USA Today has a write up on HD Radio today and of course pits HD against Satellite Radio in terms of sound quality, price and selection. Initially I was expecting another one of those ho-hum articles (*cough*) simply regurgitating iBiquity's media kit, but Edward C. Baig actually wrote a very nice and honest comparison. Wow.

His points are all very truthful and valid: HD Radio is still way too young to endorse or decline, HD units are pricey right now but you don't need to pay a monthly fee, Satellite Radio offers far more selection, and satrad is available nationwide.

And while I'm pretty much anti-anything when it comes to commercial radio, I really can't argue against this article. HD really is too young to compare it right now, and satellite radio really does offer more selection nationwide. The only thing I would point out is the headstart that satrad has against HD. Only now did the Radio industry start to get organized with this technology - Satellite Radio is already looking far into the future to bring much more than just "radio" to the table. Let's take a look in a few years and see where both industries are, and then let's do a true comparison, shall we?

[USA Today]

Remember that HD Radio Alliance that was formed a while back? It was basically just a bunch of Big Radio Suits getting together and coming up with some sort of organization, with a neato name, because they couldn't get their stuff together with their HD Radio technology. We all know how scared of satellite radio they are and HD Radio is their only hope for salvation (in their eyes - personally, my feeling is that HD Radio will provide no benefit to Terrestrial's offering whatsoever - but hey, that's just me).

Well, it looks like finally something will come of this because The Rebel Alliance has announced the initiative for broadcasting HD2 multicast programming. Set to launch within a few days in 28 markets (NY, LA, Chicago, etc) with 264 new HD2 channels covering a variety of music and talk formats. Member broadcasters will be responsible for programming each of their multicast channels (as opposed to the templatized playlists we all know and love) and all HD2 formats will be initially commercial-free. In addition, all current analog radio signals will also be available as HD digital radio broadcasts (on HD1 channels).

The commercial-free part is very interesting. It looks like Terrestrial is willing to (uncharacteristically) eat some potential profits in hopes to spur adoption of HD Radio. Currently, no one owns HD Radio and there's not really any reason to. But commercial-free programming that's non-templatized? That almost sounds as good as satellite radio!

Things are getting interesting...

[FMQB]