Sunday, February 26, 2006

'Old' radio fights satellite with HD as its weapon

By way of Philly.com

Would you pay $150 for a high definition radio receiver to receive better audio quality? Would you pay $150 for a special receiver to get satellite radio and then pay a monthly subscription fee on top of that? Old school radio is betting that you'll buy the HD receiver in order to get their programming. It's their answer to MP3 player and satellite radio. But right now, there are only a couple of HD manufacturers and brodcasters are trying to avoid the fiasco of AM stereo, where there were competing and no compatible receivers. This time they seem to have their act together on standardized receivers, but will listeners shell out that kind of money to hear the morning zoo or a better variety so you can listen longer?

An estimated 100,000 HD radios are in use nationwide - a mere blip compared with upwards of 500 million conventional radios. Like the guy down the block who bought a VCR in 1974, only true "early adopters" would even consider an HD radio now.

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