Will Zune HD Help Microsoft More Than It Helps Radio???

Thursday, May, 28, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

You have to believe that Microsoft’s new Zune HD will, indeed help the mother ship more than it helps HD radio.  I can’t help believing that since Microsoft considers FM radio as Zune’s second-most important selling point according to CNET.  Just yesterday Microsoft announced the launch of Zune HD this fall.  The Zune features an OLED touch screen, high-definition video output, a version of Internet Explorer and, oh yes, HD radio.  Think of the Zune HD as a music-focused device with a nice touch screen.  It will support video and apps but mostly improve music-playback with album art, song-tagging, detailed artist pages, images, perhaps lyrics or video content.  It will sell a ton of music and move a couple of HD radios secondarily but don’t tell the NAB, Clear Channel, CBS Radio, Emmis or iBiquity that because they think Zune HD is the second-coming of Marconi…

Dennis Wharton (NAB), Mark Mays (Clear Channel), Dan Mason (CBS), Jeff Smulyan (Emmis) and Bob Struble (iBiquity) are swooning over the Zune press release.  Look for all of them to promote the Zune HD with giveaways and other cross-promotions.  NAB Executive Vice President Wharton is happy to note that Zune HD will “give 235 million weekly radio listeners yet another platform to enjoy our free service.”  Well, not exactly “free”, Dennis since consumers must buy a Zune HD to pick up the free service.  There’s no suggested retail price attached to the new Zune yet but there is the Zune Pass which costs $14.99 a month for unlimited streams and 10 permanent downloads, a good deal if you download lots of music…

The Zune HD is another attempt by Microsoft to compete with Apple in an uphill battle.  The next press release from Microsoft is likely to be that they will integrate their Zune Marketplace into Xbox Live.  HD radio will now hope that someone else includes their product in their device.  No one mentions that the new Zune will now compete with HD radios.  How ironic would it be if Zune HDs outsell HD radios???  It won’t be surprising but it will be ironic… 

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1934] Five-to-one: Elzire Dionne gives birth to quintuplets in Ontario, Canada. The quints are all girls: Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne. Seventy-five years later, Annette and Cecile are the lone survivors…
2. 1951] Going yard: Willie Mays hits his first home run against future Baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn. These two will become teammates with the Mets twenty years later…1956] The Pirates’ Dale Long becomes the first player to hit home runs in 8 consecutive games. In 1987 the Yankees’ Don Mattingly and in 1993, Seattle’s Ken Griffey Jr. will tie the record…
3. 1957] Westward ho: The National League approves the move of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Mets will come along in 1962 when the National League returns to New York…
4. 1977] Tragic fire: Singer John Davidson escapes a fire at a supper club in Kentucky that takes 164 lives. Another 130 are injured…
5. 1985] On the cover of Vanity Fair: President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy…
6. 1987] Pilot roulette: 19-year old West German pilot Mathias Rust lands his plane in Moscow’s Red Square after penetrating Soviet air defenses. Rust is one lucky boy as he’s released in August, 1988…
7. 1989] Bumper cars at the Indy: Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr.play bumper cars at the Indy 500 with Unser helping Fittipaldi to win the race - not what Unser had in mind…
8. 1996] Taking a bullet for Bill: President Clinton’s former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, James and Susan McDougal refuse to say the Clinton’s had anything to do with the case and end up in jail. Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker is also convicted of fraud…
9. 1998] Another SNL tragedy: Comic Phil Hartman, 49, of “Saturday Night Live” and “Newsradio” is shot to death at his home in California by his wife Brynn who then takes her own life.  This was Hartman’s audition for SNL…
10. 2005] Rivalry rip: The Boston Red Sox score 2 touchdowns and a field goal to beat the Yankees 17-1 in the most lopsided score in their rivalry’s history. The Yankees score on a rouge…

Music Memories:

• 1955] Billboard’s Most Popular Song: “The Ballad of Davey Crockett“ - Fess Parker…
• 1957] Debuted on this date: The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) is established. NARAS puts on the Grammy Awards every year…1977] “Barracuda” - Heart, which every Classic Rock jock has at one time or another intro’d as “Baccaruda“…
• 1976] Breaking up is hard to do: The Allman Brothers break up after Gregg Allman testifies against his personal road manager in a drug case. The band re-forms in 1978…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”: Elizabeth Hasselbeck (32), Kylie Minogue (41), John Fogerty (64), Billy Vera (65), Gladys Knight (65), Rudolph Giuliani (65), Jerry West (71), Carroll Baker (78) and Lou Duva (87)…

Timeline Countdown: 24 days until Father’s Day, 24 days until summer and 37 days until July 4th…

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