Bunnyears:
101.1 JACK FM radio format is succeeding as an innovative broadcast radio station, but if you don't like it, then don't listen to it. The JACK FM content format has no relationship with the iBiquity IBOC HD Radio broadcasting format...period. You will still be able to enjoy your favorite AM / FM radio stations regardless of whether you have a traditional analogue or digital HD Radio. Put simply: you will still be able to listen to weather, traffic, music, or talk radio programs in both analogue and digital AM / FM, but the HD Radio digital broadcasting format promises higher fidelity of sound. Both analogue and digital broadcasting formats are available to the general public at no charge (unlike Sirius or XM satellite radio services) other than the cost of purchasing a HD Radio, but that is at the discretion of the consumer. Radio stations nationwide have a choice of switching over to the iBiquity IBOC HD Radio broadcasting format, but it is inaccurate to say that doing so will force a change of the content format. I hope you will do some research about the multi-faceted communications formats -- both in terms of content programming and broadcasting formats -- that are available to the American public.
On a germane issue, Sirius and XM Satellite radio services represent premium radio not unlike the analogy of UHF NTSC analogue television channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 to that of Dish Network, DirecTV Satellite or cable television services. You must pay a subscription fee or sign a contract in order to receive hundreds of specialty programming channels that narrow cast to a specific target demographic for both satellite radio and television along with cable services. So, how does this effect the landscape of traditional AM / FM radio stations today?
As I have stated earlier in this thread, traditional AM / FM radio stations face competition on many different fronts. Since one traditional analogue AM / FM radio station can not have more than one entity on a pre-selected frequency that has been approved by the FCC, they have to find a way to compete for dwindling listeners (and viewers too). To that end, there are several options on the table: 1. change the content programming to mirror the habits of contemporary listeners who choose to subscribe to satellite radio or television services and those that own a portable compressed music player like an Apple iPod -- the JACK FM radio content format is one example, 2. switch over to HD Radio which will allow one radio station to broadcast in analogue AM / FM and simulcast in digital HD Radio (i.e., NPR HD Radio can broadcast its talk and classical programming on channel A while it also broadcasts a new jazz programming lineup on channel B), 3. switch over to digital HD Radio broadcasting network but retain the same programming content on both analogue and digital AM / FM frequencies, 4. do nothing.
That's it in a brief nutshell: choices over the content of programming do not correlate with broadcasting formats. As listeners and viewers alike, we have the power to vote over whether the JACK FM programming format will succeed or fail and the same is true of the variegated broadcasting formats -- analogue AM / FM, digital HD Radio, satellite radio, satellite television, and even compressed digital music players along with formats. I see (and hear) a sea full of exiting choices over the horizon. Stay tuned.