Tom,

No offense taken.  Actually, I think what you're hearing has little to do 
with HD as that mode of broadcasting has struggled to get off the ground. 
It's been poorly promoted and, as you say, is not even available in many 
areas, including mine.  of course, you and I live in rural areas, so that's 
not really surprising but even in the cities, where HD is plentiful, it's 
not doing nearly as well as the industry had hoped.  It's partly because the 
programmers are the same folks who are programming the main channels, and, 
perhaps mostly because there are too many other choices for people.  to go 
with instead.

As for OGL, last time I checked, there ratings were quite good.  I think 
what you're experiencing is that radio constantly adjusts to reach mainly 
younger folks.  As we get older, it becomes less relevant to us.  And before 
anyone starts flaming me, I know all about the borring corporate programming 
that folks have complained about on here before.  I'm not about to get 
caught up in that debate.  I have to live it every day.  73,  Lou
----- 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