[Entercom CEO] Field Hints At Consortium To Pit HD Against Satellite Radio

Will the terrestrial radio industry form a consortium to exploit high-definition radio’s multi-channel capability as a strategy for combating satellite radio? Based on what Entercom president and CEO David Field said during the company’s Feb. 23 financial results conference call, the answer appears to be yes.  ¶  Improved sound quality and the ability to transmit data streams are only part of the lure of HD radio. The technology’s “killer app” is the opportunity for FM stations to transmit up to eight additional side channels of new programming. Fully exploiting that capability would allow the industry to do something previously prohibited by basic radio market economics: broadcast niche-targeted services like XM and Sirius do. ... Link: Billboard Radio Monitor.  Fascinating to recall that American broadcasters pushed for an IBOC standard instead of Eureka in the first place at least in major part because they feared the multiple channels the latter would create. --Dennis