Tom,

I think HD is more specialized.  They can't be doing that deliberately, the 
HD market is too small to matter much.  Some cars have it, a few stereo 
receivers are HD capable.  I have one, but I can't pick up much HD 
broadcasting from here, occasionally if I turn my FM yagi toward Grand 
Rapids, I can get some of the commercial HD like Wood-FM, WLAV-FM, and 
WLHT-FM.  During a band opening, I got some of the Detroit stations; WOMC 
104.3 is a Hits of the 60s 70s and 80s station and their HD1 channel is 
Oldies.  But, the HD market is so small, I'm sure less than probably 5 
percent of the market, that it just wouldn't pay to try to encourage 
listeners to move by dumbing down the regular stations and loading them with 
commercials.

I suspect the WOGL change is due to the fact that they want to appeal to a 
younger demographic market segment, say 35-49 years old, or maybe even 30-49 
and they have to play more of the newer hits from the late 70s and 80s to do 
that.  Since the traditional oldies station is playing mainly music from the 
late 50s and 60s, extending to the early 70s, the demographic they are 
likely to reach is more along the lines of 45-64.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tom behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2011 8:36 PM
Subject: HD radio


> Hi, all.
>
> I am not sure if this will be considered by some to be "off topic", but 
> last
> evening, I heard something on an FM broadcast station that has confirmed 
> my
> long-standing suspicions about where commercial FM radio is going today.
>
> I simply thought it might be of interest to others.
>
> By way of introduction, I have noticed that the quality of many normal
> non-HD FM stations seems to have deteriorated over the past few years,
> especially in larger metropolitan areas.  By declining quality, I mean 
> more
> commercials, less music, and what seems to be a much less diverse 
> play-list.
>
> My theory had always been that normal non-HD FM stations were simply being
> operated for those who hadn't yet made the switch to HD radio, as kind of 
> a
> necessary evil.  It just seemed to me that more resources and efforts were
> being put into HD stations, so as to come up with a better-quality and 
> more
> appealing product.
>
> As many of you may know, I am currently traveling throughout the east 
> coast,
> and am now spending some time with my wife's mother in the Trenton, New
> Jersey area.
>
> Last night, I was listening to W O G L--98.1 FM in Philadelphia.  In the
> past, that station had been an excellent oldies station, with what I think
> had been very good ratings.
>
> Now, the station has more of a "classic hits" format, with lots of talk,
> commercials, and other stuff between the music.
>
> Anyway, shortly before the top of an hour, the station ID was played,
> followed by a message that said something like this:  "If you want more
> music, more oldies from the 60's and 70's, and more home-town DJ's, tune 
> to
> W O G L HD1".
>
> To me, this indicated, at least in this case, that the HD option was 
> clearly
> being promoted over the normal non-HD programming.
>
> Am I onto something here, or totally "off base"?
>
> And, please:  to those in the broadcast business (like Lou )WA3MIX), I 
> mean
> no offense whatsoever by these observations.
>
> HD radio has not yet arrived in the part of semi-rural west-central lower
> Michigan where I currently live, but if I lived in a bigger metro area, I
> have the feeling that HD radios would quickly be added to my wish list.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ