HD Radio news from the 2012 NAB includes reports of 7 million radios deployed, an HD Radio equipped car sells every 15 seconds, and now on mobile phones. Plus, why HD Radio should team with TV…

HD Radio equipped cars displayed outside the NAB Convention

We’ve always been fans of the idea of HD Radio. The opportunity for niche and ethnic programmers is significant.

If only big radio could get out of its own way.

The report from the 2012 NAB Convention is Las Vegas is as follows: In the face of a small army of hostile engineers, consultants who’d prefer to play it safe and get paid, and a station ownership situation that amounts to herding cats, HD Radio continues to knock down barriers in a slow but methodical march to the market.

With a reported 7 million radios in the market and an HD Radio equipped car selling every 15 seconds, it won’t be long before ten million radios will be deployed. Will that number, combined with the approved power increase, be enough to finally get owners to invest in the product and content? Let’s hope.

142 auto models offer HD Radio, 64 are standard equipment.

Beyond auto, iBiquity rolled out working prototypes of mobile phones with an embedded HD Radio chipset — one that is apparently both affordable and does not suck the battery dry.

The phone is part of Emmis Radio chief Jeff Smulyan’s seemingly Quixotic quest to force phone manufacturers to embed FM chipsets. While his wish for federal mandate will never happen, a test drive of the HD Radio equipped phone proved impressive — they sounded great, offered album cover art and artist information, music purchase buttons, and an equally impressive sales solution featuring couponing, QR codes, and other options that would be of interest to sales teams.

The working prototype HD Radio equipped phone. Sounded and looked great.

The “back end” interface was developed by Emmis Interactive, and it’s an add-on that’s worth a look for mobile manufacturers and carriers alike. Kudos to Smulyan for R&D efforts that are simply too rare in radio these days. Ultimately, he may have created a very significant innovation for radio. His international experience no doubt showed him that in many countries, listening to broadcast FM on equipped mobile phones can be quite high.

Among the current arguments for the embedded chip is the same argument one hears from across the convention hallway at the mobile television kiosks.

Interestingly, broadcast television is rolling out a new digital mobile platform that will beam live television into mobile phones and tablets via a solution called an ATSC tuner.

Both HD Radio and ATSC (Mobile TV) advocates argue that the ability to listen and watch (free) local broadcasts on phones and tablets will help relieve bandwidth pressure for both consumers and carriers, perhaps easing the need for throttling as a result of all the streaming.

Think of this offer: Would you be interested in an aftermarket dongle or an embedded chip that would enable your iPad to receive television? We sure are.

These two new digital players ought to team up in a big way to bring free local broadcasting seamlessly to handheld  devices.