The Future of Media

Harris (HRS Quote) and Samsung both showed working prototypes of local broadcast to cell phones. The technology uses the new digital TV spectrum to send an exact duplicate of the local broadcast to cell phones and portable devices in the area. I got a nice demo of both standards while I was stuffed into a souped-up minibus that sped around the streets of Las Vegas. And I was impressed. Quality was good, and the technology seemed to not hammer the fragile battery lives on most phones.

Expect some neat new riffs on traditional broadcast TV with the service: Real-time traffic information for exactly where you want to go is probably my favorite.

3. HD Radio will get real.

While satellite radio gets all the news these days -- the XM/Sirius nuptials are in the "will they/won't they" stage -- high-definition radio is the bigger story by far.

Now more than 1,200 terrestrial radio stations broadcast in HD radio and about three times that amount are expected to go HD over the next several years. Prices of HD radios are beginning to drop: Radiosophy, for example, has a unit for $100. And new services are being tested by broadcasters.

Why is HD radio so cool? First off, ignore the radio industry's complete misbranding of the technology. Yes, HD radio can be high definition. It can provide excellent sound quality. But what is far more important is that HD radio is digital radio.

Just like cell-phone networks that made the transition from analog to digital in decades past, new digital broadcast networks will provide a full range of new services. Conditional access will allow for highly targeted radio feeds to groups as little as a few hundred. Forget KROK. You'll get YourROK.

Your radio will learn what you like to listen to and feed you that content. There will be content tied to positional information such as GPS systems and in-car navigation. There will be graphics, links to Web content and probably most important of all, coupons. Discounts will be fed on the fly to listeners as they approach, say, a McDonalds.

Factor in that radio penetration is 100%. There are easily 1 billion radios in U.S., and billions more worldwide. Everybody has a radio. Imagine what happens when they all go digital -- which is only a matter of time -- think of the reach of even the most basic discount coupon promotion.

Drive by this McDonalds. Get a $1 off a Big Mac if you are within a 10-block radius. Can anybody say that is not marketing gold?

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