I guarantee you, unless the HD2 is being used to feed a translator or is just flat out being leased, nobody in America puts any thought and effort into their HD side channels. None whatsoever. They have no measurable audience and make no money.
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will the largest city in the country finally...
- Thread starter Gunsmoke
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I guarantee you, unless the HD2 is being used to feed a translator or is just flat out being leased, nobody in America puts any thought and effort into their HD side channels. None whatsoever. They have no measurable audience and make no money.
A fresh start. And to not be burdened by comparisons to the previous incarnations of K-Rock. Same reason why I'm glad WRFF in Philly didn't try to be "Y104.5" or something. They've made their own name in Alternative radio history in Philly.
Has anyone here actually listened to the 2017 incarnation of Alternative Radio? I ask because most people can’t seem to get past its Grunge roots. These days the format is more female friendly with a pretty heavy pop component. In a city like New York, it may cause a slight shift in strategy, say at PLJ, to try and Capitalise.
^ This.... The alternative format has enjoyed several crossover artists over the past few years that are very CHR friendly.
I'm not an Alternative fan at all, but despite the negativity said about this move, I am very happy for the Alt fans in NYC who have been wanting a new outlet on terrestrial radio for a long time, without having to waste money on a different type of radio! You guys enjoy it! Support it! Who knows, things change and times change, so hopefully this new station will blaze some sort of trail in the future.
You'll guarantee that? What's this guarantee backed up with if you're proven incorrect?
A lot of sweeping generalizations - "nobody" puts "any" thought or effort into their HD channels? "None whatsoever."
I'll eagerly await the results of your scientific survey of every station & staffer in radio in North America proving this, and disproving the work of talented programmers at Beasley - Detroit and Emmis - Austin among many others.
What johndavis wrote is correct at least 90% of the time. Minimal to zero revenue is generated by HD-only side channels that either do not have an analog translator counterpart or are not leased to a third party. As an owner, you are not going to devote much time, money or resources to something that is not EBITDA accretive. This is why in many cases HD-only side channels run boilerplate national formats that are shared across dozens of such stations nationwide, rebroadcast in-cluster AM stations, or simulcast out-of-market stations. .
It is a cool factor to say you are listening to an HD3 Station when so few people even understand about HD Radio and subchannels. When I bought my new car, the salesman thought it was High Definition Radio and he knew nothing of subchannels. The only problem is the dealership is in Huntington and that location is just past solid HD reception. HD2-4 Frequently goes in and out once you cross into Suffolk County (they need to allow the stations to increase the HD power to make the coverage equal to Analog).
I can't remember the last time I listened to their non-HD since I had given up on them since they were sounding like they have it turned up too loud to the point where everything sounds distorted. There is nothing even you can do about it on any receiver to clean it up it is so bad. I remember the days when they were Classical music and then Alternative when their audio processing sounded great. I think it was well after they changed to Classic Rock that they butchered it for whatever reason but I do not remember it that bad until much later, so at some point it got allot worse.
I think 92.3 Alt sounds flat and a little compressed, like a 1990s web stream at times. I do not know what these stations are thinking with overly compressed audio being put up on FM since it not like the days where streaming quality is not that good. You want to bring people back from streaming and that is not going to happen if the FM quality sounds worse than what they are getting with their streaming station. 92.3 sounds maybe slightly better than Sirius which is not saying much.
Really no excuse for the FM audio quality to be as bad as it is particularly with NYC based stations. Back in the 80s-90s the quality was so much better with these stations. You would think here we are in 2017 it would be the same or improved but not far worse. Certainly not becoming worse than streaming audio.
I'm not sure that Alternative can work in NYC, we have seen a resurgence of alt music on chr with portugal. the man, imagine dragons, and the new Walk the moon, so that certainly will help. I must say that what 92.3 is doing is the best shot that this format could possibly get. They are playing the best new music of the format and layering it with the right familiar gold and reccurents as well. They are not messing it up with active rock meathead crap that NYC doesn't want or need, and that is the right move for sure. The right talent to compliment the music could really fill it out into a respectable offering. They will never be #1 and they will need a strong national strategy for sales as Alt seems to be a very hard sell even when you do deliver key demos consistently.
On those who can't tell the difference. Pretty sad
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