Hear 2.0

HD Radio milepost is actually an Internet Radio milepost

"An HD Radio milepost: Commercials arrive on HD2 stations."

So says Inside Radio, as it announces spots on Z100's HD-2 channel and KSHE's HD-2 option.

What Inside Radio does not say, of course, is that - for Z100's channel at least - the web stream is easily accessible on Z100's website, meaning that what advertisers for Z's HD-2 channel are really buying is web traffic - which undoubtably dwarfs any "radio" traffic for Z's HD-2 version.

KSHE's stream, if it's online at all, is very difficult to find. So the play there seems to be genuinely HD-2.

Still, since so many HD-2 stations - especially Clear Channel's - are also web streams, it really raises the question of what's actually being sold: The HD-2 channel on the radios which folks don't own or the HD-2 stream on the Internet which actually draws an audience.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with winning advertisers on an HD-2 stream, but let's acknowledge it for what it is (in many cases, at least): Internet ad sales, not HD-2 sales.

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