Sunday-driving down the wrong HD Radio road

“We need to sell HD Radios.”

That’s the statement that heads up this article. It’s a quote from Ibiquity Digital President/CEO Robert Struble.

And it’s dead wrong.

The road is littered with the decaying bodies of technology products that put “gee-whiz” before “gee, why should I care?”

What we need to do is create content that allows the radios to sell themselves. Content. That’s why people might buy these radios. The idea that we can “sell the technology” without providing (or even having) a clear idea of WHAT people will be hearing is ludicrous and, frankly, insulting to the intelligence of our listeners.

“Ibiquity executives also pointed to the Radio Advertising Bureau as planning to share HD Radio promotion “best practices” with member stations.” Well, wait. What does an engineering company know about how to market your products? What they know is technology. And that is exactly NOT why people would presumably buy this product.

The piece I wrote on HD Radio has infected every corner of the industry. I’m very pleased and more than a little surprised about that.

But what a shame it would be if its call was not heeded.