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Chicago Stations should have more HD subchannels

M

Miles917

New Participating Member
WTMX used to have a smooth jazz subchannel but it's gone.
WSHE never had a subchannel.
WFMT doesn't have one.
WBEZ's subchannel is just a simulcast of WBEW.
WBMX has a simulcast of WSCR.
WLS just has a simulcast of WLS AM.
And there are no HD3 subchannels at all in Chicago except for WOJO HD3.
 
Miles917 said:
WTMX used to have a smooth jazz subchannel but it's gone.
WSHE never had a subchannel.
WFMT doesn't have one.
WBEZ's subchannel is just a simulcast of WBEW.
WBMX has a simulcast of WSCR.
WLS just has a simulcast of WLS AM.
And there are no HD3 subchannels at all in Chicago except for WOJO HD3.
Click to expand...

And yet, Chicago has more radio stations than any market that I've ever seen.
 
Interesting that WBEZ hasn't entered the HD area yet, given the support they'd get from NPR if they did.
 
TheBigA said:
Interesting that WBEZ hasn't entered the HD area yet, given the support they'd get from NPR if they did.
Click to expand...

None of Connecticut's NPR stations have anything more than a basic HD1 simulcast either. What kind of incentive does NPR provide for public broadcasters to add HD streams? Classical music used to be part of Connecticut Public Radio's daily offerings, but the network has been all news/talk (other than some music on weekends) for many years. You'd think that if NPR would pay the freight, they might put it on an HD2 channel, especially since WFCR Amherst, MA, which is classical or jazz in all dayparts but morning and evening drive, is performing well in the Hartford market, presumably at the expense of our own public radio network.
 
CTListener said:
What kind of incentive does NPR provide for public broadcasters to add HD streams?
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Lots of content. WBEZ wouldn't have to do anything local. NPR can't pay for it, but there wouldn't be a staffing cost for BEZ. Most stations run them automated.
 
JJSPC said:
HD radio is the AM Stereo of the 2010's.
Click to expand...

That may have been true in 2010, but lately the HD subchannels have been showing up in ratings, thanks in part to FM translators and the standardization of HD in new cars. I just bought a new car and it has HD standard. Lots of new stations to hear.
 
TheBigA said:
Lots of content. WBEZ wouldn't have to do anything local. NPR can't pay for it, but there wouldn't be a staffing cost for BEZ. Most stations run them automated.
Click to expand...

I disagree. WBEZ already runs almost all of the daily news and talk product from NPR/APM, in some cases more than once each day (Fresh Air and Marketplace air twice).
As an illustration, in Nashville WPLN has an HD2 news channel, 12 hours of the HD2's day are repeats from earlier in the day on the main -FM signal. 9 additional hours are evening/overnight programs from BBC World Service.

WBEZ could of course choose to air music programs on an HD service - but they already provide one such subchannel locally programmed for Chicago.
 
Knoxville''s WUOT also has an HD2 (only one in the market) and the lineup sounds similar to Nashville.
 
TheBigA said:
Lots of content. WBEZ wouldn't have to do anything local. NPR can't pay for it, but there wouldn't be a staffing cost for BEZ. Most stations run them automated.
Click to expand...

More content that an audience smaller than the small audience the main station attracts would listen to? Not much of an incentive.
 
HD is a pretty small market. Not many cars have HD receivers built in. I'm not sure this is ever going to change unless most automakers put HD receivers in most cars.
 
Who has an HD Radio to listen to any of it on? It's an obsolete, failed technology that's been superseded by internet streaming (see also: Sirius/XM Satellite Radio).
 
PaulKTF said:
Who has an HD Radio to listen to any of it on? It's an obsolete, failed technology that's been superseded by internet streaming (see also: Sirius/XM Satellite Radio).
Click to expand...

My car came with HD standard. So that's easy. The technology isn't any more obsolete than AM or FM.

Sirius is fine for people who want to pay an extra monthly bill. That's not me.
 
Seems that the only people complaining about HD are DXers or people with some attachment to a fringe signal not targeted toward their market. That can't be more than 5 percent (and even that might be generous) of the total audience in a given market. I have two HD2s that I regularly listen to. They're on 92.5 and 102.9. If there was anything on 92,3, 92.7, 102.7 or 103.1 that I used to receive before those stations turned on their HD units, I have no recollection of ever listening to it.
 
Hubbard really is not big into HD sub programming. 100.3 had a few HD-2 formats under Bonneville but it had little effort. CBS-Entercom is big with HD-2, HD-3 and even HD-4 out east but not here. No idea why.
 
JeremyAndrews said:
Hubbard really is not big into HD sub programming. 100.3 had a few HD-2 formats under Bonneville but it had little effort. CBS-Entercom is big with HD-2, HD-3 and even HD-4 out east but not here. No idea why.
Click to expand...

Even Entercom Detroit has several HD2 and HD3s on their stations
 
staggmovie said:
WGN Radio hasn't entered the HD either
Click to expand...

WGN has HD on for a very brief period. Then shut it off and never turned it back on. As have most of the AM's nationwide save for legacy CBS stations. From an engineering standpoint, it was doomed from the start. The side-carriers were underpowered to match that of the analog main signal. Problem is too, that those side carriers were also on adjacent channels and stations. Those far also created problems with distant reception.
 
HD Subcarriers (HD-2, 3, 4)

You need to have content which the public wants and will seek it out. Those stations which have employed translators to get their HD-2 formats into the the analog realm have found them to be many times viable. And some have used the HD-2 to broker out the time to those translator owners. Iheart and EMF has a couple deals here where each supplies programming to the other's translators. But again, it's the content which matters.

Some content is so niche that there is no sustaining commercial mechanism and they just fade away. Never mind there are some significant technical and business matters which need to be addressed by the host station. Is it worth the effort when the DTS (or who ever owns HD's patents today) takes 3% off the top for license fees of all sub-channel revenue. For stations which simulcast other co-owned stations to extend their reach, there is a lot of legal banter as to whether the 3% applies to the total station revenue of the relayed station. And that's before all other music licensing fees now totaling something more than 7% between all rights holders agencies (both performance and composers).

So station only net's 90% of every dollar earned before all their expenses. In many instances, that 10%, or even 3% margin makes or breaks the operation. More often, it breaks the operation. Especially in more marginal markets.

So...the reality is, as someone else put it, HD is a lot like AM stereo. Lots of potential, but a lot of fizzle in the end. I can go on and on...but...
 
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