This is regarding Newman's article here.
Newman brings up an interesting perspective. Everyone has been adamantly against the HD radio propositions, and rightfully so. Brandon's excellent article spelled out many of the reasons why. However, it seems that a lot of the recent buzz has surrounded Adelstein and Markey's extended rate freeze and 25% of spectrum divestiture. He also wants an HD chip in every radio, but that hasn't been well publicized. It might be worthwhile to reconsider our position on HD radio, as it might be a powerful olive branch.
After some thought, if given a choice between either the rate freeze or the amount of spectrum and the HD radio inclusion, I think I would take HD radio. As Newman says, Ibiquity has to pay for it. That is a no-brainer. But if you think about it, this isn't so different than satellite competing with traditional AM/FM radio. Given all the complaints about HD, and the poor quality of terrestrial broadcasting, I still think the majority of consumers would choose to fork out the $$$ for satrad. Giving spectrum to a party like Georgetown who might try to launch competing channels at no charge could be far more damaging to the merged companies.