radio service is a relatively small
expense.
7. The realization by broadcasters that the program source for digital
radio does not have to cost them a lot of money, and that they can
transition the programming as audiences grow.
8. The realization by broadcasters that the effect of digital radio on
analog transmissions is minimal.
9. The realization by broadcasters that own both AM and FM stations that
a way around the problems with AM radio is to rebroadcast the AM stream
onto one of the digital sub-channels of their FM station.
10. The complaints by stations too cheap or too dense to add digital
service that other stations are intruding on their market space, means
that they're feeling the pressure to go digital.
11. The gradual replacement of broadcast engineers that are scared of
anything digital with those that are comfortable with new technology.
fdgdfgfdg
>
> - Show quoted text -
"HD Radio Initiatives: Today's New Opportunities"
"Struble began the session by citing the latest HD radio sales and
broadcaster data. He noted that while sales of HD Radios are sharply
increasing, especially with the new portable Best Buy Insignia and
Zune HD models, the economy and declining station revenues have slowed
adoption a bit on the broadcaster side. We’re selling millions, but we
need to be selling in the tens of millions.”
"Struble: Radio Is the Last Analog Medium Standing"
"Insignia HD — I think this will be a nice little interim step for
jogging or working out. It proves the viability [of the technology]
and hopefully we'll get sales; but no, this is not going to sell in
the hundreds of thousands... Radio alone — the sad reality of where it
is — as a standalone device, it just doesn't exist anymore as a
category. Nobody goes into Best Buy and says 'Where's the radio
department?'"
http://www.rwonline.com/article/87370
Struble lied to the 2009 NAB Philly Show about HD Radio sales.
"We Might Want to Keep an Eye on ION"
"If the commission embraces the notion that secondary digital streams
really do constitute separate licenses that can be separately
assigned, one could easily argue that radio stations that have opted
to transmit digital streams (i.e., 'HD Radio') should also be
permitted to sell those streams as separately licensed stations... For
one, the number of radio stations could theoretically double or triple
overnight. This might not have the cataclysmic effect of, say, the
injection of nearly 700 new FM allotments through the notorious Docket
No. 80-90 a quarter century ago, but you never know. At a minimum, if
the law of supply and demand were to hold true, the overnight doubling/
tripling of stations would likely depress each station's value. And
such a rapid increase in the number of stations would logically lead
to a similarly rapid increase in competition for audiences and
revenues. Are we all ready for that?"
http://www.rwonline.com/article.aspx?articleId=76922&mnu_id=14
"HD Radio…Watch What You Wish For…And What Is It You Want?"
"Radio continues to chalk up very good cash flow to revenue margins,
but revenues are down. Do the business plans of broadcasters include
selling smaller audiences on more (HD) signals if HD actually
succeeds? Broadcasters have complained about the proliferation of more
signals over the past couple decades. Now those same broadcasters are
introducing 2 to 3 times the signals with HD."
By adding more stations, HD Radio wil only serve to depress each
station's vales.
"REGENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC."
"We are currently broadcasting 24 FM stations and two AM stations in
digital, or high definition radio (HD Radio)... The economic benefit,
if any, to our stations that have converted to HD Radio currently
cannot be measured. Any future economic benefit to our stations as a
result of digital conversion is not known at this time."
"Saga Communications, Inc."
"We also continue the rollout of HD Radio™... It is unclear what
impact HD Radio will have on the industry and our revenue as the
availability of HD receivers, particularly in automobiles, is not
widely available."
"EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION"
"We currently utilize HD Radio® digital technology on most of our FM
stations. It is unclear what impact HD Radio® will have on the markets
in which we operate."
There has been no ROI from adding HD Radiio.
"U.S. automakers not jumping into HD Radio"
"The radios are estimated to cost about $45 each to install, or each
of the three carmakers about $150 million to $200 million annually,
automotive industry sources said."
HD Radio will remain expensive to install for the autoimakers - no
demand for HD Radio, so chipset prices will remain high.
"AM Broadcasters Back Away from HD Deployment"
"According to a leaked memorandum from ABC/Citadel's executive chief
engineer, all AM stations in the company's stable have ceased
broadcasting in digital at night, effective immediately. The
memorandum does not give specifics, but follow-on reports cite
interference between AM stations on adjacent channels as a major
factor for the decision. Interestingly, some suggest Citadel
executives knew such a problem might be in the offing, but they went
ahead and turned on their digital signals at night anyway."
http://www.diymedia.net/archive/1007.htm#101307
"CPB/NPR to Fit Square HD Peg Into Round Hole"
"First, National Public Radio (through the CPB) has already
extensively studied this issue, more than anyone else in the industry,
and the results are pretty unequivocal that increasing the power of a
station's FM digital signal will adversely affect not only its own
analog host-signal, but also those of neighboring stations. So much
so, in fact, that the (first) study's coordinating engineer has
admitted in other fora that an increase in HD sideband power levels is
much more likely to do harm than good."
http://www.diymedia.net/archive/0409.htm#042909
"Warp Factor 6, Mr. Scott"
"To wit, how many existing installations will have sufficient headroom
to implement the increase without significant retooling of
transmission hardware?.. Some simply won't make it with their existing
transmitters, and plant cooling capacity will also have to be bumped
up along with electrical power mains service, and back-up generating
plant output... Those using high level combining schemes will face
similar issues, as reject loads, digital transmitters, etc., will all
have to be upsized... One thing's for certain: approval of a 6dB HD
digital boost will mean lots of extra hours, as managers and owners
task their engineers with delivering a wee bit more digital drive
without melting down already overheated corporate budgets. For many,
actually making it happen is likely to be an agonizing process."
IBOC causes severe adjacent-chanel interference on both AM and FM. Few
stations will be able to "upgrade" for any FM-HD power increase. The
New York Board of Trade just visited my blog, so they now know HD
Radio is a farce - LOL! Clear Channel continues to visit my blog,
almost daily! I have many "direct" links from around the world - LMFAO!
fdgdfgfdg
"fdgdfgfdg" <hdradi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:b7fbee21-d60a-4263...@r12g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...
On Dec 16, 7:43 pm, "friend&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s ipod
with commercials" <scotter...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Dec 11, 9:03 pm, Nick Name <l...@gawab.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > HD Radio sales spike in fourth quarter.
>
> > Speaking today at the Monetizing Audio Technology Virtual Event,
> > iBiquity CEO Bob Struble said 734,000 HD Radio receivers have been
> > sold year to date, more than double the amount sold in all of 2008.
> > Earlier, Struble told Inside Radio 494,000 HD receivers had moved off
> > store shelves through the end of September, indicating the pace of
> > sales has accelerated over the past two months.
>
> > On September 15, Microsoft launched the Zune HD. Less than two weeks
> > later, Microsoft�s Javier Farfan said the company was �pleasantly
> > surprised� by �better than expected� sales. Last month, the Gigaware
> > Navigation Control HD Radio Receiver went on sale, enabling iPhone and
> > iPod Touch devices running Apple 3.0 software to receive HD broadcasts
> > for the first time.
>
> > Both appear to have increased HD receiver sales. Struble tells the
> > Virtual Event audience that receiver sales have trended from 28,000 in
> > 2006 to 140,000 in 2007 to 366,000 last year to 734,000 year to date.
> > That�s roughly 1.3 million total HD radios sold.
>
> Is that good positive news or is that bad? I can't decide.- Hide quoted
> text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
"HD Radio Initiatives: Today's New Opportunities"
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Note: More repeat cut & paste with no original thought or ideas.
fdgdfgfdg
"SMS" <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4b2a27ef$0$1649$742e...@news.sonic.net...
> friend&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s ipod with commercials wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>> Both appear to have increased HD receiver sales. Struble tells the
>>> Virtual Event audience that receiver sales have trended from 28,000 in
>>> 2006 to 140,000 in 2007 to 366,000 last year to 734,000 year to date.
>>> That�s roughly 1.3 million total HD radios sold.
SMS
really matter to me what happens to them. Just trying to get the facts
out there.
HD Radio Farce
> On Dec 16, 7:43 pm, "friend&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s ipod
>
> - Show quoted text -
LOL, HD Radio Farce! How many investment firms out of NYC, including
Price Waterhouse Coopers whom Bob was up talking with about his IPO,
have visited your blog, now? Now, it's the NYC Board of Trade, too!
Let's see, JP Morgan and Grotech Capital Partners, out of Maryland,
are included as iBiquity investors! Way to go, HD Radio Farce - LOL!
dawgg
"HD Radio Farce" <hdradi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a5974fbc-cfb2-4021-8007-
> Clear Channel continues to visit my blog,
> almost daily!
Ummmm...that Clear Channel "hit"? It's from an overnight "board-op". LMAO!