According to you, what was the purpose of HD Radio according to iHeart?Once those “format labs” for Clear Channel became the backbone for their “Premium Choice” internal network (shared music logs, streamlined voicetracking and dedicated channels on iHeartRadio) the original purpose of HD Radio for the company was entirely lost.
That's because more people have smartphones than portable radios.The potential upsides of having format channels on a mobile app clearly sounded a lot more appealing than hoping people would go to Best Buy and purchase a FM model (made with a proprietary standard that made those radios cost-prohibitive to the public) in the hopes of accessing them over there.
My bet is Audacy rolled the dice on two fronts: 1) There is a growing open LGBTQ community which include prime demographics that advertisers want to reach. Very few radio stations were openly targeting that audience. As other's here have mentioned, most within that community are average folks not interested in a station flashing an aural neon sign that screams let's talk about GAY, GAY, GAY! Like anyone else, the LGBTQ community are just looking for quality content that resonates within their demographic, not necessarily only their identity.Audacy’s attempt with Channel Q was also the same in aspects, they trotted it out as a channel on their streaming platform that just so happens to also be on HD subchannels.
2) Trying to do a format which is mostly talk to a mostly politically liberal audience hasn't played well in the past. Those who are left leaning, aren't into the radio political talk anyway. (Mostly because they aren't angry 60+ white males.) If they had done something like KGAY in Palm Springs, CA., they would have stood a better chance of success. But like anything, a format in one place, may not necessarily work somewhere else.