1 of 1- RadioActive
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The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
This story was written by an exec. from Xperi, which helped develop HD Radio, so it's not exactly unbiased. He claims the "extra FM band" is a big hit, presenting audiences with a wealth of choices and that it's already an established hit in markets around the world. He cites Mexico and India as being two countries where it's caught on in a big way.
Here are his figures:
HD Radio by the numbers:
- Now in approximately 125 million North American vehicles, representing over 60% of new vehicles shipped in the U.S.
- By the early 2020s, the technology had become standard factory equipment in the majority of new vehicles sold in North America.
- Enables digital radio services on more than 2,700 AM and FM stations across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
- Reaches nearly 400 million people across multiple countries.
- The ecosystem delivers more than 750 million hours of digital listening every week.
Well, maybe. But I almost never hear any radio stations in Canada even refer to it on air any more, and I wonder how many car owners who use radio are even aware it's there. Has HD really made a difference? Despite the growing number of stations that have tried it, it doesn't really seem to have caught on among the average listener here.
The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
- bmaudioworks
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
One of my clients is "The Grand @ 101" in Fergus, and earlier this year they went HD, running locally-programmed "Grand Country" on HD2. The station's logo has been updated with the HD Radio logo, and on the main signal, they are cross-promoting Grand Country.
- Scarboroughbluffsradiof99
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
That's the state in the U.S, not here.
Most stations here don't even make good use of hd.
Canada should have bin smart, if they did'nt care about dab, they should have started hd in 2006 at about the same time of the states, maybe we would have more variety on hd, but no, canada started to late.
- radiokid
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
Canada also doesn't promote it much.... outside a single handful of stations they offer near ZERO unique content that people can't already get. Putting your AM on HD isn't going to drive the platform alone.. you need to promote it and provide unique content.
- Scarboroughbluffsradiof99
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
radiokid wrote:
Canada also doesn't promote it much.... outside a single handful of stations they offer near ZERO unique content that people can't already get. Putting your AM on HD isn't going to drive the platform alone.. you need to promote it and provide unique content.
Canadian broadcasters, even stingray which is usualy good at unique content, does not put any unique content on hd radio.
I want a soft ac, 2000s pop, or another unique format on hd, but, we have to go to the border for formats like soft ac with iheart's the breez or sunny radio.
Europe, with dab, is way better at programming the formats I love, celtic folk, ultra soft ac, 90s and 00s pop, and christmas popups.
- paterson1
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
Living outside of the GTA I use HD to get a clearer signal for AM radio. It is useful for AM640 which has an HD channel on Energy (CING) out of Hamilton. bmaudioworks is right, The Grand in Fergus promotes their HD2 Grand Country a fair bit on the main channel which has a A/C and somewhat variety format. I could see the country station becoming reasonably successful since they are largely in a rural area. They also play mostly modern country whenever I have tuned in.
- RadioActive
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
Speaking of AM640's HD channel - the one piggybacked on CING-FM. Has anyone else noted how low the levels are on the signal when you turn it on? I'm forced to turn the volume way up and if I go to some other station, it's so loud I can't turn it down fast enough. It's the only HD channel I get that does this and it's been gonig on for several weeks.
Plus, I was out Tuesday morning and noticed something on 640 HD I'd never heard before. I happen to have another regular AM/FM radio with me, and noticed that around 10:45 AM or so, 640 went to a commercial break. I was listening on HD at the time, and the pause seemed to go on forever.
So I tuned in the regular over-the-air station and they were doing an interview with Tony Chapman of the Chatter That Matters podast. But the spots on the HD feed just kept running and running and running, never returning to the actual show until 11 AM. I knew the signals on the FM subcarrier are a bit behind what's on air, but this was more like a glitch than just a delay.
That's a first for me, although it's unlikely anyone else heard it. I wonder what happened?
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Thread Starter- Scarboroughbluffsradiof99
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
Living outside of the GTA I use HD to get a clearer signal for AM radio. It is useful for AM640 which has an HD channel on Energy (CING) out of Hamilton. bmaudioworks is right, The Grand in Fergus promotes their HD2 Grand Country a fair bit on the main channel which has a A/C and somewhat variety format. I could see the country station becoming reasonably successful since they are largely in a rural area. They also play mostly modern country whenever I have tuned in.
That's what I love about community radio outside the large cities and that's not campus run.
More exparimental than campus radio, not so far-gon to the left, and adventuris with there programming.
Example 1: The grand, using hd radio for unique programming and not a simalcast.
2: CKWR.
Broadcasts programs feturing newfie music and a variety of ethnic programming large city ethnic stations think are to european/uncool such as romanian and 2 hrs of german.
- Scarboroughbluffsradiof99
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
I just got CKLH'S hd signals a few weeks ago.
I have my radio at a normal volume, but CKTB on hd is so loud I have to turn the volume down or change the station.
And what happened to CIRV's hd3 and 4 channels?
I met a sri lankan tamil wheel-trans driver 2 years ago when taking the service, And I heard him listening to east fm.
I asked him, Have you heard of thaalam?
He sayd he has and it comes in in places he could'nt get east fm.
So now, with thaalam gon, I hav'nt seen him yet, But now, he has to listen to cmr hd2.
About hd for the rest of us, I think stingray should put today radio on boom's hd2 subchannel, the breez on hd3, and the c format from calgary on hd4.
Last edited by Scarboroughbluffsradiof99 (September 8, 2026 2:42 pm)
- RadioAaron
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
The US did it right; they put unique content there first and then promoted it. There was very little uptake, but there weren't that many radios. They kept at it, but listenership to the sub-channels was miniscule. They've pretty much given up in the last few years, mostly just using the sub-channels to feed low power FM repeaters.
The central problem (other than it being a little too complicated from a user's perspective) is there's no meaningful way to monetize them. Any listening they do get comes from the main station with no actual direct benefit.
With Meta and Google fracturing the ad market, there aren't even enough dollars to support all existing stations.
- Scarboroughbluffsradiof99
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Re: The State of HD Radio: 125 Million Cars and Counting
The US did it right; they put unique content there first and then promoted it. There was very little uptake, but there weren't that many radios. They kept at it, but listenership to the sub-channels was miniscule. They've pretty much given up in the last few years, mostly just using the sub-channels to feed low power FM repeaters.
The central problem (other than it being a little too complicated from a user's perspective) is there's no meaningful way to monetize them. Any listening they do get comes from the main station with no actual direct benefit.
With Meta and Google fracturing the ad market, there aren't even enough dollars to support all existing stations.
This is what's rong.
Its all about the money, so we get boring content such as rap-heavy chr, the same rock-heavy classic hits, ac that's morelike chr, and oldies that don't go older than the 70s and throwback stations that add songs from the 10s and don't play many boybands or 90s and 00s bubblegum pop like hart in the u.k does or 90s90s in germany.