 SnakeoilIgnore Button. The coward's feature.Premium
join:2000-08-05
Mentor, OH
kudos:1
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·magicjack.com
| Why pay when HD radio is "free"? I can't get into the ideal of paying for broadcast radio.
IMO, what they should do is offer a "free" version of Sat. radio. The free version would have only a few channels, and they would have advertisments on them. That way the ads would help offsite the cost of the "free" version.
Plus it would draw more people to sample sat. radio and maybe upgrade to the paid version.
--
Say no to the IRS.. Yes to the Fair Tax! This beer is for: 464th bat. 98th div. Combat engineers. Hillside Ave schenectady NY. |
|
| said by Snakeoil:I can't get into the ideal of paying for broadcast radio. IMO, what they should do is offer a "free" version of Sat. radio. The free version would have only a few channels, and they would have advertisments on them. That way the ads would help offsite the cost of the "free" version. Plus it would draw more people to sample sat. radio and maybe upgrade to the paid version. HD Radio does not nearly have as many channels as satellite radio, and HD radio is limited to the channels in the region |
|
SnakeoilIgnore Button. The coward's feature.Premium
join:2000-08-05
Mentor, OH
kudos:1 Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·magicjack.com
| I know that. I still can't see why people would pay for radio.
HD radio will be replacing the old radio standard. Everyone will have to buy new HD radios to hear it.
I don't have a problem hitting "search" on my radio dail to find my type of music or talk radio.
Hell, with the amount of MP3 players out there and cars now equiped to "host" the MP3 players, why even have a radio?
--
Say no to the IRS.. Yes to the Fair Tax! This beer is for: 464th bat. 98th div. Combat engineers. Hillside Ave schenectady NY. |
|
| quote:
I know that. I still can't see why people would pay for radio.
No commercials on music channels
No editing of music for content
Uncensored talk
Niche formats
Wide variety of content
Able to discover songs by your favorite bands that dinosaur radio won't play
Able to discover artists and bands dinosaur radio won't play
I have no fricken clue why more people don’t pay for radio. I haven’t listen to that outdated AM/FM shit in years, and HD Radio is just another gimmick like AM Stereo and Quadraphonic Sound. I pay $50 a month for radio, had XM for 4 years, Sirius for 3 years. There is no comparison pay radio is the only way to listen to music. Free radio is free for a reason, no one is willing to pay for that garbage. 20 minutes of commercials and the same 20 songs over and over. No thanks, I’ll take radio stations programmed with feeling, not programmed for adverti$ing dollar$.
--
Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Turbo
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband
I Don't Want No Stinkin' Fios! |
|
|
|
SnakeoilIgnore Button. The coward's feature.Premium
join:2000-08-05
Mentor, OH
kudos:1 | I can't see the need to drop 50 a month on something I listen to on average less then 20 hours a month. |
|
Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to Snakeoil
However, HD radio receivers are actually more (not less) expensive than satellite radio (either XM or Sirius); worse, HD radio has little use outside the largest markets due to lack of stations (HD radio's range is less than that of even FM stereo, whereas both XM and Sirius can reach darn near anywhere; both XM and Sirius are popular in the many kiosks and family-owned cafes that still survive on Atlantic City's Boardwalk, for example).
There are satellite radios for less than $50 (two XM, one Sirius), and that doesn't even include *specials* (such as the *Sirius Gift* promotion; buy a Sirius $50 gift subscription and get a Stratus 4 free); however, the least-expensive HD-capable radio is twice that. Also, HD radio is still advertising-supported (part of the appead of XM and Sirius is the *lack* of ads). |
|
SnakeoilIgnore Button. The coward's feature.Premium
join:2000-08-05
Mentor, OH
kudos:1 Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·magicjack.com
| But by '09 all broadcasted media like radio and TV will be in HD only.
Hence even the smaller markets will have to make the change or go silent.
But then again the FCC could change the HD date.
--
Say no to the IRS.. Yes to the Fair Tax! This beer is for: 464th bat. 98th div. Combat engineers. Hillside Ave schenectady NY. |
|
 scoobyPremium
join:2001-05-01
Schaumburg, IL
kudos:1 | Snakeoil you are 110% incorrect. 2009 is the end of analog TV broadcasts. Over the air will be broadcast in digital mpeg2 format not HD. This affects nothing but analog over the air TV. It does not affect cable companies, radio, or anything else. It also has nothing to do with HD.
--
iPhone + Installer.app - best invention since sliced bread! |
|
| reply to Snakeoil
quote:
I can't see the need to drop 50 a month on something I listen to on average less then 20 hours a month.
Life's too short to listen to crappy radio that began back in the stone age. I have a 12 minute ride into work and I wouldn't dream of not having both XM and Sirius to accompany me on my ride. I pay $50 since I have three XM subscriptions, and two Sirius subscriptions.
quote:
But by '09 all broadcasted media like radio and TV will be in HD only.
There is so much wrong with that statement, I don't know where to begin.
1) The 2009 date affects over the air TV, not Radio
2) For TV, it's digital that's the requirement, not HD
3) HD Radio is not High Definition Radio, it's Hybrid Digital Radio
--
Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Turbo
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband
I Don't Want No Stinkin' Fios! |
|
| reply to Snakeoil
I agree with Snakeoil...I have had a HD radio for 6 months.
AM sounds like FM ie; no static and FM sounds like a CD.
I live around Philadelphia and alot of FM stantions have converted to HD and each main channel has 2 available sideband channels. Some of the AM stations simu-cast on one of the FM sideband channels. The best 2 things about HD is that first it is free and second it is incorporated with the standard car radio, no extra antenna...no extra components to get in the way. It is really asshame that this new type of radio is not better advertised. |
|
| quote:
The best 2 things about HD is that first it is free and second it is incorporated with the standard car radio, no extra antenna...no extra components to get in the way. It is really asshame that this new type of radio is not better advertised.
If those are the two best things, that's not really saying much. There are no advertisements because there's no demand, no one wants HD Radio.
--
Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Turbo
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband
I Don't Want No Stinkin' Fios! |
|
Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to Major Tom
My Honda has XM and you wouldn't notice the antenna at all. Well I use the XM antenna for sirius , as well as the navigation in the car. And when the Honda connect unit is launched I won't have anything on my dash  will go back to stock look.
Hd radio is still littered with commercials. You get what you pay for. Do you have high speed internet ? Why pay for it when you can get Netzero free ? Maybe netzero just isn't advertised well enough ?
--
"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
|
SnakeoilIgnore Button. The coward's feature.Premium
join:2000-08-05
Mentor, OH
kudos:1 Reviews:
·RoadRunner Cable
·magicjack.com
| reply to Steve Mehs
So I was misinformed about HD radio.
Still can't see why people would pay for sat radio.
I guess many others can't see the need to either, hence why they aren't doing so well.
--
Say no to the IRS.. Yes to the Fair Tax! This beer is for: 464th bat. 98th div. Combat engineers. Hillside Ave schenectady NY. |
|
| quote:
Still can't see why people would pay for sat radio.
And I still can't see why people would listen to free radio when there are much better options.
quote:
I guess many others can't see the need to either, hence why they aren't doing so well.
Aren't doing so well? There are 14+ million satellite radio subscribers, about 1.5 Million HD Radio have been sold.
HD Radio = FAILURE
--
Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Turbo
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband
I Don't Want No Stinkin' Fios! |
|
 djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
kudos:1
 ·Verizon Wireless..
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·VOIPo
·PHONE POWER
| reply to Snakeoil
quote:
Why pay when HD radio is "free"?
1) Because ads suck!
2) Because ads suck!
3) Because commercials really suck!
4) Because terrestrial reception sucks!
5) Because ad-driven radio usually only offers biggest genres, reducing options.
6) Because ads really, really, really suck!!
I think the price and the service we get in return is worth it. My only real complaint with satellite radio is the audio quality. Both Sirius and XM have absolutely atrocious sound quality. And I'm not even one of these people with bionic hearing that needs my entire audio collection ripped lossless. I generally am satisfied with 160kbps mp3s!
Sirus sounds like a low bitrate MP3 straight up.
XM seems to do something different with their codec. I don't hear the typical "drowning" of upper frequencies, they seem to have found a way of masking it into something that sounds like a more generic radio distortion. More pleasant than Sirius, but still not good.
I really would have liked to see 25% less channels (many are redundant anyway) and better sound quality. |
|
Reviews:
 ·Great Works Inte..
| reply to Snakeoil
said by Snakeoil:I don't have a problem hitting "search" on my radio dail to find my type of music or talk radio. Well that's great for you. But some of us are not so lucky and can't find the music we want to hear on the FM band. In my area terrestrial radio is a wasteland unless you want to hear some really narrow playlists targeted at the baby boomer at work crowd. It's garbage with commercials. |
|
| Same holds true for Snakeoils area. After a quick search it appears his town is located within the Cleveland DMA. I vacationed in Cleveland back in 2002, this was before I had satellite radio. Cleveland radio is just as bad as radio here in Buffalo.
Extremely narrow playlists, tons of commercials and listeners are not considered people. Listeners are nothing but potential customer$ of the adverti$ers. Oldies stations are disappearing around the country, XM and Sirius are the only places I can go if I want Ricky Nelson or Herman's Hermiit's, why? Because of demographics and what averti$ers think we want to hear. It's all bullshit and it's sad that people like snakeoil are brainwashed enough to support so called 'local' radio. Although I wouldn't doubt he's employed by Clear Channel or some other crappy radio company.
--
Time Warner Cable Subscriber
Digital Cable & Road Runner Turbo
252 Channels, HD DVR & 15/1 Broadband
I Don't Want No Stinkin' Fios! |
|
