Radio Disney to launch on up to 60 HD subchannels

[tomservo]

So sayeth the iBiquity press masheen.

Notice that they fail to note exactly which stations those will be, or when they are expected to launch. First up to bat is a station in Las Vegas, which is demonstrating some sort of HD-radio ad network, which I presume shows ads on the radio screen while you listen.

Just what we need, advertisements on our radio screens, because the ones we hear and the ones on our phones and in the skies (billboards) just aren't enough.

 

[landtuna]

Other than nav maps are any other moving video's legal to be displayed in view of the driver? I thought not. My nav can play DVD's but only if the car is parked.

 

[TheBigA]

I was in a cab in Las Vegas, and the ads are only viewable in the passenger seats.

Of course the reason they launched it in Las Vegas this week is because it's where the NAB convention is.

 

[tomservo]

If the ads are being downloaded via the HD data feed, then I'm sure they're static ads. There's just not enough space to fit a video in. From what I understand, the artist experience feature that shows album art is VERY flaky because of the lack of bandwidth available in the HD feed. Most of it is dedicated to the audio. I think the album art is only sent once at the beginning of the song, if you tune in to the middle or you have a dropout during the song, the art won't display.

If that's the case, then 99% of album art must be going unseen into the ether, considering how unreliable the HD can be. Not to mention how few radios and how few stations support the artist experience.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

One wonders what their business plan is. It seems to me that the only thing their target audience has less of than AM radios is HD radios. Radio Disney's biggest strength was localism - having concerts and remotes everywhere in local markets. That takes money. When they stopped the localism, kids lost interest. Radio 101. So unless they are going to pump money back in to the local markets with local concerts and remotes, the HD sub channels will fall as flat as the AM stations did. Even flatter, because HD is dying a slow death in the marketplace.

What disturbs me is that I actually talked to the head of the network years ago when they were headquartered in Dallas at KMKI. I told her just what a bad idea HD AM and HD radio was in general, and how they needed to keep up the localism and get AM radios in the hands of kids. I even brought up C-Quam and how great it sounded, and how Disney could private label Japanese C-Quam radios for 20 or 30 dollars. She was VERY receptive, very interested in what I had to say. She must have been replaced by somebody else - somebody who listened to the HD high pressure sales pitch.

 

[TheBigA]

She was VERY receptive, very interested in what I had to say.

Like most Disney folks, she was being polite.

 

[Wimmmex]

Radio Disney's biggest strength was localism - having concerts and remotes everywhere in local markets

Are you kidding? Their greatest strength? There are markets where Disney did nothing local.

I told her just what a bad idea HD AM and HD radio was in general. She was VERY receptive, very interested in what I had to say. She must have been replaced by somebody else

Or after thinking about it...discounted your points posthaste.

Disney is just trying to get more audience. And HD on FM is a very cost effective platform for them.

Like most Disney folks, she was being polite.

LOL

 

[Kelly A]

This is a pretty good alternative to all those crappy AM stations Disney had. Few kids ever listened to RD AM stations anyway, let alone AM of any format.

And true to form on this discussion board, the solution to all issues are to reject new ideas and turn back the clock to the 70's or 80's.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

This is a pretty good alternative to all those crappy AM stations Disney had. Few kids ever listened to RD AM stations anyway, let alone AM of any format.

And true to form on this discussion board, the solution to all issues are to reject new ideas and turn back the clock to the 70's or 80's.

Who does Radio Disney expect to listen to all those HD sub-channels? Kids? We all know how many kids aged 2 to 16 care about, or even know about HD radio. Seems like an awful waste of money, only rivaled by the purchase of all those mediocre AM signals, then the loss of money on them when they sold them.

Usually Disney doesn't make mistakes like this. They are usually plan things very carefully.

 

[frankberry]

I'm guessing that the Disney HD sub-channels will be put on analog FM translators.

 

[CTListener]

I'm guessing that the Disney HD sub-channels will be put on analog FM translators.

Which will frustrate kids no end, as the signals from those pea-shooter repeaters won't last the 25-mile trip to grandma's house in mommy's car -- or the 10-mile trip to the suburban rink for hockey practice. I agree with Bruce -- this move looks like a misstep unless Disney knows something about an upcoming surge in HD Radio mass acceptance and use that none of use can see coming.

 

[DaveBayArea]

This is interesting. Looks like Ibiquity has decided to launch an ad network at the NAB. So they sell ads, and distribute them along with content to someone trying to figure out what to do with their HD subchannels? Is that how it works? KCYE is 96,000 watts on a tall mountain less than 10 miles from the strip. So reception should be solid and impressive to anyone at the NAB show. At least they shouldn't have to worry about the ads failing to load.

Every time something like this happens I wonder if it's the last attempt by Ibiquity to beat a dead horse. But who knows? It might work. We'll see.

Dave B.

 

[frankberry]

Stations that can't figure out what to do with their HD subchannels should never have put them on the air in the first place.
Bye bye horsey.

 

[Wimmmex]

QT

 

[DaveBayArea]

Who said they are "trying to figure out what to do with their HD Subchannels?"

That's just an observation based on experience, conversations with other stations, and spot checks of HD2/HD3 channels. I consistently observe PAD that doesn't match the song, dead air, choppy segues, playlists that are never updated, and leased webstream formats that last for a few months and then disappear. See the "KMEL-HD record player broken" thread on the San Francisco board for other comments. That's not always the case, by any means. But there are enough subchannel faux pas incidents that it becomes obvious in at least some cases that nobody at the station is paying attention.

Dave B.

 

[Kelly A]

Ironically I just returned from NAB and the cab I took from the airport to hotel had three fairly large screens in the rear passenger seat area. One was mounted to the ceiling center and was playing full-on A/V ads. The other two screens were behind the front seat headrests and were scrolling static images with text. Not sure what was feeding the media to the screens, but this is the most I've seen in any one cab.

Clearly there is demand for these sort of mobile ads. If HD Radio/IBOC can be used for this form of alternative revenue source, I say hey, why not?

 

[Wimmmex]

That's just an observation based on experience, conversations with other stations, and spot checks of HD2/HD3 channels.

So, it's anecdotal.

I agree with Bruce -- this move looks like a misstep unless Disney knows something about an upcoming surge in HD Radio mass acceptance and use that none of use can see coming.

It doesn't need a "upcoming surge". Remember, Radio Disney was ready to work simply off an online model...with web and app streaming...no radio at all.

If this adds only 1,000 listeners it's a success...since it involves very little capital or effort on the part of Disney. The more platforms, the better.

 

[diymedia]

Disney gets a bargain-basement conduit to continue airing Radio Disney content. iBiquity can point to another sign of life: look, another big player in the industry endorses our system! Win-win for them, right?

Promoting new features in LV during NAB has a long history. Anybody remember the USADR-sponsored "bus rides" in the mid-90s that gave many convention-goers their first taste of IBOC?

Artist Experience is underwhelming; FM data bandwidth is paltry as it is, and AE has to share that with traffic and now ad-serving. The album art is served by a third-party, and syncing the image-flow to the playlist has not been an easy process. There've also been cases where the album art served up has been "inappropriate."

How does the "multidimensional" experience of HD with AE and its other datacast whistles compare with, say, NextRadio?

 

[boombox4]

This is a pretty good alternative to all those crappy AM stations Disney had. Few kids ever listened to RD AM stations anyway, let alone AM of any format.

And true to form on this discussion board, the solution to all issues are to reject new ideas and turn back the clock to the 70's or 80's.

16% of the Radio Disney listeners still listened to the AM signals when RD announced their leaving AM radio. That's about one out of six. That's according to radio industry articles.

Plus -- there are less HD radios than AM radios. Try buying one somewhere.

They're in cars, but kids don't drive cars, either. Maybe they ride in the car to school or wherever. What about the rest of the time?

The five out of six RD listeners who did all their listening online will undoubtedly continue to do so.

I agree with you in that I think the HD move by RD is a smart one, probably more cost effective than owning AM stations, but I doubt it will gain RD any listeners until there are more HD capable clock radios, table radios, etc. And who knows when or if that will ever happen.

By the time kids drive, they will have moved on to regular CHR stations.

So it's a great idea, except it probably won't do much. I suppose it's better than nothing, as concerns their over the air radio presence.

 

[TheBigA]

So it's a great idea, except it probably won't do much.

My take on it is that it was a nice short-term press release for iBiquity during NAB week in Vegas. Other than here, it's already forgotten, as the convention is over.