If it is the broadcasters who pushed for this change then it might backfire on them in that many folks might find alternatives to broadcasting as their source of listening material.
It happened in this household when the local classical station put NPR on their analog channel and moved the classical to their HD channel. In our house we have connected my FM transmitter to a pay streaming service so my spouse and I can listen on our main system or on a portable around the house and yard. In the car she listens on XM and I leave the radio off. The result is that the broadcaster has lost two listeners.
Neil
And when they lose 2 listeners it quickly becomes 4, then 6, then 8. It then quickly turns to an alternetive like Internet Radio as people have smartphones to tune in FREE Internet stations on TuneIn and iTunes. I can see FM go hobby Radio (Part 15) AM is practically that way now. And to find a decent FM receiver for the house now days is a tough challenge with many receivers not having any sort of selectivity or sensitivity (Unless you buy an imported receiver from Germany or the UK). Its so sad that receivers made in 1983 when digital desplays first came out are far superior to the ones now (Unless you pay 1K just for the tuner or buy a mono super Radio). Manufacturers don't put that much investment into the tuners because people really don't listen to Radio unless they are looking for part 15 stations on the dial or Pirate Radio sations where you get real music. Don't get me started on how the new AM receivers suck unless you listen to AM on a car radio which there are some nice car AM Stereo receivers.