Regular readers of this column may be under the impression that I hate radio and think it’s dead. I wouldn’t say either of those things.
It’s not dead, although the traditional form of linear broadcast radio is circling the drain, and I don’t hate radio. In fact…
Perhaps you recall me calling HD Radio doomed and useless except to feed translators and as a failed attempt to do something “digital” because everything else went digital and the industry had a bad case of FOMO.
I still think that, and I think I’ve been proven right over the years. Yet, there I was, browsing the new cars at a local dealership, checking the sticker prices — “$55,000 for THAT?!” — when I realized that I was checking each and every sticker to see if the car had HD Radio installed. I realized that I might be the only person on earth to consider HD Radio a must-have for any new car purchase.
I can’t explain it. There’s no programming on HD subchannels here that I want, or that isn’t duplicated on analog translators. There isn’t going to be anything I want to hear, other than perhaps Marlins games, since I can’t get the AM signals from either the flagship in Miami or the West Palm affiliate. The HD signals frequently drop out. It still sucks. And I can certainly stream whatever I want via Bluetooth.
But if we bite the bullet and buy a new car, HD Radio is going to have to be included, along with Apple CarPlay and, maybe, a hefty monthly payment. I absolutely abhor HD Radio, but somehow it’s a dealbreaker.
I’m weird that way (and other ways, but you know that). I mean, I know linear TV is mostly passé, and I already get all the networks I need because cable’s included in our HOA fee, but I am still driving myself crazy trying to find a cheap way to pull in the Miami broadcast stations. I’ve asked on Reddit, I’ve asked engineers, I’ve done my research, and I still can’t get the Fox/ABC and main independent stations despite being line of sight to the towers. I don’t even watch much on the local stations other than live sports and local news. But those Miami signals are out there, and I want them.
Do I need them, though? Nah. Other than local news, which is available via streaming anyway and is hyper-focused on violent crime, and the occasional NFL game that’s different from the one carried in West Palm, it’s all basically the same. I’m not a Luddite except for this. It’s bad enough that I own things that don’t work here, just because I want to have them. Portable DAB radio? Yup, got one — an ocean away from any country using DAB.
Old cell phones? I’ve got a bunch, from CDMA to 5G. I still have a StarTAC, a couple of Treos, a Windows Mobile phone I tried to convert to Android with limited success, and others I don’t even remember. Yes, I’ve tried charging them and seeing if they can find a network. No, they can’t; the networks they used are long gone. I don’t need them to work — I do have an iPhone — but once in a while, I fire them up and hope that, somehow, somewhere, there’s a cell tower where someone forgot to turn off the old antenna, just because.
If I’m critical of the radio industry, it’s not about hating radio. Radio, in all of its forms, is just part of me, and so are TV, cell phones, and whatever else is on the Island of Misfit Tech. Much to my wife’s consternation, I will never throw that stuff out, and I won’t stop tinkering with radios just to see what I can pull in.
Turns out I’m one of those guys — the ones filling the comments on Facebook radio groups with “back in my day” stuff. But I’m also one of those streaming, non-linear media advocates. Yes, you can be both. At least it gives me something to do with my time these days.
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Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
