April 29, 2006
KUOW Adds Fourth HD Channel
KUOW-FM in Seattle grows from three to four HD Radio channels: The station has been one of the leaders in HD Radio broadcasting, adding an HD1 (simulcast) and HD2 (alternative programming) channel in the early days. HD3 runs at just 16 Kbps with BBC Radio (mostly voice). They're now adding a fourth HD channel at 22 Kbps which will carry music programming pending approval from both the FCC (regulation) and iBiquity (technology).
KUOW uses Neural Audio pre-conditioning hardware, which optimizes an audio signal for the particular kind of compression and encoding that it will be turned into. This pretuning produces much better results than sending raw audio into broadcasting or encoding hardware. Neural said they can now encode high-quality audio with just 16 Kbps for HD Radio channels.
April 24, 2006
Cumulus Commits to 80 Percent HD Conversion by 2012
I'm not sure of their previous target, but this equipment supplier relationships makes the current one clear: The Cumulus Broadcasting network will have 345 stations under management shortly, and said that they will use gear from Harris for HD Radio broadcasting. They said 80 percent of their stations, roughly 275, will broadcast digitally by 2012.
I wouldn't be surprised if targets like this move up rather quickly. The conversion cost per station is relatively low, and if HD Radio gets the uptake the industry hopes, there will be a lot of motivation to switch over faster.
Clear Channel Offers 75 Channels for Rival HD Broadcasts
A fascinating development: Clear Channel is programming for its competitors: The Format Lab includes genres rarely heard on commercial radio, as well as straightforward mixes not found in every market. Clear Channel apparently wants to help program its rivals, which extends their reach even further. The Format Lab channels are available for other purposes, too, including satellite broadcast.
Second Big HD2 Push Rolls Out
The HD Digital Radio Alliance pushes into 21 more markets today: This group has brought together many broadcasters (mostly larger chains) to promote the use of the second HD channel in FM, HD2, to offer commercial-free, non-competing formats. The industry hopes that these new channels and offerings will be the pull necessary to convince consumers to give HD Radio a try.
Of course, there's still just one tabletop radio available, the $300 Boston Acoustics Receptor Radio HD. More hardware must enter the market, and that will happen soon, for HD Radio to see any real quantity of listeners.
The first push by the alliance put their combined formats in 28 markets. The number of stations broadcasting on HD2 should increase to 450 nationwide as part of this push.
April 19, 2006
Dolby To Demonstrate Surround Sound for HD Radio
At the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention, Dolby Labs will demonstrate surround sound for HD Radio: The standard was designed with the notion of broadcasting 5.1 sound, but it's still just a theory, and none of the early receivers will decode it. But there's a path for this higher-fidelity format on the equipment side, and there's plenty of interest by broadcasters, especially for live and special events.
April 11, 2006
iBiquity Releases Second Version of Reference Design for HD Radio Receivers
iBiquity, owners of the HD Radio trademark and licensers of the technology, have version 2.0 of their hardware design for tabletop devices: The company has certified its 2.0 reference design--a kind of blueprint for making a complete module--for receivers and tabletop radios. At the CES show in January, I heard that many manufacturers were waiting for this 2.0 module's release before designing their own systems, as they had issues in the cost and receive sensitivity of the previous module. iBiquity had a prototype on display in its booth at that giant show.
They have a laundry list in this press release of firms in China that make radios using their components. These firms typically produce radios from a basic set of plans that are released with different brands in the US. The more firms that make these generic underpinnings and can put different plastic covers on them, the cheaper HD Radio will become for listeners.
HD Radio Tested in France
The company Broadcast Electronics has installed an HD Radio FM system in Paris: On 88.2 MHz, you can pick up a low-power HD Radio signal in the City of Lights. This is most likely the first and only HD Radio system operating full-time in France. Most European countries have adopted Eureka-147 which has seen little acceptance outside of the UK, where millions of Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) servers have been sold. This test of HD Radio might be the first fusillade in a format war--it all depends on regulators and radios, meaning what's allowed and what's available for use.
April 4, 2006
HD for the Hearing, Sight Impaired
Harris Corporation and NPR will demonstrate new uses for HD Radio: The broadcaster and the equipment maker say that at NAB2006, the broadcasters trade show, they will show captioned text for the hearing impaired and radio reading services for the visually impaired. They will show the chain of equipment and services, from injection of this material into an HD Radio multicasting stream down to reception using Kenwood and Boston Acoustics radios. Public radio stations have been particularly interested in rolling out these services as part of their overall HD Radio plan.
Some public radio stations use analog subcarriers, which offer inferior audio quality to regular AM and FM, to provide 1,000,000 weekly listeners with Radio Reading Services for the Blind.
April 3, 2006
More Stations: KUWS-FM, WFPK-FM, WFPL-FM, WUOL-FM, Plus Dayton
Stations are turning on HD Radio at a fast pace to judge by the articles in newspapers across the country.
Dayton has eight HD stations: Six Clear Channel offerings--four with HD2 running--WDPR-FM public radio, and one other. Clear Channel has, almost uniquely, an AM station in the mix: WIZE-AM. The FCC doesn't yet allow 24-hour AM broadcasting due to concerns about interference after dark and AM waves travel further. Dawn to dusk are the current rules. Two other stations are licensed, but not yet up and running.
Three public radio stations turn on HD and streaming in Kentucky: A local Internet service provider is handling the streaming as a barter for on-air credit for the three stations. The stations began broadcasting in HD Radio format last November with help from a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Wisconsin station celebrates 40th anniversary with digital FM addition: The first station to add stereo in the Duluth/Lake Superior market, KUWS-FM is among four to go digital in the Wisconsin public radio network.