November 28, 2006
Welcome to a Brand New Sound
Welcome, new readers: If you've just heard about this blog, welcome to coverage of the best radio you've never heard. HD Radio, digital AM and FM, is likely to cause big changes in the broadcasting world. It's not yet clear, of course, whether it will be a great success or an also-ran, but it's now inevitable with receivers finally hitting the market that can tune in the higher quality sound. Over 1,000 stations, mostly FM, now push out HD Radio signals alongside their normal analog transmissions, and in 2007, millions of listeners will finally tune in--and that number of stations will likely double.
In my market, Seattle-Tacoma, 20 stations now offer digital programming. The same is true in most major urban markets. Next year, we'll see smaller markets, most likely college tunes, go digital as well (some already are) as competition will increase among stations.
If you're trying to get started with HD Radio, my top pick for a starter radio is the Radio Shack Accurian. At $200 and a $25 rebate until mid-January, it's the cheapest radio and has terrific quality. If you need more features than the Accurian offers, such as a clock alarm or even DVD playback, the options abound, and I'll be writing more about those receivers soon.
December 28, 2005
What's This Blog About? The Future of Diversity of Media
HD Radio will change AM and FM dramatically and for the better. As satellite broadcasting and both cable and satellite TV have shown, a greater number of channels doesn't necessarily mean a greater variety of options. The potential of HD Radio is that even with concentrated media ownership in relatively few hands in the U.S., a greater variety of music and opinion will appear on the airwaves in "niche" channels.
First, the basics. HD Radio is a standard owned and licensed by iBiquity, a company formed from technology spinoffs of two digital radio competitors. iBiquity secured FCC approval as the sole terrestrial digital radio standard. Their standard is called IBOC for in-band, on-channel. Rather than using other frequencies, IBOC puts digital data at very low signal strengths within the current frequency allocation for an AM or FM station, but outside of the strongest analog signal. Conventional AM and FM receivers don't pick up this extra "noise"; new HD Radio receivers can handle both analog and digital reception.
At this writing, about 600 of 12,000 U.S. AM/FM stations are broadcasting in HD Radio format. At least another 1,400 are committed to starting up with digital in the next two years. As radios hit the market--they're just shipping in Dec. 2005 for homes--this trend will accelerate. Many radio chains are eager to offer improved sound to compete with satellite digital radio. AM stations are ecstatic at having good quality sound for the first time and losing the whole "through-the-tunnel" fadeout problem that's plagued it. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio have a big funding and programming push for HD Radio as well.
So how does this affect media ownership and a diversity of entertainment and opinion? Through digital subchannels. FM stations will be able to divide their digital signal into several subchannels that can carry separate content. It's very likely that the main subchannel will be a high quality simulcast of the analog signal. A second channel could carry music at decent quality. Subsequent channels can handle voice.
With one or more public radio stations in a market, several streams of programming will likely be developed and find their audiences. Because the cost of adding HD Radio broadcasts is relatively low, a station may already be paying all of its hard costs for overhead. Additional programming, even just a number of hours a week, could come inexpensively. And NPR and other programmers in the public radio world will be providing more shows and more varied shows for these new subchannels.
Digital AM and FM isn't a panacea, but it does promise a better sound, more variety, and more expression. It might just revitalize radio.
About this blog: The editor of this blog is Glenn Fleishman. I'm a freelance journalist who has covered technology for more than a decade. I've written about HD Radio for over a year, with articles in The New York Times last July and upcoming features in The Seattle Times and Popular Science. My specialty has been Wi-Fi, but digital AM/FM has captured my attention, and I'll be writing about it here.