...just change the name to Blu-ray Radio!

Afterall, HD DVD has now lost the war to Sony's Blu-ray format - what with Best Buy, Netflix and now Wal-Mart delivering crushing blows by siding with Blu-ray exclusively (and reports coming in that Toshiba is ready to throw in the towel). So I think the terrestrial radio camp should reconsider its naming convention for HD Radio.

Since that "HD" distinction doesn't mean anything anyway, they might as well rebrand themselves once again for another year of stellar sales.

"Quite honestly, it doesn't stand for anything," said Peter Ferrera, president and CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, told the LA Times. "The concept was somewhat of a steal from HD television, where viewers know it means better quality."

That approach didn't work for Toshiba... and if they're not bound to pesky acronyms that actually mean something, why not give it a shot?

[Reuters]

HD Radio sales numbers have come in for 2007, and iBiquity is patting itself on the back because of a reported 700% jump in sales year-over-year.

Bob Struble, president of iBiquity, told the NAB Board of Directors that 2007 was a "breakthrough year" with over 330,000 HD Radio receivers sold compared to the 40,000 units sold in 2006.

But iBiquity is singing a different song to the FCC, complaining that they suspect Sirius and XM have used their partnerships to "discourage proliferation" of HD Radio.

And only a few months ago, iBiquity was saying they sold 200,000 units in 2006, and are estimating 1 to 1.5 million units for 2007. Surely in October the company had a good enough picture of how sales would be for the year.

So which is it?

• 40k units, or 200k units?
• 330k units last year, or 1.5 million?
• Is HD Radio "breaking through" or being "discouraged"?

I'm having a hard time keeping track.

[Hear 2.0]