Eleven months after opening a proceeding to consider allowing AM stations to go all-digital, the FCC appears ready to render its verdict later this month. According to Radio World’s Paul McLane, “[B]ased on anecdotal evidence, the commission will likely approve it.”

To recap, the Commission is considering proposals to allow AM stations to voluntary convert to all-digital HD Radio transmission, turning off their analog signals entirely. The purported benefits are better fidelity with no audible noise or interference. The tradeoff is that digital stations will effectively disappear from analog AM receivers, which make up the vast majority of radios.

It is true that about half of all car radios on the road now are HD Radio capable, and that the car is the site of large proportion of terrestrial radio listening. However, HD Radio has very little presence outside the car. It seems to be a big bet to cut off anywhere from a quarter to nearly a half of your listeners by ditching analog radios.

That is the takeaway from the experience of oldies station WIOE-AM in Fort Wayne, IN, which converted to all-digital this past May as an experiment. According to Inside Radio, the station turned the analog signal back on in early June after getting complaints from listeners, some of whom assumed that technical difficulties were to blame.

On the surface, an oldies music format would appear to be a fitting application for digital AM, with the tunes better served by the increased fidelity and reduced noise. At the same time, the older audience is probably less likely to be listening in cars, and even less likely to have an HD Radio capable home receiver.

For what it’s worth, the other station conducting experimental all-digital broadcasts in Maryland reports more positive results, saying that an HD Radio awareness campaign has resulted in it showing up in the Nielsen ratings for the first time.

True All-Digital AM Very Unlikely

Gazing into the crystal ball, Radio World quotes a “veteran engineering professional” who predicts that no major radio company is likely to invest in all-digital AM. Of course, those are the companies that own the vast majority of stations.

If the FCC chooses to authorize voluntary all-digital AM broadcasts, it will be consistent with the Commission’s overall strategy on digital radio. HD Radio, the current digital standard, is also voluntary and squeezed into the current analog dial. By comparison, most other countries with digital radio dedicated separate spectrum to use the DAB or DRM standards. While those systems also required new receivers, the promise of fresh and differentiated programming – like BBC 6Music – gave listeners an incentive to invest in new radios, which cost as little as $50.

On the other hand, the commercial radio industry has provided little incentive for listeners to switch to HD Radio from a content perspective. Mostly it’s just been the promise of lower noise digital sound. While there are at least a dozen different HD2 or HD3 digital-only signals in any major market, they’re generally poorly advertised, and many of them are just repeaters of an AM or just used as a way to feed an analog translator repeater station.

US Digital Radio Continues To Be Weak

By failing to commit the US to a true all-digital broadcasting standard, the FCC and Congress have consigned the nation to a digital radio system that is still unknown by the average person because it offers nebulous benefits. Certainly the broadcast industry has been successful in forging adoption of HD Radio in dashboards, but since the average car is on the road for more than a decade, this has been a very slow road. The adoption outside vehicles is pretty much a failure.

Letting AM stations voluntarily switch to all-digital will be just as weak and ineffective.

My principal concern for all-digital AM broadcasting is that it would undermine the vital emergency communications service these stations provide. During a hurricane, super storm, wildfire or other natural disaster when power and cellular service are cut or intermittent, a person’s lifeline is often that battery operated analog radio receiver. Who is going to run out to the car to tune in that HD station in the midst of 75 MPH winds?

But if it turns out that most major broadcasters won’t be interested all-digital AM, then the worst-case scenario of a disappeared analog band probably won’t come to pass.

Instead it will be just another weak step in the so-called AM revitalization initiative, which has really just been about giving FM translator stations to AM broadcasters. And that’s just a bribe to entice them to keep their AM stations, by making the FM frequency contingent on staying on the AM band.

Seems like a lot of time in the kitchen to cook up a very weak sauce.

Feature image credit: N Migo / flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The post FCC’s All-Digital AM Plan Likely Will Be Weak Sauce appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Can you save AM Radio by killing it?

The original broadcast band gets little love as it prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday. Plagued by electromagnetic interference from wi-fi routers, LED lights and all sorts of other modern electronics, and dominated by tired right-wing and sports talk programming targeting a shrinking demographic, there’s not much love for AM radio these days.

While the FCC has talked about revitalizing the AM band for something close to a decade, all that’s resulted is letting AM broadcasters have translator repeater stations on the FM dial. That’s not so much AM revitalization as welfare for AM broadcasters.

Another idea that’s been floating in the ether is taking the band all-digital. Just like the FM band, there are digital HD Radio stations on AM right now. Because AM stations have just a fraction of the bandwidth of FM channels, they don’t feature additional channels, like FM’s HD–2 and HD–3. Instead HD Radio stations on AM just have a digital channel accompanying the analog one which offers audio that is stereo and markedly free of noise and static, provided you have an HD Radio tuner and are in range of the lower-powered digital signal.

The idea behind an all-digital AM band is that stations would drop their analog signals altogether in favor of a digital HD Radio signal. The supposed benefit is that the new digital signals would be higher fidelity, free of noise, and somewhat more resistant to interference. The downside would be that they would be unreceivable by the hundreds of millions of analog AM radios in use around the country. Only HD Radio equipped car radios and the much-rarer home receivers would get the broadcasts.

As of now, approximately 50% of new cars are HD-capable. Taking into account that the average vehicle on the road is nearly 12 years old, a much lower percentage of all vehicles have the capability, meaning the majority of radio listeners still can’t hear HD Radio signals.

Nevertheless, for the first time this month the FCC is officially taking up the idea of letting AM stations go all-digital. The proposal, docket 19–311, wouldn’t force stations to go HD Radio. Instead, if approved, it would allow stations to choose this route.

Arguing All-Digital AM

To understand the motivations for this, we can look to a Radio World editorial, in which the petitioner behind this proposal, radio group GM Ben Downs, argues for the sonic advantages of HD Radio on AM. I admit that on its own the fidelity argument is hard to find fault with. But there are many more significant nits to pic. He takes up several common objections.

To the argument, “there aren’t enough [HD] radios,” he answers: “And if we broadcasters don’t step up, there won’t be any listeners either. Every year more and more HD Radios are hitting the market. Can we say the same about AM listeners?”

I think what he’s saying is that listeners are fleeing AM because of the noise and interference, but a growing segment of them are using HD-capable receivers that would relieve them of the sound constraints. I’m not certain there’s much evidence for this. Fidelity is not much of an issue for listening to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or endless listener calls debating NFL stats. Audiences interested in anything else naturally turn to FM.

Downs anticipates this critique, writing, “There are always people who say poor programming damaged AM. I suppose that’s possible, but those choices were forced on us by radios that had such poor performance we were embarrassed to try to compete against FM music stations with what we had to work with.”

That seems a selective view of the past, at best, and ahistorical at worst. FM music radio became predominant in the early 1980s, way before the AM dial became so noisy. Moreover, I’m not sure when this mythical time of wide-spread high fidelity AM receivers was, but that’s one I wished I’d lived in (and I was a radio listener in the early 80s).

He also takes up the argument that, “I’ll lose listeners when I switch [to all-digital],” answering: “The beauty of the AM revitalization process was that it allowed us to pair our AM stations with FM translators. Your translator can carry the audience load while the audience becomes accustomed to all-digital AM.”

I find this just as paradoxical as the idea of FM signals for AM broadcasters representing any kind of “revitalization” for the band. My question is: if listeners have to hear your station on the FM dial, why would they ever go back to find it on AM? Would they even know to do so?

While much of radio listening has moved to the car, and HD Radio is far more prevalent in vehicle dashboards than in home receivers, my own experience is that most listeners are relatively unaware of HD Radio. Their tuners may bring in the signal, but since it sounds roughly identical to the analog one, it’s all in the background. I don’t think most seek it out. This is evidenced by the fact that there are no HD–2 or HD–3 stations – only receivable with an HD capable receiver – at or towards the top of the ratings for any U.S. market.

Now, I agree that the fidelity difference on AM is more pronounced and noticeable. But I’m still not sure that listeners really notice the difference as their radios shift between analog and digital signals. Any AM listener is accustomed to the signal strengthening and fading as they travel, and the analog to digital shift doesn’t really sound all that different.

Importantly, we’re only talking about listeners in vehicles here. AM stations that switch to all-digital will most certainly lose nearly all their listeners outside of a car. No doubt there are nerds like me who own HD Radio home receivers, or some die-hard fans who will go out to buy one of the handful of HD-capable models when it becomes necessary. But the vast majority will just listen to something else.

I have a hard time seeing how going all-digital will save stations. More likely, it will just alienate listeners, and make those stations even more niche and less viable.

The Problem Isn’t Digital Radio, Per Se

I do want to be clear that, despite my cynicism, I don’t actually wish for stations to fail, nor do I think digital radio is a bad idea. I think it would be good for the U.S. to have a truly viable digital radio service. However, it would be better as an additional service, rather than a replacement for analog radio. Something more like the DAB service prevalent outside the US.

Even with its limitations, there are significant advantages to analog AM radio. It’s a proven technology that has lasted a century, and there are millions upon millions of receivers out there. Heck, it’s so simple that you can build a crystal set receiver that doesn’t even require electricity. Moreover, AM signals can easily travel hundreds to thousands of miles.

All of this means that AM is an efficient want to broadcast to large groups of people over a large area. That is particularly important during emergencies, natural disasters or other times when communications by cellular phone or internet is compromised.

Who Loses When Stations Go All-Digital?

What I’d hate to see during a wildfire, hurricane or earthquake thousands of people resorting to their emergency radios, only to find that where there used to be a reliable source of local information there is only digital hash.

Though I have doubts that all-digital AM broadcasting will be any more successful, nor as sustainable as analog, I certainly prefer it to be optional rather than mandatory. On the one hand I suppose it’s not terrible to let station owners to make their bets and choose their own fates.

On the other hand, these consequences are not borne only by stations alone. Communities continue to depend on broadcasters, and there is still something of a remnant public service obligation in exchange for the monopoly license to use a frequency on the public airwaves. If going all-digital ends up driving a station out of business, what’s the likelihood that another one will take over the license and take its place?

I honestly don’t doubt the sincerity of many all-digital AM proponents, that they honestly would like to see a higher fidelity, “improved” service on the dial. However, they may be naïve.

Is This Even About Radio?

A more suspicious take would be that a drive to all-digital AM has nothing to do with radio as an audio service. Rather it’s an effort to turn the band into a data service, with audio as a justification, but more of an afterthought. That’s not unlike the required, but mostly useless video signal of channel 6 low-power TV stations, that mostly serve as “Franken FM” radio stations sneaking onto the FM dial at 87.7 FM. Think of all-digital AM as a cheap way to send traffic, weather and other commercialized data to in-car receivers without the need for mobile internet.

That said, I also have doubts about how many broadcasters would take advantage of all-digital operation. I have difficulty seeing top rated big-city AMs dump the millions of analog listeners that keep advertisers coming back just to gain a little bit of fidelity for a minority of the in-car audience.

The question becomes: Is all-digital AM Radio actually AM Radio? If we’re being pedantic, no, it isn’t. AM means Amplitude Modulation, which is an inherently analog technology. If all the stations on the AM dial were to go digital, that would in fact mean the death of AM broadcasting in the U.S., along with the death of many of the technology’s advantages.

It’s possible this wouldn’t be as tragic as I predict. Maybe analog FM and more robust internet technologies would pick up the slack. Maybe even such a transition would stimulate the production and sales of more HD Radio receivers.

I’m not committed to being a luddite, and I wouldn’t mind being wrong. I just won’t bet on it.

The post Can We Save AM Radio by Killing It? Considering All-Digital AM Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

When Norway completed the shutdown of its national FM radio signals the tech sites and blogs were all breathless in reporting the news. But, despite the strong currents of digital triumphalism, the way of Norway is not a sign of things to come for analog radio.

As Norway paved the way for the wholesale move to digital radio, other European states have been watching from the sidelines. The UK, in particular, has a well developed DAB digital radio infrastructure, with plenty of stations and decent penetration of receivers–now around 36%. So eyes and ears have been on that much larger nation, where some politicians and regulators have floated the idea of a digital radio transition.

However, just recently the BBC weighed in on the issue, voting soundly in favor of keeping analog FM radio alive “for the foreseeable future.” As the 900 pound gorilla in British broadcasting, it’s unlikely that government regulators would strongly oppose the Beeb’s desire to keep transmitting in glorious analog.

Speaking at a radio conference in Vienna, BBC director of radio Bob Shannon said, “Great progress has been made,” in digital broadcasting, “but switchover now would be premature.” He emphasized that audiences want a choice of broadcast systems, and one of those choices is good old FM.

Though widely reported in the British press, nary a peep of Shannon’s pro-FM comments appeared Stateside. Sure, the internet is global, making these UK stories just a search away. But how many average American readers are trolling the papers across the pond? It’s sort of telling that the U.S. tech press took almost zero note, especially after getting so hot and bothered when an advanced industrialized–but also tiny–country forcibly shut down most of its analog radio signals.

Given that the UK was the next big hope for digital radio to succeed analog, don’t expect that many other countries will be sunsetting FM any time soon. Least of which will be the U.S., where by comparison we barely have digital radio broadcasting.

While HD Radio is digital, it coexists and hangs off of analog FM signals. Moreover, home or portable HD Radio receivers are rare, whereas in the UK you can walk into just about any retailer and buy a digital radio receiver right off the shelf. Such ubiquity is just a pipe dream in the U.S., where the only reason the average listener knows about HD Radio is because of the ads that get run perpetually on commercial radio. Yet if you ask that average listener if they know how, or why, they would listen to HD Radio, you’d likely just get a shrug in response.

More than 90% of the American population still listens to AM/FM radio every month. And while plenty of other options, from satellite radio to podcasting, compete and provide alternatives to radio, the old analog broadcast medium persists. That’s because it works, works well, and reliably.

If there’s any reason to turn off radio, that has more to do with the abysmal programming brought on by the nation’s largest commercial station owners, who are more interested in treating stations like real estate on a Monopoly board than being broadcasters. Turns out, that was a bad bet, but that has nothing to do with radio, and everything to do with reductionist profiteering that saw a cheap buck in consolidation and disinvestment.

Broadcasting in digital doesn’t make crappy programming any better.

So don’t worry. You’ll probably break your FM radio before it becomes obsolete.

The post FM Radio Is Here To Stay in the UK appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Our latest podcast is all about the first, and—to the best of our knowledge—only low-power FM station broadcasting digitally with HD Radio. The episode has stimulated quite a bit of conversation on social media and raised some questions about the relationship between LPFM and HD Radio. Here I’ll try to answer the most common questions and clear up some of the confusion.

The station we profiled is KVCB-LP, a high school station operated by Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, CA. Ralph Martin, the operations director, contacted us months ago to let us know about his experiment in broadcasting in HD Radio. For those who are unfamiliar, HD Radio is a digital broadcasting standard that works on the analog AM and FM dials, allowing stations to add a digital signal that can carry one to three channels of programming.

Because the digital signal is a sideband to the primary analog transmission, it expands the amount of space a station takes up on the dial (a reason why critics oppose the technology in the first place). To mitigate the effect this has on adjacent stations, the digital HD signal can broadcast at no more than 10% of the station’s rated power. So a 10kw station can have an HD signal broadcasting at no more than 1kw.

A LPFM station, then, which is limited to 100 watts, can have an HD signal with no more than 10 watts of power. But, as Martin explained, that isn’t the primary barrier for LPFM stations to broadcast in HD. What he found is that there simply aren’t any LPFM-approved transmitters available for HD.

You see, HD Radio requires a specialized transmitter. It’s not just some kind of add-on, like a signal processor. But HD Radio transmitters are designed for full-power stations, presumably because manufacturers—correctly—presume there is very little market amongst LPFM stations.

As he explains on the podcast, Martin eventually found a LPFM transmitter model that is similar to one used for translator repeater stations, that can have an HD module added to it. Essentially, putting KVCB on air in HD required some hacking, with willing assistance from the manufacturer.

Although KVCB’s HD signal is only 7 watts strong, Martin tells us that the signal is about as robust as the analog signal, often coming in better in places where the station’s analog signal is weak. In addition to the main HD–1 digital signal, which is required to simulcast the station’s primary analog signal, KVCB broadcasts HD–2 and HD–3 channels with alternative programming, with all student-created programming on HD–2, and HD–3 broadcasting school information.

Should LPFMs Go HD?

The question we’ve been hearing since releasing the podcast is: Is HD Radio a wise, or even necessary, investment for LPFM stations? Based upon the scant evidence we have so far, it’s hard to make that case.

Martin told us that one of his motivations for doing the interview is to network with other LPFM stations interested in HD, with the goal of convincing equipment manufacturers to make the necessary transmitters. While my intention is not to oppose his goal, I have to honest in my assessment.

Frankly, it’s even tough to make a strong argument for a full-power station to adopt HD Radio. Home HD Radios are rare. Most HD Radio receivers are in cars, where listeners are often unaware of the fact that they’re listening to a digital signal, as their radios seamlessly shift between analog and digital signals, depending on what’s stronger.

Sure, there are the additional HD–2 and HD–3 channels, but these aren’t easy to scan like analog stations. It takes a few extra seconds for an HD receiver to lock on to the digital signal and then find the HD–2 or 3 channel. Doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when you’re used to the near instant tuning of analog stations, a few seconds is an eternity. In practice, this means the the driver scanning the dial on her HD-capable car radio will only occasionally stumble upon an HD–2 or HD–3 signal.

Of course, if you know about an HD–2 or HD–3 signal that you want to tune in, you can do that. But, really, how many HD–2 or HD–3 stations do YOU know about? If you have an HD Radio capable radio in your car—and you know it’s HD capable—how often do you seek out HD–2 or HD–3 signals?

So, if HD Radio is a questionable investment for a full-power commercial station, it’s an even dicier proposition for a non-profit, non-commercial LPFM. The big question is: How will HD Radio enhance an LPFM’s service?

Though having one or two additional channels to program is enticing, as it is, plenty of new LPFMs have a hard enough time filling all 168 hours of the broadcast week for their main channel with fresh, live programming. How do they expand to 336 or 504 hours?

An even bigger question is: How many people in your community have HD Radios, and use them within your broadcast radius?

If HD Radio were an inexpensive technology, these questions would still be relevant, but would constitute speed bumps rather than roadblocks. But HD Radio is not cheap. As Martin explained to us, the one transmitter that can be modified for HD costs between $5,000 and $8,000—more than most LPFM transmitters.

Plus, most new LPFMs are already on air. So, going HD would require replacing their current transmitters wholesale.

On top of equipment costs, HD Radio is a patented and licensed technology. Unlike analog FM tech, it’s not free to use. Stations pay a licensing fee to adopt HD Radio channels, and then an annual fee for digital sub channels.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get into this free structure with Ralph Martin in our interview. So I’m not certain on how much a noncommercial LPFM would be expected to pay, given that the annual fee is based on 3% of revenue.

But any additional fee is a burden for many LPFMs, whether it’s the money or the additional paperwork.

As it is, I can’t advocate for your average LPFM to adopt HD Radio technology. For most stations, I simply can’t see how it would enhance their local service enough to justify the additional cost and complication.

That said, if you’ve got the money and the time to mess around with it, I can’t make a strong argument that it’s an utter waste. Rather, it’s best considered an experiment, in that the results and impact are unknown. It may be that listeners in your community are ready to take advantage of an HD signal and any sub channels. But that’s a question only the broadcaster can answer.

If you’re interested in learning more, you’re invited to reach out to Ralph Martin at KVCB.

What About These LPFM HD-2s I Hear About?

It’s not uncommon for commercial and non-commercial stations that use HD Radio to rent or lend out their HD–2 and HD–3 signals to other broadcasters. As we’ve reported, in some cases an HD–2 signal on another station has been offered up as a consolation prize to college stations that had their licenses sold, making them otherwise internet-only.

In other cases there are LPFMs or small community stations that also broadcast on a larger station’s HD2 channel in order to reach a somewhat wider audience. A more common use is to feed a translator repeater station that extends the station’s reach.

As Michelle Bradley of REC Networks informed me, it’s legal for LPFMs to own and operate up to two translator stations, but those repeaters are limited in how far away they can be sited; generally between 10 and 20 miles away, and the repeater must be fed by the LPFM’s over-the-air signal. But if a full-powered station’s HD–2 channel is used to feed the translator the repeater doesn’t have to be limited to the low-powered station’s broadcast area–it only has to be within reach of the broadcast area of its higher-powered host.

But it’s important not to confuse a LPFM that is rebroadcast on a larger station’s HD–2 as the same as the LPFM having a HD Radio broadcast itself. It’s more like an AM station that gets onto the FM dial by leasing some HD–2 space on an FM station. It has nothing to do with a LPFM actually getting an HD Radio transmitter and broadcasting in HD.

Isn’t HD the Future?

In our interview Martin tells us that one of the reasons he looked into HD Radio is to sort of future proof the station, in the eventuality that it becomes the radio broadcast standard in the U.S., in the same way that digital broadcasting replaced analog on television in 2009. Though not impossible, a digital radio transition is not likely in the near future.

For perspective, note that the digital television transition required an act of Congress, paired with a subsidy so that Americans could buy reduced price converter boxes for their analog TVs. Moreover, digital TV offered a very obvious and visible upgrade, by supporting a high definition picture with four times the resolution of analog broadcast.

While the “HD” in HD Radio implies that it’s somehow “high definition,” the same quality upgrade doesn’t quite apply. Digital HD Radio signals are not susceptible to noise and interference like analog signals, but the quality difference between a HD Radio signal and good analog reception is minor in most cases. The addition of more channels per stations qualifies as an upgrade of sorts, although as someone who regularly surfs the HD–2 and HD–3 signals, it doesn’t seem like most broadcasters have figured out any profitable purpose for them.

HD Radio was sold to the FCC based upon its ability to work alongside analog signals, to supplement, rather than replace. It seems as though there was not, and is not, much of an appetite to transition the country to an all-new radio standard, obsoleting millions of receivers in the process.

I suspect it would require a similar act of Congress to transition the nation to digital radio, and I frankly don’t see that happening. Mostly because I don’t see the broadcast industry lining up in support, seeing little return on investment for the massive infrastructure upgrade. Plus, there are millions more radios out there than televisions, with the most valuable ones (from a broadcaster’s standpoint) installed in cars, where they are less likely to be upgraded. Instead, a driver with a newly obsolete radio would probably just switch to her smartphone.

Therefore, I don’t see HD Radio as a strategy for future-proofing. Even in the unlikely event of a digital radio transition, stations will get years—if not a decade—of notice.

LPFM + HD: A Valuable Experiment

I’m grateful to Ralph Martin and KVCB-LP for experimenting with HD Radio and low-power FM. We’ve always relied on the tinkerers and experimenters to push radio forward.

Frankly, I was surprised to learn from him that KVCB’s HD signal is nearly as strong as its analog signal, even at 7% of the power. It goes to show that we can’t necessarily generalize based upon the performance of a 10 kilowatt transmission to a 100 watt transmission; not everything is linear.

Even if HD doesn’t gain traction in LPFM, Martin and KVCB have contributed useful findings to our knowledge of the medium, and have valuable experience and tips to share for any stations that want to try out HD.

The post What’s the Deal with LPFM and HD Radio? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Back in April of last year news headlines across tech and news sites screamed that Norway was about to turn off all FM transmitters. The reality, of course, is a bit more complex–only 23 stations in the three biggest cities will turn off their analog signals in 2017, while some 200 FM stations outside this area have a longer lease on life. At the same time there were rumblings that Sweden was also mulling its own analog to digital transition.

However, it looks like the Swedes are going to wait and watch how it goes with its Nordic neighbor’s FM switch-off before moving forward with any plan of its own. Earlier this month the Swedish parliament officially ended any digital radio transition, following the recommendation of the Auditor General. Note that breathless headlines (in English) have not followed that bit of news.

The plan in Norway is eventually to move all FM broadcasters to what is known as DAB, a digital radio broadcast system that uses a different set of frequencies than analog radio. DAB broadcasts have been available in 30 countries beginning in 2001, with Europe home to the most stations. Still, Norway likely will remain an outlier when it begins its digital transition next year. Several other countries, including Germany, France and the UK, have entertained proposals to transition fully from FM to DAB, but these plans are also up in the air.

Nevertheless, this hesitancy to sunset analog radio doesn’t mean that DAB digital radio is dead on arrival. As John Anderson reports, digital radio adoption in Europe continues to grow, according to the European Broadcasting Union. Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and the UK lead the way.

While these top countries are just cresting a 50% adoption rate amongst radio listeners, this far outpaces digital radio in the US, where we are saddled with the very different HD Radio system that squeezes digital signals onto the analog dial. As a result a Norwegian-style analog radio turn-off appears far away. Exhibit A is that last fall the FCC chose not to implement proposals to “revitalize” the AM dial by authorizing all-digital broadcasts in that band. Chance missed.

I have no particular grudge against digital radio, though I do wish the US had implemented the technically superior DAB system instead of HD Radio. But I continue to be an advocate of analog broadcasting because it is simple, robust, proven and has yet to be actually surpassed by digital in terms of quality or reach. There may come a day when digital broadcast or mobile internet technologies are ready to offer the kind of nearly infallible service–especially in times of emergency or disaster–that analog radio has for nearly 100 years. But until then, I vote for analog.

The post Sweden Nixes FM Shut-Off appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As an experiment of sorts, I decided to shoot my first video blog (or “vlog”) for Radio Survivor. I’ve been wanting to share a bandscan of all the HD Radio stations in Portland, OR, where I live, and I finally got down to it.

Although I’m a critic of HD Radio, I do think it’s interesting to explore the HD-2, 3, and 4 signals, which offer some interesting alternatives and seem to change up fairly often. I thought this might be of interest to many of you who have never used or heard an HD Radio receiver, except for maybe one that’s in a car, which isn’t actually an ideal place to scan and find all the subchannels.

Yes, I know I’m a little out-of-focus. It wasn’t obvious until after I started editing, and I decided that perfect was the enemy of done. Better focus can wait for VLOG #2.

Let me know what you think in the comments–especially if you think there should be a #2.

The post VLOG #1: Portland HD Radio Bandscan appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Apple held its perennial fall unveiling today, and amongst the updated products on display were a new, bigger iPad Pro and a fresh Apple TV. Of course, you can listen to internet radio on an iPad, though I don’t see how the iPad Pro will be any better for that application than any other model.

I am a little intrigued by the new Apple TV, which is a product that has sorely needed a refresh for a while. Though I’m now a Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV user (and I owe you a review of Fire TV radio apps), before getting those devices I considered Apple TV several times, but was put off by how infrequently Apple updates it, apparently treating it as a “hobby” rather than an important product.

Apple has provided a pretty nice ecosystem for listening to internet radio and podcasts via iTunes on MacBooks and iMacs for quite some time. Apple TV has shipped with the Radio app pretty much since the beginning of the product line, which brings in streaming stations in addition to Apple’s own iTunes Radio. It also features a dedicated podcasts app.

Frustratingly for current Apple TV owners, up to now there has been no direct access to Beats 1 Radio. The new version of this set-top device adds Apple Music, which includes Beats 1. Though I haven’t seen the new device yet, I presume and hope that Apple retains the Radio app, too. At the same time, a new App Store means that third-party radio apps should become available, potentially expanding the range of audio entertainment options.

At a starting price of $149, the new Apple TV is a much pricier option for living room internet radio compared to comparable competitors like Roku. Of course, Apple TV is much more than radio (as all these set-top devices are), so the added gaming and streaming video features are likely the principal selling points, along with the tight integration with other Apple devices and services, like Apple Music.

I don’t think I’ll be buying a new Apple TV, but I’d be glad to take it for a test ride and review if one somehow crosses my path.

John Anderson on DTS/iBiquity Deal

HD Radio historian and expert John Anderson has weighed in on DTS’s acquisition of iBiquity last week. He observes that the sale likely saved iBiquity from “a bailout (presumably from broadcasters) or trusteeship.”

He also notes that most of the research and development on HD Radio has come from broadcasters, which leads him to wonder, “Will these and other development-partners continue to throw resources into a system now held by a non-broadcast company with its own Wall Street presence?”

Anderson doesn’t foresee any major changes in the near term, since iBiquity is retaining its current corporate structure, though he does spell out some best and worst-case scenarios. I recommending checking out his post.

HD Radio Adoption Rate Is Like Color TV?

Speaking of HD Radio, Radio Magazine talked with the recently retired SVP of engineering for CBS Radio, Glynn Walden, who has been a long-time advocate of that technology. He compared the slow adoption of that technology to that of the adoption rates of FM radio in the 1950s and color TV in the 1960s, which each took well more than a decade to catch on. It’s an interesting parallel, though I also think that technologies are adopted a much more rapid rate now, more than fifty years after color TV’s debut.

Comparing HD to FM is like comparing touch-tone dialing to smartphones. Touch tone was introduced in 1963 and it wasn’t widely used until the breakup of Ma Bell in the 1980s. Whereas the first modern smartphone (Palm Treo 650) was arguably introduced in 2004, leading to 50% adoption rate just a decade later.

Consumers generally buy, upgrade and replace their technology more often than they did fifty years ago, in part because it’s all much cheaper in real dollars than it was then. HD Radio hasn’t been adopted as quickly as smartphones because it doesn’t offer significant upgrades over regular broadcast–especially on FM–and those upgrades, like additional channels, are not as easy to access because of the compromises of squeezing HD into the existing analog radio bands.

As smartphones show, a new consumer technology platform really shouldn’t take more than a decade to find wide adoption. That seemed like a reasonable span of time in the 1960s, or even the 1980s. But in the post-DVD era (at that time the most quickly adopted consumer electronics platform in history) HD Radio’s time to adoption is glacial and more indicative of fundamental flaws than anything else.

The post Digital Watch: Is the New Apple TV Your Next Internet Radio? Is HD Radio Adoption Like Color TV’s 50 Years Ago? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Today iBiquity, the parent company behind HD Radio technology, was acquired by DTS, which is best known for creating multi-channel digital cinema sound systems. DTS is a public traded company, while the majority owners of privately held iBiquity are banks and private equity firms.

The primary reason for the $172 million deal appears to be two-fold. First, it places iBiquity in the hands of a company that specializes in digital audio. Second, DTS creates products for automotive integration. iBiquity CEO Bob Struble told Radio World that, “it’s a complementary business overlap.”

While HD radio is typically thought of as an audio product, the bigger reason why iBiquity is attractive to DTS is the technology’s ability to transmit traffic and weather data to cars over terrestrial broadcast stations’ HD signal. While mobile HD Radio reception can vary wildly with changes in terrain and a car’s position, data transmission doesn’t require constant reception. Access to this technology could give DTS an edge in creating in-dash information systems that are independent of cellular data and internet services.

Of course, this has nothing to do with actual radio as an audio medium. But as it has evolved HD Radio is less and less about actual radio, since receivers are mostly in cars and often spotty reception makes it a mediocre-at-best listening experience. My guess is that DTS clearly understands this, and so we can expect to see much more rapid development of the non-radio side of HD Radio.

NPR Podcasts Celebrate 10th Birthday

Ten years ago Apple added podcasts to its nearly-ubiquitous iTunes software, helping to push the nascent medium into the mainstream. In August of 2005 National Public Radio gave it another shove, when NPR podcasts made its debut, with a whopping 174 programs from the network and affiliate stations. Like now, most of those programs were podcast versions of broadcast programs, yet at the time it was an audacious leap into a new, untested medium.

In a blog post, NPR’s GM of sponsorship Bryan Moffett tells writer Caitlin Sanders how he remembers being pitched on podcasting by the team behind the Odeo podcasting platform, including Evan Williams, Noah Glass, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone. Now they are better known for one of the most famous “pivots” in dot-com history, when they ditched podcasting for 140 character social messaging.

Today NPR is widely considered one of the strongest brands in podcasting, even if many of the top public radio podcasts actually come from member stations, the Public Radio Exchange or independent producers. That early bet on podcasting surely paid off for public radio in general, as podcasting has popularized the well-honed “NPR sound,” in turn providing new career avenues for public radio professionals at podcasting start-ups like Midroll Media (my employer) and Alex Blumberg’s Gimlet or at companies like Audible, Buzzfeed, and Slate, which have all made significant podcasting investments this year.

The challenge for NPR is that listeners spoiled by the bounty of audio programming now available are demanding more than just on-demand versions of syndicated programs (though, they still want those, too). While the network saw nearly immediate success with the debut of Invisibilia earlier this year, the key will be replicating the formula of launching born-digital shows that are broadcast-friendly, but don’t require the famously long gestation period most previous new NPR shows have required.

Still, I think all podcast fans owe NPR their thanks for its role in feeding this young medium.

The post Digital Watch: HD Radio Parent Is Acquired; NPR Podcasts Turn 10 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Houston Public Media announced yesterday that it plans to sell off its KUHA 91.7 FM license (aka Classical 91.7) and will move its classical music programming to HD radio (via 88.7 FM HD2). Radio Survivor readers may recall that the license for 91.7 FM was previously held by Rice University and was the former home to college radio station KTRU-FM. Back in 2010 it was announced that the license would be sold to University of Houston (which runs Houston Public Media), which planned to use 91.7 FM in order to divide its talk and classical public radio programming across two frequencies.

Despite high profile protests, legal filings, and petitions to the FCC, the $9.5 million deal went through in April, 2011, allowing Houston Public Media to have a dedicated classical station.

Rice’s student radio station KTRU has continued as an online/ 90.1 FM HD2 station. Earlier this year, Rice University was also awarded a construction permit in order to build a new low power FM (LPFM) radio station, which KTRU hopes to get on the air by the end of the year on 96.1 FM. According to an announcement on the KTRU website in February, 2015, “KTRU, Rice University’s student-run radio station, will use this permit to broadcast a signal from atop Rice Stadium, at 96.1 MHz. The construction of the transmitter is being funded from the proceeds of the 91.7 sale in 2010.”

In recent years there were rumblings that University of Houston’s classical station KUHA was struggling. We reported back in 2013 that local hosts were eliminated and replaced with syndicated programming.

According to a post by Houston Public Media,

General Manager Lisa Shumate told University of Houston officials she wants to sell the frequency and transmitter for the station. No layoffs are planned. Since the classical music station is licensed to the University of Houston, the UH Board of Regents has final say over any changes. Full-time classical programming will be available on 88.7 HD 2, online streaming at Houstonpublicmedia.org, free applications like iHeartRadio and TuneIn, and via television at TV 8.5.

‘We are making this change in recognition of the growing popularity, superior broadcast quality and greater efficiency of digital broadcasting,’ Shumate said in a statement. ‘Placing our focus on HD radio and digital streaming for our classical music programming enables us to make the best use of technology and resources to continue providing the music and arts and culture content that our listeners enjoy.’

The University of Houston Administrative and Finance Committee made the recommendation to the full board of regents, which is expected to approve the plan during its meeting on Thursday.

KUHA 91.7 FM was purchased from Rice University for $9.5 million in 2010. Most of the classical music and arts programming produced by Houston Public Media moved to the new station, along with live broadcasts with the Houston Symphony, the Houston Grand Opera and local performing artists and groups. KUHF then adopted a 24-hour all news and information format.”

This has to be bittersweet news for KTRU fans and supporters who fought so hard to try to keep the license only to see it up for sale 5 years later. There’s no word yet on if there are any interested buyers for the 50,000 watt license.

Other College Radio Headlines

U.S. Court of Appeals Rejects IBS’ Challenges to Copyright Royalty Board Webcasting Rates (Radio Survivor)

The skinny on the recent decision over royalty rates for student stations that webcast

Radio Survivor Podcast #11: National Radio Day, Princeton Review Rankings, and More (Radio Survivor)

In this week’s podcast I go into further detail about the U.S. Court of Appeals decision regarding copyright royalty rates for student webcasters. I also fully dissect the recent Princeton Review list of the “best” (really “most popular”) college radio stations, walking listeners through the survey methodology, explaining what the list really means.

Radio Punks: The Student Radio Story Documentary Covers History of Student Radio in New Zealand

I would love to see this documentary. Stuff describes it as a “fascinating chunk of New Zealand social history,” which shows how vital pre-Internet student media was, saying, “It’s hard to realise now – in these electronically-connected days – that student newspapers and student radio were the only links available to the young.” View some highlights from the documentary here and read another review here. Also take a look at another New Zealand station’s website, where there is a 40 part audio documentary about bFM’s station history!

New Documentary Looks at Influential College Radio Hip Hop Show (The Chicago Defender)

According to the Chicago Defender, the new film Stretch & Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives “looks at the eight years the two DJs spent on the airwaves at WKCR 89.9 FM, or 89 Tec 9 as some fans may remember. The show came to earn a special place in hip-hop history…”

Radio Host will Talk about Her Student Days (Sunderland Echo)

Former student radio DJ (and recent graduate) in the UK spoke about her transition to commercial radio

CBI Begins to Announce Finalists for its Student Production Awards

Check back on the CBI website for updates. Winners will be announced at CBI’s convention in October.

Remembering Pump up the Volume: Pirate radio as Inspiration for Future College Radio DJs and Podcasters (A.V. Club)

A.V. Club’s loving ode to the classic pirate radio flick Pump up the Volume is full of great college radio anecdotes as well as reflections on how a teen pirate radio DJ is akin to today’s podcaster.

Big Band Radio Show Moves to College Radio Station (Tulsa World)

Interestingly, the Tulsa Community College station, The Grid, had to make some adjustments as its DJs don’t use records or CDs.

Behind the Scenes at Rat and Roach-Infested WBAR

This short video from earlier this year really gets at the sad conditions at some college radio stations, with anecdotes about vermin and roaches in WBAR‘s basement digs. I visited the station in 2009 and remember hearing similar stories even back then! It’s unfortunate, as WBAR is an extremely popular student activity at Barnard College.

We cover the culture of college radio every Friday in our College Radio Watch feature. If you have college radio news to share, please drop us a note at EDITORS at RADIOSURVIVOR dot COM.

The post College Radio Watch: University of Houston to Sell Former KTRU Frequency + More News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

At the top of this week’s digital radio news is an analog broadcast station. In a deal that took nearly two years to complete, on Monday the FCC removed the first barrier to Pandora buying Rapid City, SD FM station, KXMZ.

The Commission granted a waiver of foreign ownership rules which otherwise prohibit a company with more than 25% non-US ownership from owning a broadcast station. In its ruling the FCC decided that since Pandora is publicly traded company, and it would be nearly impossible to track the nationality of all, then “it would serve the public interest to permit a widely dispersed group of shareholders” to effectively own the station. The Commission will allow there to be up to 49.9% foreign ownership of shares in Pandora before the station license is in jeopardy.

Pandora’s objective with the station is to obtain more favorable royalty rates from the songwriting royalties groups ASCAP and BMI. Both groups collect lower rates from broadcast stations that have online streams than they do from strictly online-only services. As Pandora’s general counsel explained in a 2013 op-ed, Pandora pays more to ASCAP than competitor iHeartRadio, only because the latter is also a terrestrial broadcaster.

Pandora then won a second victory on Wednesday, this time in the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the online radio company in a suit against ASCAP.

Pandora pays blanket license fees on music to ASCAP under a consent decree dating back to 1941 that authorizes ASCAP and the competing BMI to collect such royalties. There exists a consent decree because the two groups effectively hold a joint monopoly under which all commercial users of music must negotiate. Therefore the rates Pandora pays are determined by a federal rate-setting procedure, overseen by federal judges.

What triggered the suit was that a number of music publishers decided to withdraw their catalogs from ASCAP, forcing Pandora to negotiate separate agreements with them, at higher royalty rates. The Appeals Court upheld a lower court ruling which found that this separation violated that original consent decree. The Court also said that the 1941 decree “unambiguously” prevents music publishers from independently negotiating higher rates than those set by the rate court.

The battle over music royalties is far from over. In fact it’s just heating up, as the music industry continues to press Congress to end terrestrial radio’s exemption from paying performance royalties (not the songwriting royalties that are collected by BMI and ASCAP), which are paid by online broadcasters. We should not be surprised if there is also Congressional attention to songwriting royalties, intending to modify or end the 1941 consent decree.

HD Radio Patent Troll Dismissed

Another digital audio patent troll has suffered a loss. The patent holding company Wyncomm LLC and its subsidiary Delaware Radio Technologies LLC had filed suit against fourteen radio groups over their use of HD Radio. That suit was dismissed by the holding companies, with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled.

Wyncomm had claimed that the HD Radio system infringed on three patents it owns. In 2014 iBiquity, the company behind HD Radio, filed suit against Wyncomm, challenging the validity of those patents, and taking the lead in defending Wyncomm’s suit.

Wyncomm’s tactic of going after station owners rather than iBiquity smacks of trollish behavior, since the stations only license HD Radio technology, and did not develop it. Though this is an out-of-court settlement–not a civil judgement–it stands to reason that iBiquity brought out some pretty big guns to get Wyncomm to back down.

A separate, but similar, suit filed against major automakers including HD Radio in their cars was dismissed last year.

The post Digital Watch: FCC Approves Pandora Broadcast Buy; HD Radio Patent Troll Dismissed appeared first on Radio Survivor.

See our most recent update to this story: FM in Norway Isn’t Dead, Says Norwegian Local Radio Association

Last Thursday Norway’s Ministry of Culture announced the national transition from analog FM to digital DAB radio beginning on January 11, 2017. This move, akin to the digital television transition the US made in 2009, has been years in the making. At least one major reason for the switch is the stated savings of over 200 million Krones a year by the state NRK broadcaster, equivalent to about US $25 million. That money is planned to be invested in programming.

The Ministry first published a report calling for the end of analog radio in 2011. One of conditions stated in that report was being able to reach more than 90% of the population with a digital signal, equalling the coverage of the national NRK P1 station on FM. Additionally, at least half of all listeners had to listen to a digital station daily by this past January 1. Both of these conditions were met.

There is less analog radio in Norway than in many other European countries, and significantly less than in the US. Many press reports have repeated the Ministry of Culture’s statement that there are only five nationwide FM stations. Because DAB offers capacity for 42 national channels–22 are in use now–the Ministry says there will be more nationwide service.

However, mostly gone unmentioned is that there are dozens of additional local FM stations, many of which are part of the NRK public radio service, that will have to transition. Norway has no medium wave (AM) stations since NRK P1 ended broadcasts on that band in 2006.

Over the last decade other European countries, including the U.K., Germany and France, have entertained proposals to phase out FM, though none has followed through. The U.K. has the most well developed DAB system, with 36.8% of listening hours dedicated to 34 BBC channels and over 200 commercial stations. At the same time, it should be noted that many listeners complain about relatively low sound quality, due to the aging circa–1990 MP2 compression used by DAB. The newer DAB+ standard–used by many Norwegian stations–offers higher fidelity by using the more modern AAC codec.

Norway, therefore, should be considered an outlier in making an all-digital transition, even amongst countries that rolled out digital radio around the same time–some two decades ago. Moreover, this long gestation period for DAB in Norway means the country is not a bellwether for the US, where at best 2 – 3% of listeners tune in a digital radio signal.

Certainly, Norway’s comparatively centralized broadcasting infrastructure, combined with a population 1.5% that of the US, contribute to the ability to make a digital transition. While Norway has to transition maybe a few dozen stations, in the US 15,542 would have to adopt digital–only about 1,900 broadcast HD digital signals now. (In 2009 only about 2,200 US TV stations had to go digital, and they had 13 years advance warning).

Another significant factor is that DAB is a very different standard than HD Radio. DAB uses separate spectrum from FM, and is more efficient to broadcast. In most countries adopting DAB, the incentive to upgrade to DAB receivers was to access new, digital-only stations.

By contrast, HD Radio is broadcast alongside its partner analog FM broadcast, with identical programming as on the main digital channel. While HD offers fidelity-limited HD2 and HD3 channels not necessarily available in analog, most broadcasters in the US have invested little in these digital-only signals, giving listeners very little incentive to go HD. Nearly all the growth in HD receivers is due to automakers integrating the technology into car radios. In Norway and other countries DAB radio receivers of all kinds are widely available, beginning at around US $50. Good luck finding a non-automotive HD receiver in the US that’s not integrated in a thousand dollar A/V receiver.

While FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler recently asked in blog post if the top end of the AM band, 1605 – 1705 KHz, could be carved out for digital-only stations, this is the closest the US is likely to come to digital radio transition plan. Also note that this was just one of several ideas he proposed for utilizing that section of bandwidth. He promises we’ll see a concrete proposal soon.

It will be informative to watch how the digital radio transition unfolds in Norway, especially as listeners make the inevitable mad rush to buy DAB receivers at the close of 2016. Whether broadcasters in any other country–including the US–actually learn anything is another matter.

The post Norway’s Digital Radio Transition Is an Outlier appeared first on Radio Survivor.

HD Radio is back on my mind after reading a recent article in Current about how public stations are using the technology. iBiquity, the company behind HD Radio, has hired the former director of NPR Labs to survey stations on the technology, obviously with the hope of encouraging more use.

Writer Scott Fybush talks to a handful of stations about their HD Radio operations. Only some of them use their HD2 and HD3 channels to broadcast additional program streams. It appears that one popular use is not necessarily to reach listeners directly with digital subchannels, but to use them to serve programming to translator stations. One station in Rhode Island re-started its previously dormant HD transmitter for the express purpose of leasing its HD2 channel to a former commercial station so that it could feed an previously online-only broadcast to a translator.

I’ve not been shy expressing my opinions about HD Radio. Squeezing a digital signal in with analog is too much of a compromise to deliver consistent digital reception, while at the same time it exacerbates congestion on the dial, in the worst cases causing interference with fringe stations. The good-on-paper idea of doubling or tripling the number of channels available on the dial is faced with the hard reality that those channels are mostly only receivable on car stereos–HD receivers exist in very few homes–and only for a portion of a station’s analog service area. On top of that, in my listening tests the sound quality of HD2 and HD3 channels ranges from acceptable to pretty awful.

What this adds up to is that HD Radio isn’t really a radio service–at least not one aimed at listeners. While iBiquity claims that 50% of new car models include HD Radio, and nearly 10 percent of those on the road can receive it, I seriously doubt many actual listeners are taking advantage of it. Sure, they may have a slightly less staticky signal when in the digital service area. But as my experience driving across half-way across the country demonstrated, it’s takes incredible luck to scan the dial and turn up an HD2 or HD3 channel. A listener has to know the HD2/3 channel is there, actively seek it out, and then be in range to receive it reliably. Not a formula for attracting big audiences.

The rule change that created the ability to feed an HD2 channel to a translator has been a boon for these repeater stations, which are specifically prohibited from originating programming. In effect, that means most listeners to an HD2 station are actually hearing it on an analog translator. That’s made translators more valuable, and increased their market value. It also turns HD2 channels into something more like a satellite distribution system or an ersatz studio-to-transmitter link, not a radio service like originally intended.

Some data, like album art or traffic information, can be served over HD, with a slightly larger geographic reach than an audio program, since the data stream doesn’t have to be continuous and is more tolerant of interruptions. Again, that’s not radio, but traffic data in particular is a potential revenue stream for broadcasters when licensed for use in hand-held and in-car navigation systems.

Even so, you might ask why anyone should care about HD Radio, since it seems like just a fringe service. A reason for concern is that HD Radio represents a shift from AM and FM radio being primarily for listeners to becoming utilities for broadcasters and data services. This is a subtle shift, and not one that has gone very far yet. But do not doubt that many broadcasters, as well as iBiquity, would not mind at all shifting much of their business to wireless data transmission.

It’s not that such wireless data transmission can’t be a good supplement to radio broadcasts; I’m not arguing real-time traffic info in the car is a bad thing. What concerns me is that any push to expand HD Radio isn’t really about providing better broadcast service to listeners. Rather, it’s a trojan horse to move the broadcast bands away from actual broadcasting.

Consider the very serious proposals to have the AM dial go all HD, a concept that was tested last year in Seattle. Even if stations are permitted to go all-digital on a voluntary basis, as proposed by iHeartMedia (née Clear Channel), just who is going to be tuning in those HD-only stations on the AM dial? How many listeners will go out of their way to get HD receivers to tune them in?

Will these really be broadcast stations, or effectively just a repurposing of AM bandwidth for traffic or other information services?

Since 2009 we’ve had digital television in the US, with most viewers switched over to the service. And it’s still primarily a TV service, with even some new burgeoning networks finding a home on the digital subchannels.

Arguably, the success of digital TV stems from the fact that all full-power stations had to make the transition, requiring viewers to buy digital TVs or digital tuners. It wasn’t a painless transition, but it worked. Perhaps a hybrid analog/digital system also would have worked. Though, I suspect the transition would have taken even longer, despite the fact that television receivers tend to stay in one place, unlike radios.

HD Radio is a compromise that doesn’t force a digital transition, but also ends up not offering much incentive for listeners to make that transition, either. I don’t expect HD Radio to go away, and as long it remains mostly harmless I’m fine with leaving it be. But I am suspicious of efforts to grow its use, especially in the form of all-digital stations.

Indeed, the digital radio ship may have sailed in the US. It was already well out of port by the time HD Radio finally came on the scene a dozen years ago, and has passed over the horizon as the growth of mobile broadband makes digital radio even more accessible.

This all begs the question of whether digital broadcast radio is even necessary. That’s a topic for another day.

The post Digital Watch: Why HD Radio Isn’t Actually Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Six more low-power FM construction permits were issued this week, brining the total to 1302. But the big news is that the FCC released the list of 111 MX groups of applicants competing for frequencies in 24 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

Yesterday Matthew took a quick look at what could turn out to be some curious and interesting time-sharing arrangements. Time-sharing happens when the FCC is unable to declare a winner amongst competing applicants because they all have the same number of points that awarded for things like keeping a publicly accessible local studio, or promising eight hours a day of locally originated programming.

Commercial HD on LPFM? Not So Fast.

Last week I mentioned the audacious proposition that LPFM stations might adopt HD Radio and then use one of the digital subchannels to broadcast commercial services. While the author of that commentary quotes an FCC official who said that there are no rules against such an arrangement, REC Networks’ Michi Bradley published a blog post this week that deconstructs the FCC rules that would likely apply.

In essence Bradley argues that a noncommercial station may only broadcast commercial services on a subchannel if that subchannel is only accessible via specialized receivers, and not available to the general listening public. Such existing analog services include Muzak and reading services for the blind. HD Radios, she argues, don’t count. Even though HD radios aren’t common, they are easily purchased. As well, the additional digital TV channels that came with the digital transition are counted as broadcast by the FCC, making it likely that HD-2 and HD-3 channels and FM would be similarly classified.

Bradley also comes to a similar conclusion on the practicality that I argued last week: the maximum of 10 watts that can be dedicated to an HD signal on LPFM just isn’t worth it to begin with.

I think new LPFM stations would be well advised to focus on creating the best local service they can, rather than be distracted by the temptation of having additional digital, but obscure, ultra-low-power channels.

The post LPFM News: 6 More Stations; Questioning HD On LPFM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

There are just two new construction permits since last week’s LPFM Watch. Both are religious stations, in Adelanto, CA and Yuma, AZ. The holiday weekend probably slowed things down, but we’re also getting close to the next batch of MX groups of applicants competing for frequencies to be opened for resolution by the FCC.

Recall that there were more than 200 low-power FM applications associated with one person, Antonio Cesar Guel, raising suspicions amongst many in community radio, triggering informal objections, petitions to deny, along with an investigation by the FCC. A significant number of these applications were dismissed by the Commission, but on August 29 petitions for reconsideration were filed for eight of them in Appleton, WI, Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA, Garland, TX, Pecos, TX, and Texarkana, TX. All were dismissed because the Commission was unable to confirm that applicants had proper assurance to use their proposed transmitter sites.

In a combined filing for all eight applicants, attorney Daniel J. Alpert argues that the dismissals should be reversed because the applicants themselves were not notified about the inquiries made to the site owners, and therefore they had no opportunity to defend themselves. He also submits sworn declarations that the proper site assurances had indeed been obtained prior to filing their original applications.

These declarations are statements from representatives of each applicant retelling discussions they had with tower operators. It should be noted that for four of these applicants it was Guel who contacted the tower owners and makes the declaration. In none of these declarations is there an indicator that the applicant had obtained a lease. Rather, in each case it appears they called a tower owner to confirm if there was availability.

This verbatim declaration from Guel on behalf of Seattle Community Radio is an example:

In mid-October 2013 I called King Broadcasting Company to ask for space in the tower. The person that answer my call said she was in the front desk. She tell me that they rent space on the tower but I had to speak to Deny Humble to enter into any lease for the tower. I didn’t call no more since we were still waiting for the approval of the FCC, so until that occurred, the client would have had no need to actually rent space on the tower.

Based on the forgoing, I believe that I acquired sufficient assurances for the use of the tower in the application I helped prepare for Seattle Community Radio.

I do not know if this qualifies as assurance according to the FCC, so we’ll have to wait for the Commission’s response.

HD on LPFM?

Finally, a commentary published at Radio World last Thursday has caused a bit of a stir in LPFM circles. Radio engineer and broadcaster Dan Slentz proposes that low-power FM stations could go on the air using HD Radio. He writes that a station he advises, WDPE-LP in Dover/New Philadelphia, OH, has decided to launch “as what might be the first LPFM HD Radio station in the nation.”

Slentz addresses up front the reasons why HD hasn’t been adopted by LPFMs. First, the transmission equipment is much more expensive than analog, and includes an annual licensing fee to use the technology. Perhaps more importantly, only 10% of a station’s power can be used for the HD signal. Given that LPFM broadcasts with a maximum of 100 watts, he acknowledges that the resulting HD power level of no more than 10 watts “could barely ‘light a night light’.”

In fact, depending on geography, 10 watts might be good enough to cover a mile or two radius from your transmitter. In the middle of a town that signal on analog likely would reach quite a few listeners, given that nearly every household has at least one radio. But how many have HD radios? And if someone has an HD receiver, it’s probably in the car, which would travel in and out of the reception area within minutes.

Despite these considerable obstacles, Slentz outlines a number of ways that the three additional HD channels might be exploited by a station (although, in practice few stations use more than 2 of the subchannels). The most controversial of his proposals is that an LPFM might lease out the HD2 or HD3 channels for commercial broadcasting.

While LPFM is an explicitly noncommercial service, Slentz writes,

“This came as a huge surprise; but current rules do not prohibit this, according to Deputy Chief, Engineering, James Bradshaw of the FCC. He emphasized that this doesn’t mean the commission couldn’t change the rules later; but at this time there is nothing prohibiting this.”

Again, these would be 10 watt (at best), digital-only commercial signals.

This seems more like a thought experiment than a truly practical proposal, though it will certainly be interesting to hear from WDPE once the station starts transmitting in HD. In particular, it will be impressive if the station is able to find any takers willing to lease an HD subchannel, commercial or noncommercial.

What is more broadly concerning is the implication that any noncommercial station broadcasting HD Radio could run commercial programming on its subchannels. That would certainly appear to violate the very principle upon which the noncommercial band is based. But even with a full-power station, the value of leasing out an HD subchannel is strictly limited by the dearth of listeners with HD receivers. The very impracticality of such an arrangement probably means it’s not something to worry about.

The post LPFM News: Petitions for Reconsideration; HD on LPFM? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Prof. John Anderson has been covering radio and communications freedom for more than a decade at DIYMedia.net. He recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC regarding a recent decision that effectively put the Commission in the role of determining what is and is not news. Last year his first book, Radio’s Digital Dilemma, rolled off the presses, opening the doors of the sausage factory that authorized HD Radio in the US.

John is also a friend of Radio Survivor, and so we’re thrilled that he is going to join us for our very first live video Hangout on Air this Wednesday, April 30 at 8 PM EDT (5 PM PDT). We will take live questions, and the program will also be recorded. Follow this link or come back to this post to tune in live.

The post Join us at 8 PM EDT Tonight for a Hangout with Prof. John Anderson appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Two of our most enduringly popular “long-tail” posts are about the demise of Smooth Jazz radio in Chicago. This April, 2012 report about the changeover from the format to alternative rock on the FM backdoor station 87.7 FM and my July, 2012 followup detailing where to find other jazz programming on the Chicago airwaves consistently rank highly in our Google Analytics. This, along with the many plaintive comments to these posts, indicates that many Chicagoans desperately miss Smooth Jazz radio.

There’s some qualified good news for these listeners in the announcement that Smooth Jazz will return to the Chicago dial via the HD2 channel of 101.9 FM WTMX, as Robert Feder reports. Rick O’Dell, the former programmer for Chicago’s 25-year Smooth Jazz station WNUA and the short-lived WLFM on 87.7 FM, launched the online SmoothJazzChicago.net when the latter station went alt rock. Starting today that stream is now simulcast on WTMX-HD2.

Of course, being HD-only means that a large percentage of Chicago listeners will not be able to receive the station on their analog radios, though they can tune in online. While it is true that a growing number of new cars come with HD-equipped radios, my experience using them shows that it’s difficult to seredipitoulsy encounter an HD2 signal by scanning the dial as one would do with analog FM. Rather, dedicated listeners will have to specifically seek out the station, hoping that they’re within the smaller service radius of the HD signal transmitting from the North Shore suburb of Skokie.

At the same time, going HD2 offers the format a better shot at longevity than if it had remained on 87.7 FM. That’s because the signal isn’t actually a radio station, but rather a legacy analog low-power TV station operating on channel 6. The audio portion of the signal bumps up against the bottom end of the FM, able to be heard at 87.7 FM, which otherwise is not an officially licensed radio frequency.

LPTV stations were given more time to convert to digital than full-power stations, which made the shift in 2009. But in 2011 the FCC ruled that these low-power stations have to go all-digital by September 1, 2015, despite the pleadings of these FM operators on channel 6 to keep their back-door radio business models alive. So, Smooth Jazz’s former home on 87.7 FM in Chicago will disappear by the end of 2015, anyway.

There’s also news that 87.7’s current alt rock format will get a longer lease on life past the stations 2015 expiry date. After the demise of the commercial alternative pioneer Q101, fans cheered when the format reappeared on 87.7. They have further reason to be sanguine with the announcement that the nation’s second-largest radio owner, Cumulus, plans to bring alt rock back to its old 101.1 FM home as it takes over operation of WIQI-FM, currently owned by Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media. WIQI had been the Chicago site of Michaels’ failed FM news experiment, which replaced Q101 in the first place.

All indications are that Cumulus is renting WIQI and another Chicago station, WLUP-FM, from Merlin in a run up to buying them outright. Merlin doesn’t own the 87.7 signal–it operates it under a lease agreement–so one would guess that it will simply fade away once the rejuvenated Q101 goes live.

The post Smooth Jazz returns to Chicago airwaves via HD Radio 2 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Hallowed New York City classical radio station WQXR’s “Q2” channel is now well over three years old. I am a big fan of the service. It is one of the few places in the classical music radiosphere in the United States where you can consistently listen to a high quality stream of contemporary classical music on a 24/7 basis. Let me dispense with my mixed feelings about classical radio in general before getting to the unqualified praise section of this post.

I believe that contemporary classical music should be integrated into the larger classical music picture. Instead, most classical radio stations restrict themselves to a very limited and conservative version of the “common practice period” of classical music. You hear lots of Baroque (Bach), Classical (Mozart), and Romantic (Chopin) content on these stations, but not much else. Pre-Baroque content is filtered out because it is mostly vocal and most classical operations avoid music that foregrounds the human voice. Post-Romantic content is filtered for anything that smacks of twelve-tonalism, non-western scales, pop music hybridity, prepared instrumentation, and, of course, the human voice again.

The result is that your typical classical music radio station functions as a sort of a portable easy listening museum for the work cubicle. This is unfortunate and sad. Real classical music is the music of God, of history, of nations, of utopia, dystopia, empire, and revolution. It is a wonderful conversation about the past, present, and future of the human race full of tone poems, operas, sonatas, symphonies, song cycles, and solo performances. But for a long time San Francisco’s principal classical music station adopted the very odd motto “Everyone Remain Calm.” This has nothing to do with real classical music. Ludwig von Beethoven did not want everyone to remain calm. “Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman,” Beethoven famously declared.

WQXR’s main FM signal in NYC more or less adheres to the cubicle approach, albeit better than most. Consider some of the Tuesday, December 3 schedule. You’ve got your Gluck, your Berlioz, your Chopin, and your Haydn. Looking for some 20th century sounds? There’s Richard Rogers and, to the station’s credit, the neglected composer William Grant Still. But beyond that the adventurous will find little of cheer.

But let us be fair—many classical radio stations barely make ends meet these days. They’ve been dropping like flies recently; see KDB in Santa Barbara, Wilmington Bach in North Carolina, and KXTR-FM in Missouri (now an Internet station). So it is understandable that the survivors have adopted risk averse, narrow format strategies, even if those strategies don’t always save them.

In that context, WQXR’s Q2 is a welcome adaptation and compromise. It is separate from WQXR proper, but still very accessible. You can listen to it via the HD2 channel of WQXR 105.9 FM, or via a 128k audio stream from your desktop, or via iTunes or Tunein.

Q2 has a variety of program hosts, all of whom are passionate and expert about 20th and 21st century classical music. My favorite show is The Brothers Balliett, identical twin composers and performers who say that they “work tirelessly to one-up each other. This drive creates a self-fueling passion to write the best work, listen to the best music, and learn as much as possible.” I strongly recommend reading their “ten point manifesto,” which begins with “We are the Brothers Balliett” and ends with “We believe in the groove.” Then there is “Sample Rate,” which explores “adventurous sonic manipulations,” and “Hammered,” a show dedicated to keyboard music.

As these program descriptions suggest, Q2 plays avant-garde content, but not too much. Lots of wonderful tonal music pervades the stream. Right now the station is broadcasting its “new music countdown.” Q2 listeners were asked to send in their favorite compositions of the last 100 years. They were broadcast through the weekend and into this week. Here are the last ten compositions played (last time I checked):

78. Kaija Saariaho – L’amour de loin
77. Jean Sibelius – Symphony No. 7
76. Igor Stravinsky – L’histoire du Soldat
75. Edgard Varese – Poeme Electronique
74. John Adams – Short Ride in a Fast Machine
73. Edgard Varese – Ionisation
72. Caroline Shaw – Partita for 8 Solo Voices
71. Alban Berg – Lyric Suite
70. John Adams – The Chairman Dances
69. György Ligeti – Atmospheres
68. Béla Bartók – String Quartet No. 6

In an ideal broadcasting world, these great pieces would stream alongside Mozart, Schubert, and Chopin. But that’s not going to happen any time soon, so I am grateful for Q2 and its innovative bid to keep contemporary classical music alive. You can contribute to WQXR’s Q2 here.

Further reading: a scholar’s assessment of WQXR and its website. We cover social music sharing communities every Monday in our Internet DJ feature.

The post Classical segregator or savior? The case for Q2, WQXR’s online “living composers” channel appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Radio World and Radio.NL report that the government of the Netherlands is considering sunsetting that country’s FM band and transitioning to digital radio broadcasting. This would mean DAB+. The decision rests on the pace at which Dutch consumers adopt the standard via DAB+ receiver purchases. An economic minister says radio receiver buyers will trigger the deliberation once the market penetration rate exceeds fifty percent. But that doesn’t mean the move is a done deal. Conundrums remain about how to get local radio stations up to speed.

Given this interesting development, I thought it would be fun to hop over to the WorldDAB.org site and check out its assessment of the state of DAB/DAB+ around the globe.

WorldDAB.org’s status map of DAB/DAB+ around the globe [WorldDAB.org]

WorldDAB has a nifty global map that shows which countries have or are in the processing of adopting DAB/DAB+. There are 21 nations with “regular” DAB/DAB+ service. Most of them are in Europe. They include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain, but also South Korea, China, Australia, and Ghana.

According to WorldDAB, about eight percent of China’s population can access DAB. Much of that availability centers around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Hong Kong started running DAB+ in the summer of 2011. The government granted commercial licenses to three companies, including the Digital Broadcasting HongKong Ltd., formerly known as Wave Media, which has a popular talk radio operation in that city.

Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland have particularly extensive DAB coverage: above 90 percent according to WorldDAB.

Then there are the countries with “trials and/or regulation.” These include Vietnam, Israel, South Africa, and Indonesia. Operators in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta have been running DAB trials since 2006. The latest in Vietnam took place in July on the Voice of Vietnam network. There have been DAB+ demonstrations in Bangkok, Thailand this year. Hungary has selected DAB+ for its digital standard and is testing radio programs in Budapest.

Finally there are countries “with interest,” which means they’re mucking around with DAB/DAB+ but it is all sort of tentative. WorldDAB lists Canada, Estonia, Greece, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Namibia, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates in that category.

The United States isn’t on the WorldDAB map at all. The country is committed to Ibiquity’s HD Radio standard. How is that going? Check out our HD radio coverage for updates.

The post The state of global DAB and DAB+ radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Image: Ann Althouse / flickr

Now a company called Wyncomm is suing broadcasters who use HD Radio, along with car manufacturers who sell installed HD receivers, for allegedly infringing on a patent for “Side-Channel Communications in Simultaneous Voice and Data Transmission.” That patent was originally granted to AT&T in 1996, and is now owned by Wyncomm, which says a company called Delaware Radio Technologies is the exclusive licensee.

Curiously, Wyncomm has chosen not to sue iBquitity the company that owns and licenses HD Radio technology. As John Anderson observes, “the fact that iBiquity dodged this bullet is telling about the actual merits of the case.”

Anderson also argues that “iBiquity itself is subverting patent law to keep its technology perpetually proprietary.” While HD Radio is covered by several patents, the HDC audio encoding algorithm (codec) is undocumented. “Effectively,” he says “HDC is a black box that cannot be pierced by any means,” even though it has been chosen as the only FCC-approved standard for digital broadcasting, and is under consideration as the future standard for the entire AM dial.

HD Radio manufacturers and broadcasters, standing alongside podcasters, have the chance at some relief this week. The House of Representatives will vote on the Innovation Act (HR 3309), which the Electronic Frontier Foundation calls “the best troll-killing bill we’ve seen so far.” The bill passed the Judiciary Committee with strong bi-partisan support.

Committee chair Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is a strong supporter of the Innovation Act and has published an animated video that tries to explain in plain language why patent trolls are bad and patent reform is good.

Broadcasters, podcasters and other trolling victims will certainly be crossing their fingers, and calling their Congresspeople.

The post Patent trolls target HD Radio, Innovation Act targets trolls appeared first on Radio Survivor.

To say that public comments on the FCC’s AM revitalization proposals are barely trickling in could be charitably called an understatement. As of yesterday there were a total of three comments filed. Two of these are from amateur radio operator Nickolaus Leggett, which Matthew reviewed last week.

In the absence of more commentary on the serious possibility that the AM band could go all-digital, it is instructive to look across the pond. In the UK the government and regulators are actively considering plans to phase out analog radio altogether, perhaps as soon as 2018, though not without some friction.

The UK has had digital radio since 1995, eight years ahead of the first digital HD Radio broadcast in the US. The DAB standard used there broadcasts on a band separate from analog FM and AM (MW), unlike HD Radio which broadcasts a digital signal alongside the analog one on the same band. According to the broadcast regulator Ofcom 19% of all radio listening hours in 2013 were on broadcast DAB, while 41.7% of UK households say they can listen to that service.

Plans to transition the UK to all-digital by 2018 are not coming without some push-back. Labour MP Helen Goodman said she thinks the government is putting the interests of big broadcasters ahead of listeners. “Given the cost of living crisis this is not the time to force the majority of people in this country to spend £50 or more on buying a new digital radio,” she said.

The Radio Centre trade group representing UK commercial stations is lobbying hard for the 2018 changeover. But another group of more than 80 commercial stations is saying a digital changeover would harm local radio and cost households “several hundred pounds” each.

The chairman of one radio group said that there’s no need to commit to a digital transition, noting that analog and digital services have co-existed peacefully for more than a decade. He noted, “We are not saying it’s bad technology but what’s the point of excluding listeners from the services they are comfortable with?”

At a House of Commons debate on the topic on November 28 Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan said that upgrading to DAB transmission is too expensive, making it “fundamentally the wrong platform for genuinely local stations.” A local broadcaster said that starting a DAB station costs between 2 and 10 times the cost of an FM station.

Responding to these criticisms, the UK’s Minister of Communications announced that digital transition date will not be announced anytime soon. He echoed MP Goodman’s sentiment, saying “There will be no switchover until the majority of listening is digital.”

Here in the States proponents of HD Radio would be thrilled if digital radio listening were nearly as popular as it is in the UK. While more than 1900 stations broadcast in HD Radio the technology is mostly found in car radios, where 20% of cars sold in 2012 had this feature. But on the whole HD Radio is widely believed to be available only on about 1% of radios in use, far below the penetration rate for DAB in the UK.

Even though many commentators and listeners alike regard the AM band as a fossil encasing the calcified remains of conservative talk and geriatric easy listening, I’d bet that a large percentage of the millions of AM listeners would protest having to buy new digital receivers. Further complicating things, an all-digital HD Radio broadcast very well may not be compatible with current HD receivers that are designed for today’s hybrid analog/digital broadcasts. So, even the comparatively small pool of HD Radio listeners (like me) would have to upgrade in order to stay tuned in.

If elected officials from both major parties in the UK can agree that a hasty digital transition is a bad thing, it’s not hard to imagine that a forced digitization of AM in the US might raise ire across the aisles of Congress, too. How many phone calls from loyal Rush Limbaugh listeners ticked off about having to buy a new, probably expensive, HD AM Radio will a Republican congressman have to hear before siding against a government-mandated transition?

Comments on the FCC’s AM revitalization plans are due January 21, 2014. We should expect to see more comments from inside and outside the broadcast industry as that date draws near. Expect your intrepid Radio Survivors to keep our fingers in the wind.

The post UK digital radio transition effort holds lessons for AM revitalization appeared first on Radio Survivor.

My friend John Anderson wrote his dissertation on the complex policy machinations behind HD Radio becoming the digital radio standard, and now he has a book coming out telling the story. He knows more about the topic than just about anyone else. So when he says that the all-digital option for AM revitalization is very much on the table at the FCC, I listen.

Last Thursday I raced to read and understand the FCC’s notice of proposed rule making. I noted that the all-digital option was “notably absent from the FCC’s specific proposals,” even though it is mentioned amongst the ideas that have been suggested. John argues that we shouldn’t be too quick to interpret that the Commission is minimizing that option.

As someone who has exhaustively reviewed the policy record, John has learned that these little suggestions are often the seeds that grow into policy. “Policy studies necessitate close reading,” he counsels.

John reads that the FCC “acknowledges that an all-digital transition doesn’t fit the bill as a ‘concrete’ proposal ‘that can be implemented expeditiously’; rather, it is a ‘complex’ idea that ‘would require additional comment, research, and analysis.’” He argues “That’s all the green-light action that HD Radio proponents need to start the regulatory campaign toward an all-digital transition.”

Read his full argument at DIYMedia.net.

The post Counterpoint: all-digital HD Radio on AM still on the table at FCC appeared first on Radio Survivor.

As we wrote back in August, changes were planned for Knox College radio station WVKC, following a deal with Tri States Public Radio. The student radio station in Illinois was slated to move off its 90.7 FM signal in exchange for a beefed up Internet feed and an HD channel. With the new school year in full-swing, WVKC is now heard on its new digital home and public radio programming from Tri States Public Radio is airing on 90.7 FM under a 20-year management agreement. The station itself is being spruced up and its record library will soon be accessible to all students. An article in the Knox Student states,

“Since the switchover to digital streaming, little else has changed for the WVKC staff apart from a new stream encoder that has been installed in the broadcast studio and has not impacted the day-to-day operations of the station.”

Former station staffer Andrea Miklasz penned a letter to the editor of the Knox Student, expressing sadness over these changes. She writes,

“I do not believe that giving up a 1000 watt radio broadcast signal in exchange for Internet streaming abilities and HD radio broadcast capability is a good deal for WVKC, Knox College or the Galesburg community. I believe that the Knox administration saw a way to save money and took advantage of what may have been the naivete of the student general managers to get their endorsement. HD radio technology has not been successfully adopted by most, and although ways to listen on the Internet are increasingly ubiquitous with the popularity of smartphone technology, there is still a digital divide that excludes people in their cars and those who live on the poorer side of the tracks.”

In a lengthy response, Knox College’s AV Coordinator Todd Smith argues that,

“Up until this change occurred, the streaming capacity of WVKC ranged between 25-40. Yes that’s right, 40 listeners at the most. That’s not even a party, just a gathering. Now we have virtually unlimited streaming. That means globally.”

He also suggests that terrestrial radio is not a part of the current undergraduate experience, saying, “Guess what Alum from the 90s, nobody has a radio anymore. Sure a few people do, they also have VCRs. We want people to hear the station. We want students to listen…”

In this online commentary, it’s unfortunate to see a generational divide as far as radio goes, especially since station alumni can be huge advocates and allies (and even financial supporters) of student radio stations. It’s tough, since there’s so much passion for one’s own college radio experience, it can be hard to understand different perspectives. I know first-hand that it can be sad to see one’s college radio station change and evolve. However, I’ve learned that it’s the nature of the beast and I’m more sympathetic after realizing that my own college station went through many different iterations before I even arrived on campus.

When I was in college, we didn’t have a licensed FM station and I still harbor hope that current students there will pursue the rare LPFM licensing opportunity this month (government shutdown-willing). Although it seems like a moot point at Knox (since terrestrial radio doesn’t seem important for current Knox students), the university IS free to apply for LPFM if there is interest. Even though the school holds WVKC’s FM license, since the FM signal is no longer controlled by students, Knox can apply for LPFM.

It’s good to hear that streaming will improve dramatically for the Knox College radio station, but it will also be interesting to see how many more listeners the station attracts. Based on anecdotal reports from other college radio stations, it’s rare for a stream to draw more than 40 simultaneous listeners unless a special event, like a popular sporting match or live concert is taking place. Attracting listeners is one of the ongoing challenges for streaming stations.

What do you think, is terrestrial radio unimportant for 18 to 22-year-old college students? Can a purely streaming station get as many listeners as a station with both terrestrial and streaming capabilities? And where does HD fit into the equation?

The post Is Terrestrial Radio Dead to Undergraduates? WVKC Changes Spark Debate appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I’m starting to think that HD Radio sub channels are turning into the land of misfit formats.

Last Friday Seattle’s 22 year-old Adult Album Alternative station The Mountain 103.7 FM flipped to the Hot Adult Contemporary format with nearly no notice from Entercom, its owner. But instead of disappearing, The Mountain’s format lives on as an HD2 channel on the same frequency, in addition to an online stream.

A couple of weeks ago Jennifer reported that Knox College’s student-run WVKC will give over its main analog frequency to Tri States Public Radio. In exchange WVKC will take over an HD2 channel and also go online. Something similar happened to Vanderbilt University’s student-run WRVU in 2011. The station is now primarily online, but also heard on an HD3 channel.

If a station has already invested in an HD transmitter then the cost of shifting a killed format to an HD2 channel is minuscule, especially if only the music, and not the air staff, make the move. But it gives the appearance that the station isn’t totally abandoning the old formats loyal listeners, even if it is actually abandoning those 99% of listeners who don’t have an HD receiver. Giving the HD2 to students booted off the main analog channel is also low-cost, but makes the new owners look magnanimous compared to giving the students nothing.

Aside from the possible PR boost, one has to wonder what the more tangible advantages are to shifting unwanted formats to HD sub channels.

In a recent column by Bob Struble, CEO of iBiquity which owns HD Radio technology, wrote that he sees “immediate” return-on-investment for stations that use an HD2 signal to feed a translator repeater station. The FCC recently ruled that translators, which for commercial stations are are intended to help fill-in areas with poor reception, can be used to rebroadcast a station’s HD2 and HD3 channels, not just the main analog/HD1 channel.

As Struble put it, “In effect, it’s like getting another unique analog FM signal for a tiny fraction of the cost of a new station. Get that translator’s antenna up high enough, and it’s basically a new Class A for the cost of the HD Radio upgrade.”

Of course, that’s sort of tantamount to admitting that HD-only channels aren’t really worth that much in terms of listenership. That’s despite how much Struble touts sales figures showing 50% annual growth 2010–2013 in HD receivers, driven almost entirely by the auto market. He claims 30% of new cars will have integrated HD radios in 2013. However, there are still only about 15 million HD-capable radios in the US right now. And tuning in an HD2 or HD3 channel in a car moving 55 MPH isn’t always as easy as just hitting the seek button.

If Entercom wants to put The Mountain on a translator in the Seattle area, then maybe the station will live on for the majority of its former listeners. Same thing for Knox’s WVKC, only the students are at the mercy of Tri States Public Radio, which I’m guessing would not be interested in even giving up a translator to the student DJs.

Otherwise I continue to think that giving an HD2 or HD3 channel to a station or format bumped off its main analog/HD1 channel is like giving them a year’s supply of Rice-A-Roni–a consolation prize that might look good on paper, but amounts to little more than something very few want to consume.

Being consigned to an HD2 or HD3 is being sent off to the land of misfit formats.

The post HD Radio channels 2 and 3 are the land of misfit formats appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Road trip radio listening is a great way to get a snapshot of what radio is like around the country. I just completed a move to Portland, Oregon from Chicago. We had movers take the majority of our possessions, but my wife and I, along with two aging tabby cats, packed into a rented SUV to make the 2200 mile drive to our new home. Along the way we mostly listened to the radio.

Quite to my surprise, we found FM stations that came in strong and had tolerable programming for nearly the whole trip. We tuned in classic rock, so-called “classic hits” and oldies stations that each played an entertaining mix of well-worn tracks that we know well. Certain artists, like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, made frequent appearances, with Floyd’s “Time” being the my vote for the song I really don’t need to hear again for a while.

My typical radio listening does not include much classic rock or similar formats, so hearing these moldy oldies was fun and refreshing, rather than repetitive and boring. However, as we pulled into the driveway of our new place, I was finished with these stations.

I appreciated that many of the stations in smaller towns and markets tended towards more eclectic selections, hewing a little less strictly to format than stations in bigger, more tightly competitive markets.

Early on in the trip we captured WLLT-FM in northwestern Illinois. Calling itself “the sound of Sauk Valley,” at about 6 PM in the evening the station was obviously automated. It seemed as though the station has no ad inventory to speak of, with the only breaks being IDs, a pre-recorded weather forecast and a phoned in promo from the head of the local chamber of commerce. The idiosyncratic music mix included Toto and Marvin Gaye.

Our rental vehicle, a GMC Acadia, had an HD Radio, so it was also interesting to experience that service across the west. In general, HD Radio is fairly useless while on a road trip, unless you’re stuck in traffic. My experience was that the HD signals were only sufficiently strong for a short stretch of maybe 10 to 15 continuous miles in most cities. I could hear the Acadia’s radio shift back and forth between the analog and digital signals, though it was impressively smoother than I’ve experienced with other HD receivers.

When sitting in traffic or moving about town I checked out some HD2 stations and found them to be quite varied, my favorite being the all-funk channel in Portland. But when traveling on the highway it was difficult to hang onto most HD2 signals long enough for it to be an enjoyable experience.

What I particularly appreciated was stations with RDS service. RDS adds text data to a radio signal, which can be used to identify a station, display title and artist info, or even provide traffic news. As a radio geek, I liked seeing the call letters of the station I was receiving, frequently supplemented by the station’s tag line, the name

RDS encoders are relatively inexpensive, so I am sort of surprised that more stations don’t have them. In the major cities along our route, like Omaha and Boise, most stations used RDS, and at least half had HD. Smaller towns were much more hit and miss with RDS.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how many stations sounded like they had live local DJs, or local voice-tracked DJs, at the very least. I also heard quite a few very awkward automated segues. I also heard a couple of automated EAS alerts break into programming to announce severe weather warnings.

On one station in western Nebraska a live announcer came on during the next break to update the warning. It was the first I’d heard of that announcer–I believe the station was on automation–so I’m guessing that he broke in to provide severe weather coverage outside of his normal shift. That is the kind of service local radio should provide.

My little road trip across the Midwest and Northwest demonstrated that radio is alive and mostly well along our nation’s interstates. I just hope you like Pink Floyd.

The post Road trip radio listening reveals the state of the medium appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Will the industry try to force an HD radio upgrade on the AM band?

John Anderson says that “the stakes are much higher” than what I characterized in my post. “Getting AM to go all-digital is an audacious way to set precedent for an all-digital transition on both bands, especially since ‘marketplace forces’ aren’t cutting it.”

John expands on this point in a piece he published last week at DIYMedia.net, titled “Greasing the Skids for AM’s Digital Transition.” He argues that the pro-digital proposal offered by CBS Radio SVP Glynn Walden at NAB is a “test-balloon to see if the initial reaction is positive or negative,” which is the first step in crafting new policy and creating enough momentum in DC to make it appear like the change is “already well-established.”

Reader Matt reminds us that Paul Thurst wrote a four-part series on the revitalization of the AM band on his Engineering Radio blog. In this series he critically deconstructs WBCN-AM’s reportedly “nearly flawless” test of all-digital HD Radio broadcasts last December, noting that “From a technical standpoint this is about as favorable testing configuration as can be conceived for AM IBOC.” Yet, he notes that “the actual data from the tests has yet to see the light of day and may never be released.”

Thurst reviews the history of AM to give some needed perspective to demonstrate that the problems with the band result from “a death from a thousand cuts.” These lacerations include heavy debt loads taken on by broadcasters, as well as resources directed away from AM stations.

In part 3 he analyzes the causes of interference on the AM band and offers some potential technological solution.

Ultimately, Thurst’s arguments align with Anderson’s. Both are wary of an industry push to implement all-digital broadcasting using HD Radio technology on the AM band. It’s a technology Thurst calls “a yet unproven proprietary digital modulation scheme.”

Anderson concludes that such an initiative “reeks of hypocrisy,” since it seeks to use FCC power to effect a change that the marketplace clearly does not support, but under the auspices of “a U.S. policy environment steeped in the tenets of neoliberalism.”

The question is: will the FCC be moved to heed industry players with vested interests in HD Radio technology over the wishes of listeners, who have indicated their preferences by not adopting the technology in any meaningful numbers?

The post Is AM revitalization a cover to force an all-digital transition? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This week is the annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, which brings thousands of broadcasters, manufacturers, producers and journalists together to talk about and see what’s next for broadcasting. Radio tends to play a very quiet second fiddle to television and video at this show. But this year radio’s own second fiddle, the AM band, received some attention with a panel moderated by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai.

This panel was inspired by remarks made at last fall’s NAB Radio Show where Pai called for a revitalization of the AM band. Radio World’s Leslie Stimson reported on Tuesday’s panel, where CBS Radio’s Senior VP of Engineering Glynn Walden called for “an analog sunset” and a move to all-digital broadcasting. The sentiment comes from the fact that the band is plagued with interference from all sorts of electronics, as well as inter-station interference from night-time skywave propagation, when AM broadcasts can travel hundreds of miles.

Going all-digital was just one of four possible solutions Pai raised in his opening remarks. He also mentioned letting stations increase power, making it easier for AM broadcasters to obtain translator repeaters on the FM dial and transitioning to a distributed broadcast method called “synchronous transmission systems.” According to Stimson’s report, the FM translator idea was the most popular of these three amongst the panelists, while the power increase was largely dismissed.

In anticipation of this panel Variety’s TV columnist Brian Lowry dismisses the AM band altogether, calling it a “cesspool.” Unlike the NAB panelists Lowry is evaluating the actual content of AM broadcasts, not the technical integrity of the band itself. Lowry points a finger at talk radio–an easy target–but also the “insidious… relationship between stations and advertisers,” where hosts hawk gold, hair restoration and diet aids in the middle of their patter about politics and sports. He is even more critical of the “poorly labeled infomercials that fill stations primarily on weekend mornings, often for questionable medical supplements or cures.”

While I agree with much of Lowry’s critique, I’m not sure it’s fair to tar an entire broadcast band with the same feather, even if it’s a big ass feather. I still see value in the AM band. I’m not convinced about going all digital, but I’m also not sure what the right solution is.

Living in a big city with a crowded dial full of electromagnetic pollution, I certainly agree that listening to AM is not nearly as much fun as it was 10 or 15 years ago, unless you’re tuning in the most powerful local stations. The long-wave propagation of AM was always one of its selling points. Traveling down a lonely interstate late at night, it is still a real pleasure to tune in an AM blowtorch and hang onto that signal for hundreds of miles without having to hit the seek button. Yet, that experience is getting rarer, as interference intrudes even in sparsely populated areas.

I wonder if my and others’ attachment to AM is driven more by nostalgia than practicality. No doubt, broadcasters’ attachment is financial; they don’t want to give up on their investments. But offered the opportunity to listen to the same program on AM or FM, I’d probably choose FM for the fidelity and low noise.

One could make an aesthetic argument in defense of AM’s unique sonic signature, just as some folks (like me) still listen to cassette tapes. It’s just hard to see (or hear) how this is motivated by anything but nostalgia.

Going all digital might solve the noise problem and mitigate some of the interference issues, but is it a solution that anyone wants? It would require additional investment from broadcasters and force listeners to buy new radios. And for what? The same Limbaugh, Hannity and infomercials, just with less electromagnetic static?

Maybe AM doesn’t need revitalizing. Are die-hard AM listeners that unhappy? In my home city of Chicago the #2 and #4 highest rated stations are AM. In New York City the #4 and #9 stations are AM, and in Los Angeles AM stations rank #4 and #10. That’s a lot of listeners still tuning in, even if fewer than FM.

Why don’t we just let AM be and let the broadcasters and listeners decide when they’re done with it? That would be the cheapest option by far.

Then, when some stalwart broadcasters give up their AM licenses at firesale prices because they’re unprofitable, there could be an opportunity for a little retro-inspired, back to basics innovation. AM radio could become the broadcast version of artisanal Brooklyn pickles, sponsored by Vice Magazine infomercials.

Or maybe the erosion of station will relieve some of the crowding on the dial, mitigating the interference by attrition. Either way, nobody needs to buy new transmitters and radios, or waste any more precious FCC resources.

I vote artisanal AM.

The post Is AM radio worth revitalizing? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Looking for an alternative perspective on world news on your FM dial? If you live in Chicago or Washington, DC you can now tune in the Russian government’s Voice of Russia service, which began broadcasting English language programming at the beginning of March on the HD2 channel of WTOP-FM in DC, a news-talk station, and WILV-FM in Chicago, which airs the adult hits format.

These stations add to AM stations in New York City and Washington DC that carry the service, as well as WKIS-HD2 in Miami, which has country music on its main analog signal.

Tuning in Thursday evening to WILV-HD2 in the far north side Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park the channel comes in clearly. I listened to news headlines at the bottom of the hour followed by an interesting longer documentary piece on the Folk Box program about the Sami people, who speak a Finno-Uralic langauge in the far northwest of Russia.

The BBC World Service is broadcast on several public stations’ HD2 channels and Radio Netherland’s Spanish-language Ahora service is also broadcast on some public radio HD2 signals. Otherwise the VOR is the only other international state broadcaster that I’ve heard of broadcasting full-time on a US HD Radio signal.

While HD Radio may still be a niche service, it still may be a good way for VOR to reach more US listeners than shortwave. According to a recent Arbitron report there are 3.6 million people over age 12 in listening to HD Radio multicasts every week. This is quite small compared to the overall radio audience of 242 million listeners weekly. Nevertheless, I’d bet that 3.6 million compares favorably to the number of weekly shortwave listeners in the US.

Like most international broadcasters, the Voice of Russia is available for online streaming as well.

The post Voice of Russia broadcasting to the US on HD Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The biggest radio news to come out of CES this week was Sprint’s announcement that it struck a deal to integrate FM radio tuners in some of its smartphones. Radio listening will be available through the forthcoming NextRadio tuner app on Android and Windows devices, which Sprint says will offer, “a wide range of interactive listener features not available today.”

For users there are several advantages to a real FM tuner compared to using a streaming radio app. Importantly, broadcast radio does not use any data bandwidth and won’t incur any additional charges no matter how much you listen. Also not all broadcast stations are available as live streams, and, especially when it comes to major league sports, not all programs are available as live streams. Finally, FM tuners are misers when it comes to battery consumption, especially compared to keeping a data connection active for an hour or more.

I used an HTC EVO that had an FM tuner for a few years. And while I only used the radio occasionally, every time I greatly appreciated its utility. I used it mostly while traveling so that I could tune in local stations without having to carry another radio.

I actually got a lot of use out of the EVO’s radio when I was in Argentina in 2011. My hosts–Americans spending a year abroad–did not have a radio at that time but wanted to listen to some local broadcasts. I had the cell radio turned off, since it wasn’t compatible with Argentine networks, but could connect it to speakers so we could enjoy Buenos Aires stations.

Despite my enthusiasm for FM tuners in smartphones, I don’t think this deal is such an enormous boon for the radio industry. Rather, I think it’s a matter of too little too late.

The radio lobby has been pushing for a few years to have radio tuners in all smartphones, but in this case they’ve succeeded only with the #3 wireless carriers, and not with all that carrier’s smartphones. A very notable exception to the deal is the iPhone, which has never had an FM tuner, despite past rumors. This is not a minor exception, given that the iPhone is still the most popular smartphone in the US.

There is no mention of HD Radio either. One might recall that at last year’s NAB the radio industry was all excited about a prototype smartphone with integrated HD radio. Nearly one year later that device is vaporware, and there’s no mention of HD radio as part of the Sprint deal. I would have been more impressed if the radio industry had been able to pull that off. But, that would also be much more expensive for Sprint.

In fact, this is a pretty cheap deal for Sprint, which can use all the publicity it can get, as the #3 carrier. FM radios are already integrated in a lot of smartphone models available outside the US. For instance, I recently got a Samsung Galaxy S3. The US version has no FM radio, but the EU version does. So it doesn’t seem like such a big deal for Sprint to ask Samsung to assemble a US version that has the radio included.

I have a hard time seeing an FM radio being the feature that drives the average consumer’s choice of carrier or smartphone. One might think that I am that sort of consumer for whom it would be important. Yet, none of my smartphone choices over the last five years have been driven by FM radio inclusion. Sure, I enjoyed the tuner in my HTV EVO. But day to day, other features, like 4G data and operating system features, have been much more pivotal. The FM radio is frosting, not the cake.

Because of this, I will be very surprised if this deal has any effect on the other carriers. I simply don’t see an incentive for AT&T and Verizon to jump on the FM tuner bandwagon; they won’t be fighting some tremendous erosion to Sprint over this feature. Even if they do find it advantageous to agree to take the smartphone versions with FM radios, I still don’t see that expanding the radio audience by any significant amount.

It’s a good thing that there will be FM radios in some Sprint smartphones. It’s just too little, about four years too late.

The post Sprint to add FM radio to smartphones – too little, too late? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show kicks off on Tuesday and runs until Friday. As usual, I will be monitoring the announcements and news from the show for anything of import to radio, broadcast and online, podcasting and streaming.

Announcements for the show are just getting started. Monday is “press day” at CES, when there’s a heady stream of press conferences and press releases, which should reveal a large percentage of the show’s announcements.

Pandora’s CEO Joe Kennedy is scheduled to present at the Citi 2013 Global Internet, Media and Technology Conference happening with CES. His presentation is scheduled for 2:15 PST on Monday, the 7th. It will be streamed live at the Pandora investor relations site. There hasn’t been any word about what he’ll be talking about, though I suspect he’ll be discussing Pandora’s fight to have its listenership ranked along side terrestrial radio, as well as a Nielsen exec’s recent statements saying that after its Arbitron acquisition the company will start monitoring internet radio services.

While Pandora still rules the roost in online radio, a prominent Apple analyst says he believes that the company will debut its competitor service, which he dubs “iRadio,” this year. Apple doesn’t participate in CES, so it’s unlikely we’ll have an announcement this week.

In terms of hardware, I don’t expect to hear about any monumental new radio gear this CES. Internet radios continue to be a niche item, and HD Radio seems to hold little appeal outside of car radios. There will probably be some product updates announced, but I don’t imagine anything truly new or groundbreaking.

However, I predict we’ll hear about more Bluetooth-enabled devices that make listening to mobile devices even easier by cutting the cord between your smartphone and car or home stereo. That’s the kind of step forward that will greatly assist the growth of listening to internet radio on the go.

The post What might be in store for radio at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Inside the radio industry there has been quite a bit of hand-wringing about the AM dial. Though conservative talk stations and sports stations in big markets continue to generate ratings and revenue, there’s an increasing recognition that other AM stations aren’t doing as well. Many blame overcrowding on the dial which leads to more interference, especially at night. Others claim broadcasters themselves are to blame, for not maintaining facilities and uncreative programming.

Over at DIYmedia.net John Anderson takes a critical overview of the solutions being examined by the National Association of Broadcasters, which has formed a task force to tackle the future of AM. John writes,

The Task Force seems to be considering two primary ideas for “revitalizing” AM broadcasting. One is to phase it out completely and migrate all AM stations to new spots on the FM dial. The other involves a wholesale conversion of AM broadcasting from analog to digital, using AM-HD as the mechanism.

Neither of these proposals are optimal. Both would necessitate listeners buying new receivers to take advantage of any changes, and they would be expensive and disruptive to all AM broadcasters – many of whom are on shaky financial footing already.

The NAB, as the handmaiden of the largest broadcast conglomerates (and with the close cooperation of National Public Radio) seems to be leaning toward the digitalization route. Either will be a tough sell.

I tend to come down on the side of thinking that the big broadcasters made their own bed, similar to how Clear Channel and its ilk squeezed the life out of commercial music radio on FM over the last 16 years. Just like HD Radio has failed to rescue FM, I have serious doubts that digitizing AM will save it, either.

I also don’t agree with scrapping AM. Although it is an older technology, which poses technical and fidelity challenges that FM does not face, it also has distinct advantages. First, AM transmissions can cover a much bigger geographic area than FM, nearly half the North American continent with the right power level. Because they don’t travel line-of-sight, it’s easier to send and receive AM signals in hilly or mountainous areas than FM.

Second, AM receivers are simple to build and operate — a crystal set doesn’t even need batteries. While this may seem downright antiquated in the mobile internet age, it can be a real lifesaver during a natural disaster or other emergency that results in extended power outages.

Finally, the infrastructure is already there, and is in use. There are still millions of listeners tuning in AM radio each day, who would likely lose many of their favorite stations were the service eliminated. Furthermore, the AM broadcast band is a tiny swath of spectrum, not particularly useful for data services like the FM and UHF bands are.

Of course, any change would require a long FCC proceeding. But that doesn’t mean change is necessarily unlikely or impossible. What it means is that those of us who care about preserving the service need to be aware and ready to engage in the debate.

The post NAB debating the future life or death of AM Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

FCC license allocation chart

In the face of a supposedly looming “spectrum crunch,” Congress and the President are endlessly threatening/promising to produce a conclusive compendium of where all the usable radio bands are presently located. I’m starting mine now for radio spectrum that is used in one way or another by radio stations—as opposed to TV, public safety responders, and so forth. When I say “radio,” I mean one-point-to-many audio that includes a live component; not person-to-person transmission.

This is a rough list. Feel free to add data, details, corrections, and as patriotic citizens we will submit the final draft to Capitol Hill.

The AM band, where here in San Francisco I can audit Rush Limbaugh or practice listening to Vietnamese, is located at 535-1605 kHz.

The FM band, where I am a subscriber in crabby standing to no less than three listener supported stations, occupies the 88 to 108 MHz zone.

HD Radio stations broadcast in conjunction with the above analog signals (correct me if I’m wrong about this or it is more complicated).

Then there’s that sneaky-pete low power TV channel 6, from which some stations also stream at 87.7 FM. As Paul Riismandel notes, that opportunity will sunset by 2015.

If you are a Sirius XM subscriber, its band allocation is from 2320 to 2345 MHz (or 2.320 to 2.345 GHz, if you insist). This is called the Digital Audio Radio Service.

If you are listening to a radio station via its website on your WiFi enabled computer, you are tuning into the station way up there at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.

If you are listening to a station via TuneIn radio on your mobile, well, you could be tuning in on quite a number of data frequencies. Go to Wireless Advisor, plug in your zip code, and it will give you the spectrum ranges for the major carriers.

There is also the Wireless Communications Service band (2305-2320 and 2345-2360 MHz), which hopefully by now is being deployed for broadband service (except the WCS carriers are in a huge fight with Sirius XM over interference, which the FCC has supposedly resolved but you never know . . . ).

And don’t forget about Digital Radio Mondiale, which Wikipedia says can stream at 4.5, 5, 9, 10, 18, 20, and 100 KHz.

Again, any additions and/or corrections to these assertions are very welcome. I’m particularly interested in which mobile bands are getting the most audio data use, given Verizon’s bid to sell off a chunk of that supposedly invaluable 700MHz spectrum it bought back in 2008.

The post Rough notes: where the radio spectrum is located (for radio) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Remember that HD Radio enabled smartphone set to debut at the National Association of Broadcasters show last week? There was hoopla–mostly in the industry–leading up to the show. And, then, radio silence.

I looked for news reports all last week and didn’t find a thing. Only a NAB email newsletter sent this week brought any info, followed by an April 17 Radio World article that somehow Google failed to deliver to me until the 25th.

Turns out, the smartphone prototype did actually get revealed to what the NAB calls “a jam-packed press conference.” The phone itself runs the popular Android mobile OS, with an HD Radio app that pairs with an HD Radio chip developed by Intel. The app brings in song, album and artist information for what’s playing using the TagStation and “Artist Experience” systems. In addition the app features “an enhanced HD Radio ad experience,” to deliver what every smartphone user wants more of: interactive ads and coupons.

HD Radio app's song display and sharing features

Of course, the real trick will be getting any wireless carriers to get on board. Many Android phones already have analog FM radios built-in. Given the tepid public response to HD Radio I have hard time seeing a groundswell of demand for adding HD to the mix. The so-called enhancements that the HD Radio app offers are pretty mundane compared to Pandora or Spotify which have been offering artist data and interactive ads since they first hit an app store. I especially don’t see Apple adopting HD Radio, which leaves out 32% of US smartphone owners from the get-go.

Nevertheless, this won’t stop the NAB and iBiquity from trying to get their HD foot in the door. The NAB recently opened RadioRocksMyPhone.com to help build the case. The front page of the site currently declares that “3 out of 4 Americans not only want radio in their smartphones, they’d pay for it!” Interestingly, there’s no mention of HD Radio anywhere on the site, perhaps indicating that the NAB knows it’s a likely dead end.

As a radio lover, I fully support more smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers adding radios to their handsets. As I’ve mentioned before, I like the FM radio in my HTC EVO Android phone, and wish my iPhone also sported a radio. But also as an occasional HD Radio listener, I don’t buy that there’s much value to be added including the digital service. Like the HD Radio technology itself, the smartphone initiative is a case of too little, too late.

The post HD Radio smartphone prototype lands with a thud appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Middle-tier radio owner Emmis Communications has announced that it will demonstrate an HD Radio equipped smartphone at a press event this coming Monday at the 2012 NAB Show. The prototype phone was developed in conjunction with Intel and iBiquity, which owns the HD Radio system, but few other details are available, including what operating system it runs and what smartphone manufacturer might be willing to run with the ball.

Effectively what we can expect is a proof of concept, which means that a ready-to-ship phone is months, if not years away. While having an HD Radio capable smartphone has seemed like a silver bullet for the commercial radio industry, it seems like that bullet has tarnished over time. It’s telling that the relatively small player Emmis is the company behind the prototype rather than the likes of Clear Channel or CBS. Clear Channel, in particular, has seemed to be backing away from HD Radio in favor of its iHeartRadio platform and smartphone apps.

The logical question to ask is what incentive do the major smartphone manufacturers have to add HD Radio functionality? I seriously doubt it’s a feature that the average consumer will pay more to get. I can actually see the carriers possibly wanting it as a way to offer consumers some free content that doesn’t suck up any mobile bandwidth. Nevertheless, I think that reasoning is a stretch. On top of that, because HD signals are broadcast at lower power than the main analog signal, HD reception can be pretty spotty on a mobile device. Arguably in urban areas it will be easier to keep an maintain streaming radio bandwidth than keeping a solid HD signal.

It’s also telling that this story has only been picked up by the radio industry press and Inside Indiana Business; Emmis is headquartered in Indianapolis. Not a peep has appeared in the gadget blogosphere, which otherwise isn’t particularly discriminating in picking up just about any electronics tech news. We’ll have to wait ’til Monday to learn more.

The post HD Radio smartphone prototype to debut at NAB appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This thing seriously looks like a radio geek’s dream come true. All it’s missing is shortwave. Grace Digital touts its new Mondo Wi-Fi Music Player and Internet Radio as receiving over 18,000 stations. Starting with analog and HD AM and FM station, that number also includes internet stations, plus the ability to browse and tune in stations via major online platforms like iHeartRadio, NPR, Live365 and CBS Radio. If you want customized stations it offers Pandora. It also lets you access radio programs that you’ve recorded using the DAR.fm service.

One might think that’s all well and good, but you can pretty much do that using your computer, tablet or smart phone, maybe adding in a pocket radio for those few stations you can’t find online. But wait, there’s more!

The Mondo ups the ante by throwing in SiriusXM and 100 local NOAA weather stations. Oh, and it’s also a clock radio with five programmable alarms. Seriously, somewhere Ron Popeil is wishing he’d invented this first. It would look great sitting next to your Veg-O-Matic in the kitchen. And when you’re done cooking you can carry it to the dining room or back porch because it’s portable and connects via wi-fi, too.

While I am seriously tempted by this device, I also wonder if I would just be overwhelmed by the volume of choices. I definitely think I could lose a whole weekend playing with it. Although I know I can seek out most of these stations without the Mondo, there’s something about having them all grouped together in a device made specifically for radio that makes them seem all the more accessible.

I had a similar experience when late last year I purchased a new A/V receiver that has built-in internet radio. Stations are categorized by region and format, and I definitely spent a number of hours tuning around the world and listening to formats I barely knew existed. But after a while the novelty wore off and I went back to listening to the same old stations I typically gravitate to.

Nevertheless I’m still quite interested to get my paws on the Grace Digital Mondo and put it through its paces. I’d be glad to do a review if a certain manufacturer wanted to lend us one for a bit (hint, hint).

The post Grace Digital’s Mondo Wi-Fi looks like the Swiss Army knife of radios appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The UK tech site the Register last week published an excellent two-article overview of digital audio from its birth to the post-Napster era, entitled “How digital audio ate itself and the music industry.” In part one writer Bob Dorman covers the first practical digital recorders used in studios. Part two picks up with the first home digital home recorders, such as DAT and minidisc, and digital sampling, taking the story through the modern post-Napster age. It’s a concise summary of the forces that have shaped our modern digital audio and music environment that, somewhat ironically, often finds artists searching to replicate the analog sounds and timbre of the past.

While not strictly related to radio, the question of digital vs. analog looms over broadcast radio as the commercial industry continues to try to push digital HD Radio, as it faces competition from all digital internet and satellite radio. But, as I must point out, with all of these technologies digital does not ever equal better sound quality. The advantage of digital is more often enjoyed by efficiencies the broadcaster can exploit rather than improved fidelity and experience for the listener.

The post The bumpy road traveled by digital audio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catch up on stories you might have missed from the past week in radio.

Dirty Money

Talk radio’s biggest names are paid millions of dollars to “use a script, outline or set of talking points,” according to a new report. The Heritage Foundation pays roughly $2m for Rush Limbaugh and $1.3 for Sean Hannity. Glenn Beck has an endorsement deal with FreedomWorks and Mark Levin is sponsored by Americans For Prosperity. One leader of a conservative grassroots group decided buying endorsements from talk radio hosts was both too expensive and ethically suspect. “I wish more of the grassroots knew the reality,” the unnamed source told Politico, that “these guys were getting paid seven figures a year to say this stuff.”

Photo by dbking, from WikiMedia Commons

According to Politico, some talk radio sponsorships include “embedded ads.” No doubt weaving specific initiatives, fundraising pleas, even guest spots for officials from the highest bidding groups into program content has certainly paid dividends. Last year Limbaugh and Hannity brought in over 40,000 new Heritage memberships starting at the $25 level and 50,000 people signed up for FreedomWorks email in the first three months of their Beck contract.

Michael Hood of BlatherWatch thinks loyal dittoheads “deserved to be suckered” but he’s mostly worried about these messages leaving the echo chamber and polluting the mainstream. “There’s nothing illegal about this, unfortunately,” he writes. “Old broadcast ethics have been flushed ignominiously down the golden executive toilets of these values-thumping whores.”

…The company with a mandated monopoly on so-called HD broadcasting is now offering cash prizes to stations that begin using HD2 and HD3 multicast channels in advertising clients’ on-air campaigns. RBR reports that iBiquity is hoping to push an increase in HD radio marketing with their new incentive program. They will reportedly hand out a few thousand bucks in September.

…Radio Bilingue announced June 15th that they must suspend LA Public Media, citing CPB Digital funding cuts. Launched to provide innovative new public media for Latinos, African-Americans and Asian-Americans, the program was not sustainable without ongoing support from CPB. However, that appropriation was recently slashed by Congress. …The most popular media company among members of Congress and their spouses is Walt Disney Co, which counts 30 members among its investors, according to a new report from the Center for Responsive Politics. Comcast is next in line with 22 Congressional stakeholders. No outlet aimed at underrepresented Americans made the list of 19 different news organizations or media conglomerates favored by elected representatives.

Sounds Illegal

Photo from Broward Sheriff's Office

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agents raided the home of a Pompano Beach man, confiscating a transmitter, mixer, laptop and portable air conditioner. The Sun-Sentinel of Ft. Lauderdale reported Friday that Mercius Dorvilus was arrested and charged with a third degree felony for operating an unlicensed Haitian radio station on 92.7 FM. …Meanwhile a radio host in Atlanta concluded a tirade on his talk show Tuesday with some haunting instructions for his listeners. Get a gun and learn how to use it, he insisted, because “we need more dead thugs.” Neal Boortz, also known as Mighty Whitey, spews nationally-syndicated racism to an estimated 19m listeners per week. God Bless America.

…A pair of New Jersey shock jocks who manipulated a nude photo of themselves taken by a freelance photographer and then posted it without crediting him, find themselves in front of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. According to The Hollywood Reporter, photographer Peter Murphy’s lawsuit against the WKXW jocks could change copyright law.

…On Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Commercial Felony Streaming Act on a voice vote, just one month after it was introduced. That is fast action for the US Senate, on any subject. As CommLawBlog noted Friday, the bill would impose felonies on some unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content. Streaming 10 or more performances within a period of 180 days in pursuit of profit could result in up to 5 years in prison. A range of creative unions support the measure which is intended to reclassify streaming as no different than downloading.

Venture Hype

Pandora went public to plenty of press nationwide. Meanwhile the local Bay Area press hyped the music discovery service’s impact on the economic development in Oakland. TechDirt’s Mike Masnick asked why no one else seemed to be talking about misleading reports regarding Pandora’s profitability.

…While Spotify declined to comment on their latest $100m boost, the popular European service is expected to launch in the US by the end of the summer. The Future of Music Coalition broke down Spotify’s significance against the cloud music backdrop:

Spotify offers a fully interactive experience where users can have complete control over the entire Spotify catalog: Listeners can play, pause, rewind, and create/share playlists from the millions of songs Spotify offers. And, these features are available to any user, regardless of the music s/he currently “owns.” The European version of Spotify is “tiered,” with free listening (there are some limitiations and audio ads), as well as commercial-free, unlimited and mobile access for a monthly fee.

But even if this service gets huge in America, will it amount to a meaningful revenue stream for musicians?

Numero promotional image

…The announcement of iTunes Match excited many music fans earlier this month, but the independent soul label Numero Group has announced it will opt out of the service. Label co-owner Ken Shipley blogged about feeling insulted by Apple. Contacted by Ars Technica, co-owner Rob Sevier said iTunes Match is “brilliant” from the consumer point of view, “but as a user of copyrights, it’s flawed.” He is concerned the service will effectively legitimize piracy.

…New York Times technology columnist David Pogue blogged Thursday that he finds the term “in the cloud” pretentious and annoying, but his greater concern is about data limits:

All of these mega-trends consume enormous amounts of bandwidth. All of that uploading and downloading, all of that syncing, all of that cloud computing assumes you have a fast, capacious pipe to the Internet. But your cellphone company doesn’t want you to have a fast, capacious pipe. There’s not a single cellphone carrier anymore that offers an unlimited data plan at full speed. T-Mobile gives you unlimited data, but if you exceed a certain threshold, your connection is automatically slowed down. And a few lucky AT&T iPhone owners still have unlimited plans, grandfathered in from the olden days — but I’ll bet you that’ll go away, too.

O.K., that’s cellphones. You can understand the cellphone carriers’ point of view. All of these iPhones and Android phones use enormous amounts of wireless cellular capacity, and it was slowing down the pipes for everyone. Caps are necessary, they can argue, or else the whole network will grind to a halt.

But that’s not the worst mega-trend. The worst is caps on home data plans. That’s right: Time Warner, Comcast and other broadband providers are putting limits on how much data you get every month, even at home.

And that, my friends, is one crazy scary development.

Wonky Advocacy

The members of Kentucky-based pop group My Morning Jacket have added their names to the growing list of artists who vocally support public media and network neutrality. They sent a strong letter to the Kentucky delegation in Congress, which included this great line: “It is our belief that funding public broadcasting and maintaining open Internet access are two essential components in nourishing the vital music scene in the state of Kentucky.”

My Morning Jacket promotional image

…Two of my favorite radio blogs posted geeky analyses of an increasingly common engineering tactic. Arcade Radio Trivia is against feeding HD to FM translators. Broadcast Law Blog warns that building and operating an FM translator to retransmit an HD2 signal may not be as easy as it seems.

…And the biggest news for policy advocates from the past week was the release of the FCC’s report on The Information Needs of Communities. Policy analyst and public media champion Jessica Clark called the report strong on diagnosis but weak on prescription. According to Current, the report directly cites advocacy by the Association of Independents in Radio. Clark also blogged about what independent producers can learn from the report for MQ2.

Educational Band

The New York Times followed up its WRVU coverage with a legitimate question for students. Where do you find music? …College Radio Day is in the works for October, although it is still unclear what it will accomplish other than establishing a brand identity like Record Store Day. …A fire at Trinity College knocked WRTC off the air and offline, though reports were cursory.

…The Community-mindedness and free-form aesthetic of WRVU Nashville maybe didn’t add up to a viable broadcast service, Current reported on their blog Wednesday. While this particular post featured the most pro-college radio quotes I’ve seen on Current all year, the premise of the ‘balanced’ coverage still rings false. The value of student media goes far beyond everyday listenership or Arbitron ratings. As Josh Stearns of Free Press waxed nostalgically at this year’s Media Reform Conference, so many people working for democracy and justice today have a background in college radio. Classical music fans should think twice before celebrating student license takeovers.

Radio Summer panelists, photo by Dave Id

…Prometheus kicked off LPFM outreach efforts with the first Radio Summer event, featuring Vanessa Maria Graber, Todd Urick, Tracy Rosenberg and Susan Galleymore. Now you can watch the entire 90-minute long video shot at the San Francisco Public Library or listen to a 30-minute audio version edited for broadcast on KDVS.

Changing Workforce

According to the Pittsburgh News-Tribune, 20 staffers at WDUQ Pittsburgh have received termination notices, effective June 30th. 100 hours of jazz is being cut to 6. It is unclear if the revamped station will be hiring.(*) …A cost-cutting study at BBC Radio asked interesting questions about possible staff reductions, but will likely be shunned. …Despite all sorts of changes, the Crimson Tide Sports Network still does a booming business carrying Alabama football games each season on more than 60 affiliate stations. But other formats are closing in on the radio side of the operation.

…And lastly, this week marks the end of a long relationship between Nic Harcourt and KCRW Santa Monica. After KCRW announced the widely-respected DJ would be leaving the station after 12 years to take a job with MTV, Harcourt took to the LA Times on Friday to insist he was “disappointed to be misrepresented” by his former station. He will soon launch a new radio show on KCSN, based at Cal State Northridge.

*UPDATED: According to a press release sent June 23, 2011, Essential Public Media has hired 14 staffers for WDUQ in Pittsburgh.

The post The Past Week In Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Microsoft Zune HD

It appears that Microsoft will retain the Zune brand which includes a music store platform accessible on the XBox games system and Windows smartphones. But none of those devices includes HD Radio reception.

While iBiquity, owner of the HD Radio technology, cheered the technology’s inclusion in the Zune, it’s doubtful that any significant number of consumers chose a Zune specifically for its HD Radio. Similarly, I doubt many people bought an iPod Nano because of the radio. I’m certain that a small segment of buyers are won over to a model in order to get a radio, but other features are likely a bigger determinant.

It’s still not yet confirmed if Microsoft is ending production of the Zune HD. The fact that the last model was released in 2009 would indicate that it’s the end of the line for the dedicated Zune hardware. By comparison, Apple revises its iPod models about once a year. Without a hardware update in 2011 it doesn’t seem like Microsoft would have any hope of keeping the Zune competitive. So my guess would be that Microsoft has plenty of the players still in the supply pipeline and hasn’t announced its imminent death so as not to completely spoil the value of that inventory.

In retrospect, 2009 was a relatively big year for HD Radio, seeing the introduction of the Zune HD and the first Insignia portable HD receiver. 2011 has seen very little in the way of new HD Radio products. And while Insignia refreshed its portable HD receiver this year, that is pretty much it in terms of anything new in HD-land aside from car radios.

Frankly, HD Radio is ill-suited to portable devices to begin with, due to the fact that the HD digital signal is broadcast at a fraction of the analog signal’s power in order to keep the digital signal from interfering much more with adjacent stations. Anyone who has listened to a pocket FM radio knows that keeping a clear signal while moving around can be a challenge due to FM’s directionality. You really have to be close to a powerful station in order to maintain uninterrupted audio. With HD the challenge is even greater.

I seriously doubt we’ll see another portable media player or smartphone device that includes an HD Radio receiver. It adds very little value to a device that can already play audio files or access the internet to play streaming audio. There are few HD broadcasts that offer programming that isn’t already available elsewhere on the radio dial or online. Combine that with reception challenges and there’s very little to motivate a manufacturer to include the technology.

One or two models of portable HD Radios–like the Insignias–may stick around as niche items if they move enough units. Beyond that, HD is actually less popular than analog FM, or even shortwave.

The post Microsoft cancels Zune HD leaving one last portable HD radio on the market appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Save KTRU continues to fight sale of Rice University station

As we have been reporting over the past several months, KTRU, the student radio station at Rice University, has been fighting a proposed sale to University of Houston that was first announced in August.

Although University of Houston hopes to eventually use the KTRU frequency for a classical public radio station (similar to what has already happened at KUSF), volunteers at KTRU still have control over the college radio station until the deal is approved by the FCC.

The groups Save KTRU and Friends of KTRU has been fighting the sale on a number of fronts, ranging from letter-writing campaigns to officials at Rice and University of Houston, to a strongly-worded Petition to Deny sent to the FCC, to investigative journalism focused on the wheeling and dealing (and subterfuge) of University of Houston, Rice University, and Public Radio Capital.

At this point the decision on the sale rests in the hands of the FCC, but that doesn’t mean that KTRU has given up on its future. Over the weekend, KTRU announced (PDF) that it has signed a deal with Pacifica radio station KPFT in order to continue broadcasting its signal over the Houston airwaves via KPFT’s 90.1 HD2-FM signal for at least 7 years. Although KTRU is still broadcasting over its current frequency of 91.7 FM in Houston; those days may be numbered as it’s possible that the FCC could announce a decision on the station sale at any time.

KTRU’s broadcasts over KPFT’s HD channel are set to begin next Monday, February 14 at 9:01 AM. According to the press release, Rice University will be helping to fund this HD initiative using some of the funds garnered from the sale of KTRU’s broadcast license and tower. In order to get a bit more perspective on this new arrangement and on the status of KTRU, I spoke with KTRU Station Manager Joey Yang.

Jennifer Waits: Any idea when the FCC will rule on UH’s proposed purchase of KTRU?

Joey Yang:  No idea.  We were told 2-6 months from the date of  the case closing, which was in December.  So, it could be tomorrow, it could be in June — we just  don’t know.

Jennifer: How do you feel about the new HD  agreement? Who orchestrated that deal?

Joey: Kelsey Yule, former Station  Manager, Will Robedee, General Manager, and myself, as well as Duane Bradley at KPFT worked together to work out the HD agreement.  We’re excited — it’s  not an acceptable substitute for FM, but we’re excited about the technology and the growing-every day digital radio listener base.

Jennifer: What are the advantages and disadvantages of HD?

Joey: Well for one, KPFT  broadcasts at 100,000 Watts, which is double our FM wattage, so we’re happy about that.  Also, HD radio broadcasts in high-quality digital audio, which gives a much better sound than FM radio.  The obvious disadvantage is that HD radio is still an up-and-coming technology, but that’s changing.  We’re giving out HD radios to our listeners in response to this, and HD radios are shipping in many new car models.

Jennifer: I’m assuming that KTRU continues to operate normally during all of these negotiations/protests/etc. Do you feel that’s been an advantage for you guys?

Joey: Yeah, it’s lent some semblance of  normalcy.  It’s important to keep moving forward, and I’m lucky to have so many loyal and committed DJs to keep us going forward no matter what.

Jennifer: What’s the focus of SAVE KTRU’s efforts right now?

Joey: Save KTRU is still interested in blocking the sale of our NCE [non-commercial educational] FM  license to UH, but our record is currently “closed” at the FCC, meaning that the  FCC has taken in all the relevant information they need, such as our Petition to Deny and the replies to that, as well as the thousands of emails our listeners have sent to them, and they are currently deliberating our case.  So we’re anxiously awaiting their decision.

***

You can find Radio Survivor’s complete coverage of the situation at KTRU here, as well as an interview with former Station Manager Kelsey Yule over on Spinning Indie.

The post KTRU Inks HD Deal with KPFT, Still Hopes to Halt Sale of Rice University Radio Station appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Every day I watched the news reports and press releases from the just-ended 2011 Consumer Electronics Show hoping for some interesting radio news. Instead, what we got was mostly more of the same. You might call it CES 2010 2.0. Aside from the Android-powered car radio that Matthew covered the other day, there was nothing new or innovative offered up in the radio world.

CES 2011 is over, but iBiquity is still pushing CES 2010

Even though the company never updated its website from the 2010 CES, iBuiquity did announce that HD Radio would be standard in 36 car models from 17 brands, which does indicate some stability for the technology. But as far as satellite radio is concerned XM/Sirius only had one announcement on hand, touting a deal with Nissan offering a a three-month intro subscription on dealer-certified pre-owned Nissan and Infiniti cars.

Internet radio primarily built on the smartphone integration model introduced by Pioneer at last year’s CES. Toyota jumped into that fray with its Entune system offering control of not just Pandora, but also Clear Channel’s iheartradio, XM satellite radio and HD Radio. However, this system is just an option on “select vehicles,” which means that in reality only a minority of Toyota buyers will end up with it. Sony and other after-market mobile stereo manufacturers also announced smartphone-connected head units that will control Pandora and other apps.

What we haven’t seen yet is a car stereo with native internet radio capability built-in. While smartphone sales are growing I still doubt that the majority of owners are willing to deal with the hassle of connecting their phones most of the time in order to take advantage of internet radio access. Furthermore, this functionality is mostly offered on optional equipment or after-market items, further limiting the number of car owners likely to use it.

I don’t see mobile internet radio reaching any kind of critical mass–even on par with Sirius/XM–until the experience is completely integrated. That will likely require manufacturers to pair up with mobile broadband carriers similar to how Sirius/XM struck deals with them. But I don’t think such an idea is farfetched, noting how Amazon bundles AT&T 3G service with its Kindle e-readers. Still, it hasn’t happened.

Although the car has always been an important place for radio listening, more than ever it is now the battleground for radio technologies. Major electronics manufacturers seem to be largely ceding the home HD, satellite and internet radio market to niche players.

New radio platforms will succeed or fail in the car based upon their ability to offer a seamless, integrated experience with desirable programming. Sirius/XM has the leg up here with 20 millions subscribers and established relationships with most major auto manufacturers. HD Radio’s principal advantage is that it’s free, but it’s also hampered by far less diverse programming, even taking into account HD2 and HD3 channels. HD also has all sorts of reception problems outside of the strongest signal areas.

Internet radio poses the greatest threat to HD and satellite, but not as long as people have to plug in their smartphones to tune it in.

In the end, I think the dirty little secret is that when it comes to radio in the car, traditional analog broadcast still wins. It’s standard equipment on pretty much every vehicle sold and it’s a feature in pretty much every aftermarket stereo, alongside CD, MP3, satellite, HD or smartphone connectivity. Broadcast is also free, and while we can find many faults with mainstream commercial programming, there is still plenty that attracts millions of listeners every day.

This is not the sort of conclusion that makes news at the Consumer Electronics Show. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

The post Radio at CES: Not much new under the sun appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show kicks off this Thursday in Las Vegas. While all the biggest buzz around the show is in anticipation of new tablet competitors for Apple’s iPad, we can still expect to hear announcements of new radio gadgets across the spectrum, from analog broadcast and HD Radio to satellite and internet radio. Some companies have already started with their press releases, while we’re left guessing what will be up in other segments of the industry.

None other than Clear Channel Communications has announced its intent to “have a vital presence” at CES, touting its iheartradio mobile app. The app, which is available for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7, allows the user to tune in the web streams of 750 Clear Channel-owned terrestrial stations. In addition to a deal for iheartradio to become available in some Toyota vehicles, Clear Channel promises that “numerous vendors” will display “iheartradio-capable” products… whatever that means. I’m not sure I really get the attractiveness of tuning a distant Clear Channel station via the internet in your car when there are likely plenty of stations with nearly the same playlist on the local FM dial. But I guess I’m not the target market.

We should expect plenty of home internet radios to be announced from companies like iHome, which made a name with iPod docking radios, and Grace Digital Audio, which was an early player in standalone radios able to tune in internet audio streams. Also expect more car stereos and add-on kits that make it easier to listen to internet radio on the road via an attached smartphone. Pioneer tried to make a splash at last year’s CES with a car receiver designed to play Pandora streams via an iPhone, integrated so that the driver can control the Pandora channel via the receiver instead of the smartphone. I didn’t hear much more about it once CES was over, though the receiver garnered respectable reviews.

iBiquity is still stuck at CES 2010

On the satellite radio and HD Radio fronts things have been quiet for the pre-show period. I expect we’ll hear about some more factory-installed Sirius and XM capable car radios, especially since a rebounding auto industry this year is something Sirius/XM is depending heavily upon. I’m anticipating something similar from HD Radio, and I won’t be surprised to hear iBiquity–HD Radio’s parent company–trot our their not-so-new deal with Ford again. In fact, it doesn’t seem like iBiquity is even ready for CES this year, since their press release site is still touting a special section to highlight HD Radio at the 2010 CES from twelve months ago. Regardless of HD Radio’s tardiness, it seems as though mobile in-vehicle electronics will be a significant focus of the show, with keynotes from Ford’s CEO and Audi’s chairman of the board.

For us policy geeks there’s a “one-on-one” with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday afternoon. I’m not sure much of that session will be radio-specific, but he is likely to talk quite a bit about wireless spectrum, which certainly affects internet radio, especially mobile. I wonder if anyone in the industry will take him to task over the Commission’s failure to implement any real network neutrality for mobile broadband. I reckon the electronics industry stands to lose quite a bit if consumers’ wallets are penalized for streaming radio and video on the go.

Unfortunately, the Radio Survivor 2011 budget doesn’t come close to allowing us to send a correspondent to Vegas to cover the show first-hand. Nevertheless, the deluge of press releases this week should provide plenty of grist for the mill. We’ll do our best to chew it up and try to digest what it means for the state of radio in the forthcoming year.

The post What’s in store for radio at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Chicago White Sox just signed a new multiyear agreement with CBS Radio station WSCR-AM to broadcast the home team’s games. Normally this isn’t the sort of news we cover here at Radio Survivor, but the unique twist to this contract is that it comes with a all-White-Sox HD channel on WSCR’s sister station, WJMK-FM. Currently WJMK’s HD-2 channel is a simulcast of WSCR’s AM programming. Presumably the new White Sox channel will take over this HD-2 channel, or perhaps WJMK will add an HD-3 channel in order to maintain the WSCR simulcast.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first deal of its kind, giving a single sports team its own dedicated HD channel. Since there’s only so many games to air, the programming will likely have quite a bit of call-in talk programming. According to White Sox vice-president Brooks Boyer,

We want it to be an open forum where fans can talk about the White Sox. It’s not a 24-7 commercial…. It’s a forum for White Sox fans. One of the great things about White Sox fans is they don’t hold anything back.

Of course, call-in talk programming is also very inexpensive to produce.

The station will also air programming covering the Chicago Bull basketball team, which is also owned by White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. However Bulls games are currently aired on the competing ABC-owned ESPN Radio station WMVP-AM and are contracted to stay there through the 2011-12 season.

It’s an interesting idea, and I wonder what the financials looks like. In particular I’m curious if dedicating the HD channel allowed WSCR to pay less cash to the team. That’s because, despite whatever Sox VP Brooks Boyer says, that all-Sox channel will definitely be a lot more like a 24-7 commercial for the team. At the same time, it is an opportunity for CBS Radio to put some original, local programming on its HD channel, rather than a simulcast or MP3 playlist. I would expect that the deal allows CBS to leverage the value of the channel more than it does now.

Still, I doubt this will prompt too many Sox fans to run out and get HD receivers, unless CBS Radio decides not to make the channel available for streaming online. Due to the vagaries of broadcast sports contracts a lot of live game broadcasts are not available online, though this shouldn’t apply to most of the channel’s programming, which won’t be live games. Furthermore, the programming will have to offer something that stands apart from Chicago’s two sports-talk stations to justify fans buying new radios. As I’ve noted before, offering unique and compelling programming on HD-2 and HD-3 channels is an area where the radio industry has mostly been a failure.

WSCR and the White Sox haven’t yet said when the new HD channel will start. It’s a good guess that it will be on the air before spring training begins next year.

The post Chicago White Sox to get their own HD Radio channel appeared first on Radio Survivor.

via wikimedia commons

Here’s the recommendation [italics added]:

“Congressionally-mandated radio-activated chips in mobile devices such as cell phones and BlackBerry smartphones, with an acceptable phase-in period and inclusion of HD Radio chips when economically feasible.”

The last time anybody mentioned an HD chip mandate, it was Clear Channel and Ibiquity trying to get it in Sirius XM satellite radio tuners (the FCC launched a Notice of Inquiry on the question and let the issue die).

This is all part of the NAB’s proposal to the musicFIRST coalition for conditions that would make it acceptable for broadcast radio stations to pay royalties to the performers whose music they air. musicFIRST represents the artists and labels. The broadcaster “term sheet” offers much lower royalties that the proposed Performance Rights Act, which has been going nowhere in Congress for about a year.

And that’s probably why musicFIRST has rejected the offer.

“MusicFIRST has completed a preliminary analysis of the new term sheet. In it the radio broadcasters unilaterally cut their digital royalty rates and lowered their terrestrial royalty payment. Those changes by themselves undermine the fundamental economic equation that was core to the July agreement [apparently the two sides had a big negotiating session in July]. The NAB’s term sheet gives the idea of a sweetheart deal a bad name. It might even be worse for the music community than the status quo.”

“Fortunately, Congress writes the laws, not trade associations like the NAB. The musicFIRST Coalition will continue to press forward.”

“The bottom line is that no recording artist should be forced to give up their work without consent or compensation, a fact now acknowledged by the NAB’s vote. The musicFIRST Coalition will continue and expand our campaign until this fundamental unfairness is corrected. Radio is the only platform in the United States that doesn’t pay performers. The music community will find it difficult, if not impossible, to support legislative efforts to expand the reach of terrestrial radio so long as this glaring unfairness continues.”

It’s unclear to me what’s going to happen next in this  drama. Maybe NAB will cough up a higher royalty rate? But trying to get Congress to mandate three different broadcasting technologies in smart phones . . . what’s going on here? Is this an industry in a state of total desperation?

The post Fear the mobile device mandate monster, now with HD Radio too! appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Digital radio is experiencing the same sort of problems that FM experienced. In order for receivers to sell at low prices, you need high volume. In order to drive volume sales you need more stations. It’s the chicken and the egg.

Fortunately for iBiquity, consumers, and broadcasters, it all appears to be coming together now, and it took a lot less time than it took FM radio!

Paul Thurst of Engineering Radio recently addressed this package of claims making an exhaustive side-by-side comparison between the state of HD Radio in 2010 and FM radio in 1950. He spares no facts:

…

Read the rest over at Paul’s blog.

The post HD Radio 2010 vs. FM Radio 1950 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Struble said there will be an HD Radio in here somewhere.

Last month I noted how Radio World columnist and HD Radio fan Thomas Ray encountered nothing but trouble when he tried to buy a new Ford with a factory-installed HD radio. Ray’s plight didn’t escape the notice of Bob Struble, the CEO of iBiquity, which owns the HD Radio technology. In a commentary published in the most recent issue of Radio World Struble pretty much begs for patience from Ray and other would-be Ford HD Radio buyers.

Struble explains the difficulty in finding a factory-installed Ford HD Radio as the result of

the growing pains which often occur when companies launch new technologies. Tom hit the lost as factory installed HD Radio receivers were just launching.

When I read that, all I could say to myself was, “really? New technology? Just launching?” The first HD stations went on the air in 2003 and the first car receivers went on sale in 2004. iBiquity’s own timeline claims for January 2008: “Ford to offer factory-installed HD Radio technology in Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury [cars].” So, it’s been six years since HD Radios were available in cars and 32 months since Ford announced factory installed HD receivers. For Pete’s sake, in January 2008 Apple’s original iPhone had been on sale for only six months and now we have the fourth edition of that device. In the tech world 32 months is an eternity. I guess that’s how cutting edge HD Radio is.

What does Bob Struble say the thwarted HD Radio buyer should have done? “[H]old out with his old Explorer for another couple of months” because then, “he would have been able to purchase an Escape with a factory installed HD Radio receiver as these vehicles hit dealerships the first week of August.” That’s like Steve Jobs saying, “just come back to the Apple store in a few weeks to get that iPhone. In the meantime hold on to that old flip phone that drops calls and is too old to text.”

Of course, people will line up outside Apple stores for the new iPhone debut, but that’s because Jobs also has a reputation for delivering highly desirably products…. on time. But, frankly, a radio is just an accessory to a much bigger item… the car. Folks might wait a few weeks to get the vehicle they want, I have a hard time seeing too many buyers waiting to get the right radio, HD or not.

If iBiquity wants to get HD receivers into the cars of more than five percent of buyers the company is going to have to offer something a lot better than excuses and pleas to wait a couple of months. Somehow, I just don’t see that happening.

The post HD Radio boss says their “new technology” is experiencing “growing pains” appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Following on the heels of my unimpressive AM HD radio listening test last week, industry stalwart Radio World magazine published a report that comes to terms with the fact that “AM HD radio has stalled.” In fact, I’d say that characterizing AM HD as “stalled” is very optimistic. Instead, reading the same article I come away with the impression that AM HD just barely launched into orbit, and has since fallen.

In terms of statistics, the article notes that there are fewer than a sixth (16%) as many digital AM stations than FM, totaling only about 6% of all AM stations in the US. Furthermore, even amongst the nation’s most powerful big market AM stations that are broadcasting in digital, “most of those transmit their digital signals only during the day.” Tellingly, RW also observes that, “[m]any of the stations on-air with AM HD are owned by members of the HD Digital Radio Alliance.”

The article points to several non-technical factors that might be influencing AM HD’s lack of success. One is the recent FCC decision permitting FM translator repeater stations to be used to rebroadcast AM signals. Another purported cause is the economy (which we can pretty much blame for nearly everything without further explanation). Finally, apparently station groups are waiting for their FM HD signals to start paying off before making further investments on the AM side.

Significantly, it appears that interference issues, including interference with a station’s own primary analog signal, are behind many stations turning off their digital signal. Furthermore, the issue of receivers switching between digital and analog signals when the radio can’t keep locked to the HD data stream is important. On FM the relatively similar fidelity of the analog and digital HD1 channels means that the “blending” between them isn’t particularly noticeable. But on AM the digital and analog programs sound very different, making the blending from one to the other very noticeable and often quite annoying.

Something I didn’t know before is that iBiquity, the owner of the IBOC HD technology, is offering a new “configuration” for AM stations that air mostly talk programming which reduces the digital signal bandwidth in order to reduce interference, heard most prominently on older high performance AM receivers. As a listener, however, I see the bandwidth reduction as a double-edged sword. While it may minimize interference, it also reduces fidelity, which can obviate some of the minimal gains associated with HD technology in the first place.

In a companion piece, Radio World also talked to a number of additional radio engineers not quoted in the first article. While a few, like Clear Channel’s Brett Gilber based in Tulsa, OK, consider the technology a success, others are less sanguine. Harold Beer, who engineers Michigan State University’s WKAR-AM said, “After years of encouraging listeners to get better quality wideband AM radios, we ended up degrading their listening experience with a 5 kHz bandwidth, –35 dB SNR analog signal once we turned on the IBOC digital.”

In the end, whether you read Radio World’s relatively balanced coverage or just listen to AM HD yourself, it’s hard to conclude that this digital medium is anything close to a success. The question is: will the radio industry see fit to throw more cash down the AM HD Radio money pit?

The post Radio industry journal acknowledges problems with AM HD appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Where is the beef? Not on AM HD Radio.

One of the supposed advantages of HD Radio is improved fidelity over analog. As I observed in my listening test of HD on FM, there’s almost no real improvement for HD over the analog signal. The advantage for HD on FM, then, is the addition of one or two more channels of audio. However, due to the more limited sonics of analog AM radio, we are led to expect HD AM stations to offer significantly better fidelity; they don’t offer any additional channels.

But compared to FM, there are much fewer HD stations on AM. This is largely due to the fact that the AM band is seriously congested, with quite a bit of interference. Adding an HD Radio IBOC side-channel to a station greatly increases the potential for interference to adjoining analog stations. A secondary reason is that the AM band is dominated by talk radio formats where fidelity improvement is less important.

In Chicago iBiquity (owner of HD Radio technology) says there are seven HD stations on AM. Over the course of several days throughout the last few weeks I was only able to tune in the HD signal for three of these stations, WSCR, WBBM and WGRB. My Sony receiver detected an HD signal on two–WRDZ and WVON–but could not tune it in. The receiver detected no HD signal for two stations, WMVP and WRTO.

Two of the three stations with an HD signal I could receive are primarily talk stations, WSCR and WBBM. The HD signals of both had a modestly extended frequency range than the analog signal, but with clearly audible digital artifacting on the high end, similar to a medium bitrate MP3 (say about 96 kbps stereo or 48 kbps mono). However, wider frequency range is of negligible use for talk programming. For these stations the primary benefit of HD is the loss of background noise and interference, which can be distracting even on a strong AM signal.

One HD signal, WGRB, features both talk and gospel music programming. Depending on the source–some programs are recorded live in churches–there is a perceptible improvement in fidelity with music due to the extended frequency response. However, the high end artifacting and distortion due to the low bitrate is sometimes too distracting to my ear, leading me to prefer the analog signal, even if the compromise is less high end.

On the whole the only real benefit I can see for HD Radio on AM is the significant reduction in background noise. On FM this is a limited benefit, since background analog background noise is already very low by comparison. But on AM it’s quite noticeable and losing it is mostly welcome. At the same time, I can’t say it’s worth the trouble.

Of the three HD stations I could receive, the only one I’m likely to listen to regularly is news/talk WBBM, where I also heard the least sonic improvement. I chalk this up to the likelihood that the station’s airchain has been optimized for AM. Because the HD signal is broadcast as a lower power level than the analog, I have to work, moving the antenna around, to tune in the HD signal. When I’m not specifically trying to test HD reception, it’s unlikely I’d bother with the effort to get the HD signal.

Much more so than with FM, I consider HD Radio on AM to be mostly useless and not worth the effort. It’s especially not worth the loud digital hash noise I receive on my analog-only radios on the frequencies adjacent to the HD stations. It’s like a line of digital litter strewn across the AM radio highway.

After the jump are my technical details and listening notes for each station.

I did my AM listening test with a Sony XDRF1HD receiver connected to a Terk Advantage tunable AM loop antenna. For every station I attempted to optimize reception both by tuning the antenna for the corresponding frequency and rotating it. I placed the antenna in an open window and connected it to the receiver’s AM antenna terminals.

While I’m willing to work a little to optimize reception, I’m not really willing to go to great lengths for the purpose of the test. I’m looking at HD Radio not from the standpoint of an average radio listener, who I believe is generally not willing to work too hard to receive an HD signal.

These are the HD stations in Chicago according to iBiquity, and my listening notes:

670 WSCR – Sports/Talk – improved fidelity, with less compression than analog signal.

780 WBBM – News/Talk – modestly improved fidelity, still very compressed with strongly audible digital artifacting.

1000 WMVP – Sports/Talk – No HD signal detected.

1200 WRTO – Spanish Talk – No HD signal detected.

1300 WRDZ – Radio Disney – HD signal detected, but would not tune in.

1390 WGRB – Gospel – modestly improved fidelity, depending on source material.

1690 WVON – Talk – HD signal detected, but would not tune in.

The post HD Radio on AM – Not worth it appeared first on Radio Survivor.

On Monday the trade publication Automotive News reported that the number of car makers offering HD Radio is up, mostly relying on stats provided by iBiquity, which owns the technology. According to the article pricey brands Volvo, BMW and Rolls-Royce now offer HD Radio as standard, while twelve other brands offer it as an option. Curiously, only one Japanese brand, the Toyota division of Scion, offers HD.

However, there are a lot of things one can buy as an option on a car, so the more important question is, Is anyone buying? On the surface, thing don’t look too bad for HD. Apparently 438,000 automotive receivers were sold in the nine months ending June 30, contributing to a total of three million HD Radio receivers sold in the US, both car-based and not. By comparison about eight million cars were sold in the same period, meaning only about five percent of new cars sold were equipped with HD Radio.

After reading a recent Radio World article, I wonder if at least part of the blame is due to the difficulty of actually buying the option. Writer Thomas R. Ray III, who is normally a cheerleader for HD Radio, recounts the difficulty he faced in getting an HD receiver in his brand new Ford Escape. It turns out the Ford dealership had never heard of HD Radio, and so he ended up with a factory-installed analog radio. He encountered further trouble integrating an aftermarket receiver because of the Ford’s much ballyhooed Sync system.

As long as HD Radio remains an option on most cars, I don’t think it’s going to see the kind of growth it needs to become a mainstream technology. As it is, there isn’t enough to recommend HD Radio to make it work the extra hundred bucks or so to the average car buyer, who is probably more concerned with a CD player or iPod connectivity. I remember back when I was a kid in the 70s that AM radios were standard and FM was an option. It wasn’t really until AM/FM radios became standard that you saw FM radio start to take off. I’m not convinced HD offers nearly as much extra as FM did thirty years ago.

The post More car makers offer HD Radio, but can you actually buy it? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I spent the better part of this afternoon listening to my new HD Radio receiver, the Sony XDRF1 HD, tuning through the Chicago FM dial. There are 33 FM stations broadcasting HD in Chicago according to iBiquity, which owns the technology. I was able to tune in the HD signal for 19 of them. After several hours of listening I remain rather unimpressed by HD Radio.

My Sony XDRF1-HD tuner in its habitat.

Primary HD Channels

First off I will address the question of sound quality and fidelity. iBiquity claims “drastically improved sound quality” for HD Radio over its analog counterpart. I do not agree with this claim. Tuning between the analog and primary HD channel for each station I could perceive slight differences in sound quality between them. The biggest difference is the loss of background noise and hiss in the HD channel. Now, this is a very subtle difference, primarily perceptible during quiet music passages (which are rare on commercial FM) and voice breaks. This leads to the perception that there’s a bit more dynamic range on the HD channel, but it requires fairly high listening volume to clearly detect.

While I welcome the lower noise floor of HD, I otherwise don’t perceive any other significant increase in fidelity. On nearly every station I listened to the primary HD channel sounded nearly identical to the analog FM. Much of commercial FM is overcompressed, and I found that if a station’s analog signal was so overprocessed, so was the primary HD channel.

Sometimes I would lose the HD signal–since it’s broadcast at a much lower power level than the analog signal–and I never noticed just by listening. I had to look at the tuner’s display to know for sure. The shift between the HD and analog signals is pretty smooth sounding on the Sony tuner. I can tell when it happens, but it’s quite unobtrusive. If I’m not paying close attention to the radio it can happen without me noticing.

All of the 19 HD FM stations I received are stations that come in reasonably well in analog in my apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago. The Sony XDRF1 turns out to have very good analog FM performance, bringing in the analog FM signals of these stations better than any other radio in my house except my Tivoli Model One, which is another room. Of the 10 stations where I couldn’t tune in an HD signal, 8 of them don’t come in clearly in my house in analog, either. For two stations my tuner did not indicate there was an HD signal present. More details listening notes by station are at the end of this post.

Secondary HD Channels

The other big advantage touted for HD Radio are the additional subchannels a station can have. Each HD station I listened to broadcast one or two additional channels. By and large the second HD channel had decent sound quality, but that nevertheless never matched the quality of the primary analog or HD channel. This should be expected because there is only so much digital bandwidth for each station to exploit, and the FCC requires that the primary HD channel–which must have the same programming as the analog signal–have the biggest share of the bandwidth.

The second HD channels typically sound like a good webcast station. That is, they sound like medium-quality MP3s with bitrates of 128 kbps or lower. I hear more compression and less dynamic range than the analog side, and some rolling off at the high end. Right now I’m listening to WXRT’s commercial-free HD channel 2 called “Channel X” and it’s pleasant to listen to, no more fatiguing than most web stations.

The stations broadcasting only on additional HD channel had slightly better fidelity on their HD-2 channels than those broadcasting three digital channels. Chicago Public Radio WBEZ broadcasts its Vocalo service on HD-2 and has no HD-3 channel. It sounds a little fuller than WXRT’s HD-2, with better stereo separation, a little more high end, and a little more dynamic range.

WXRT also broadcasts an HD-3 music channel which is branded as last.fm, owned by the station’s parent company CBS. The fidelity on HD-3 is greatly compromised, sounding like a webcast from the late 90s. The highs are heavily rolled off, with lots of shimmery distortion on high pitched instruments like cymbals. I find it pretty unlistenable and think it’s a waste to try and cram music on the HD-3 channel.

The stations that air talk programming on their HD-3 channels are much more listenable, mostly because voice-only programming just doesn’t require as much bandwidth and fidelity as music. WUSN airs a motorsports talk station on its HD-3 channel, and while the programming isn’t my cup of tea, I could imagine listening to it if it aired something of interest to me.

The HD Experience

Listening to HD Radio is not necessarily the most user-friendly experience. The digital HD signal is broadcast at much lower power than the analog signal–in order to lessen interference with adjoining stations. Therefore I had to adjust my antenna carefully to pull in HD signals. The Sony tuner provides a nice signal strength indicator which aids in this task, flashing an HD indicator when a digital signal is detected. You know you’ve got a HD signal tuned in when the HD indicator stops flashing, and more data–like song titles and station name–is displayed.

I have a fifteen-year-old Radio Shack amplified FM antenna that is tunable to frequency. I found with careful tuning I could successfully receive the HD channel for every available station. However, keeping that HD signal was sometimes difficult. Just walking across the room could cause the HD signal to drop out. The HD signal also seemed more susceptible to electrical interference than analog FM. For instance, my wife was shredding documents in the next room, and every time she shredded something the HD channel would drop out, then take 10 – 30 seconds to come back in after she stopped.

Now, it’s true that I live about 10 miles from downtown Chicago, where most major stations are located, on the second floor of an all-brick building. It’s not the ideal location to listen to radio, but not the worst, either. I’ll argue that at least 60% of the metro radio audience lives at least as far away as I do, so I think others’ experience would be similar to mine.

On some stations it was difficult to listen to the HD channels for any length of time. They just wouldn’t stay tuned in, no matter how carefully I adjusted the antenna and tried not to move around. It’s not a big deal if I’m listening to the primary HD channel, since the tuner smoothly falls back to analog, which sounds just as good. But it is frustrating if you’re listening to an HD2 or HD3 channel, since it goes away altogether. No slow degradation, no static–it’s either on or off.

Given the somewhat delicate nature of tuning in HD stations, I have real doubts how many average radio listeners are willing to devote the patience necessary to tune in HD channels. Sure, any radio listener is used to having to move an antenna or radio to get better reception. However, with analog a listener can hear the changes when reception degrades or improves. With HD it’s all or nothing, and therefore much more difficult to finely tune. Furthermore, hearing a crystal-clear analog signal does not necessarily mean you’ll get a clear digital signal. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to try and listen to a portable HD Radio, since just maintaining a clear FM signal with a portable can be a real challenge.

Finally, one of the great experiences of analog radio listening is scanning the dial looking for a good (or tolerable) song, or simply just trying to see what you’ll find. This is not a pleasure one will enjoy with HD radio. In my experience so far it really just isn’t practical to scan HD stations. It simply takes too long to get the HD signal locked in. Perhaps someone living downtown near the major stations might be able to do this, but I just don’t see it happening elsewhere.

Conclusion

I will continue to listen to HD Radio in order to see if the experience improves or I figure out some tricks to improving reception. But so far I find that the technology of cramming a digital signal in next to analog one has too many compromises to be successful. The bandwidth for the HD channels is not enough to offer significantly better fidelity for the primary HD channel, and the leftover bandwidth available for HD2 and HD3 provides sound quality that does not surpass what is available online or on satellite radio. Importantly, tuning in a clear HD signal can be a very finicky process that can try one’s patience. How many signal drop-outs will the average listener endure before giving up on an HD2 or HD3 channel?

Details

As I mentioned I did my listening with a Sony XDRF1-HD tuner which is generally highly regarded for its fidelity and performance on both analog and digital FM. I amplified the audio with a harman/kardon AVR25II receiver, which is a very high quality unit from the mid-90s. The receiver is well maintained and provides quite nice sound quality in plain 2-channel stereo that well exceeds most receivers you’ll find for under $1000 in the electronics store. The speakers are RTR28 bookshelf speakers and an Audiosource 100 watt subwoofer. Laying this out is my way of saying that I believe the electronics were up to task of fairly evaluating the sound quality of HD Radio.

These are the HD stations I listened to, with some listening notes as relevant:

• 91.5 WBEZ HD1 HD2 – HD2 had some of the best sound quality I heard on an HD2 channel.
• 93.1 WXRT HD1 HD2 HD3 – HD3’s music quality was too compressed and nearly unlistenable.
• 93.9 WLIT HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounds OK.
• 95.5 WNUA HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounded above average.
• 96.3 WBBM HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounded average.
• 97.1 WDRV HD1 HD2- HD2 is music, heard high end “shimmery” distortion on cymbals.
• 97.9 WLUP HD1 HD2 – HD2 sounded average.
• 98.7 WFMT HD1 – No HD2 or HD3. HD1 sound quality was the best I heard.
• 99.5 WUSN HD1 HD2 HD3 – HD3 had talk which sounded adequate.
• 100.3 WILV HD1 HD2 – HD2 was talk and sounded very good for that format.
• 101.1 WKQX HD1 HD2 – HD2 was music and sounded decent, but somewhat compressed.
• 101.9 WTMX HD1 HD2 – HD2 was 80s music, pretty highly compressed.
• 102.7 WVAZ HD1 HD2 – HD2 is religious talk, sounds OK.
• 103.5 WKSC HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounds average for HD2.
• 104.3 WJMK HD1 HD2 – HD2 is sports talk, sounds OK.
• 105.1 WOJO HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounded slightly above average. HD3 is music, sounds poor.
• 105.9 WCFS HD1 HD2 – HD2 is simulcast of WBBM-AM. There was a lot of artifacting on HD2, not as clear as the station’s webcast.
• 107.5 WGCI HD1 HD2 – HD2 is music, sounds average.
  

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/08/first-day-with-hd-radio-not-impressed/feed/ 11 5692 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/08/crossing-over-to-the-dark-side/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/08/crossing-over-to-the-dark-side/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:15:58 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=5641 Amazon.com Widgets Perhaps the title for this post is a little hyperbolic, however I feel like I have a confession to make: I just bought an HD Radio receiver. Yes, I’ve been quite critical here about the technical specs of In-Band-On-Channel digital broadcasting, a/k/a IBOC, a/k/a HD Radio. However, I must admit that I have […]

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  Sony XDRF1 HD, the HD Radio tuner I just bought

  Perhaps the title for this post is a little hyperbolic, however I feel like I have a confession to make: I just bought an HD Radio receiver.

  Yes, I’ve been quite critical here about the technical specs of In-Band-On-Channel digital broadcasting, a/k/a IBOC, a/k/a HD Radio. However, I must admit that I have barely listened to the service, largely because I don’t own an HD Radio and rarely have had access to one. In order to judge the actual merits of the system against what I already know are some of the constraints, I really think I should do some critical listening.

  I’d been thinking about buying an HD Radio for a while, mostly considering the Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner. It’s received very good reviews for both its analog FM performance as well as its HD radio performance, and it’s comparatively inexpensive with a street price of around $80. Then I walked into a local electronics store today and found one in an open box special for even less, so a I bought it.

  It’s an audio component tuner, not a radio, so it doesn’t have a speaker. It’s made to fit into an audio component system, which is where I’ll install it.

  I have not yet given it a real listen, so I can post no results yet. However, I will be sure to keep Radio Survivor readers updated on my new adventures in HD Radio.

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/08/crossing-over-to-the-dark-side/feed/ 10 5641 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/06/fcc-commissioner-clyburn-suggests-channels-5-6-for-radio/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/06/fcc-commissioner-clyburn-suggests-channels-5-6-for-radio/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:27:49 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=4947 The National Federation of Community Broadcasters just wrapped up its annual conference this past weekend in St. Paul, MN. The NFCB has been a true anchor in the community radio movement, both supporting individual stations and advocating on their behalf in DC. This year the FCC actually graced the conference, with Commissioner Mingon Clyburn giving […]

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  FCC Commissioner Mingon Clyburn

  The National Federation of Community Broadcasters just wrapped up its annual conference this past weekend in St. Paul, MN. The NFCB has been a true anchor in the community radio movement, both supporting individual stations and advocating on their behalf in DC. This year the FCC actually graced the conference, with Commissioner Mingon Clyburn giving a speech on June 10.

  Commissioner Clyburn certainly let loose quite a few surprises, starting with suggesting that TV channels 5 and 6 could be reallocated for non-commercial FM radio, low-power FM or AM broadcasters. While she said that she wasn’t suggesting an immediate change, Clyburn said that, “it is time for us to take a serious look at
  where these services fit within the overall spectrum plan, and that Channels 5 and 6 maybe a good home.”

  The spectrum allocated to analog channels 5 and 6 sits just below the FM band’s lower limit of 88 MHz. Before the digital transition you might remember being able to hear channel 6 TV audio at the bottom end of your FM dial. Although the transition meant full-power stations lost their analog audio signal, low-power TV stations were permitted to remain analog. As I’ve reported before, there are several low-power channel 6 stations taking advantage of their proximity to the FM dial to function effectively like radio stations rather than TV.

  Any reallocation of channel 5 and 6 spectrum would require dealing with the few full-power stations that chose to stay put rather than move to different spectrum space. It would also have to deal with the LPTV stations on channels 5 & 6. My guess is that these stations could be offered to move into spectrum allocated for digital, though it might take some horse trading. It’s also likely that those few LPTV stations on channel 6 are going to be very reluctant to move and give up their radio-like business, although it’s just a matter of time before the FCC kills that business model by forcing all LPTV to go digital.

  Commissioner Clyburn also suggested that community stations consider the charms of HD Radio. She acknowledged that, “limited receiver penetration and the cost of digital transmission equipment may make owning an HD Radio station an unappealing option for community radio groups.” However, she also proposed that “HD can provide yet another way to promote broadcast diversity and expanded programming option.” She even suggested that community stations or groups seeking stations could partner with other commercial or non-commercial stations to program their secondary HD-2 and HD-3 channels.

  It’s pretty rare for community radio to get such a courtesy call from an FCC commissioner, and all the more rare for a commissioner to drop so many bombshells. I’m cautiously optimistic to hear such support for community radio and an apparent willingness to consider an expansion of the FM band in order to accommodate more non-commercial stations. I do have to note, however, that there’s no indication that an expanded band would be only for community radio. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if the idea gains any traction with the full Commission.

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/06/fcc-commissioner-clyburn-suggests-channels-5-6-for-radio/feed/ 1 4947 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/04/website-campaigns-to-keep-the-public-in-public-radio/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/04/website-campaigns-to-keep-the-public-in-public-radio/#respond Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:00:43 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=4407 My pal John Anderson at DIYmedia.net alerts us to a new group blog written by some fellow radio survivors who intend to hold public radio’s feet to the fire, called Keeping the Public in Public Radio (KTPIPR). Featuring the contributions of public radio supporters, authors and broadcasters, the site is covering the changing landscape of […]

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  My pal John Anderson at DIYmedia.net alerts us to a new group blog written by some fellow radio survivors who intend to hold public radio’s feet to the fire, called Keeping the Public in Public Radio (KTPIPR). Featuring the contributions of public radio supporters, authors and broadcasters, the site is covering the changing landscape of public radio which often mirrors commercial radio in emphasizing national programming and ratings over local service.

  The site’s bloggers hailing from Boston and Austin are focusing on changes happening at the public stations in those cities, WGBH and KUT, respectively. Concerns over KUT, owned by the University of Texas, stem from July 2009 changes in which three long-time DJs had their roles reduced while the station’s playlist became more “structured.” More recently the site has been critically following plans for the station to take over the university’s on campus bar and music venue, the Cactus Café.

  For WGBH complaints arise from the station’s December, 2009 decision to go all-talk, canceling long-running folk and blues programs. A growing priority on news and information programming has been happening at public radio stations nationwide for well over a decade, with many long-running local music programs coming to an end. Even back in 1997 when I attended the CPB’s Public Radio Program Directors conference the emphasis was on research indicating that moneyed listeners valued keystone syndicated programs like All Things Considered more than local programming, especially music. Since then the trend has only grown.

  KTPIPR isn’t only focusing on Boston and Austin, it’s got at least four other stations on its radar for regular coverage, along with keeping a wide angle lens on the national scene. The site also takes aim at NPR for the network’s support of HD Radio, calling it the “Huge Debacle.”

  KTPIPR has been going strong for about a month and a half. I’m always supportive of informed and critical coverage of radio issues, so I’m hoping the site’s authors can keep it up.

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/04/website-campaigns-to-keep-the-public-in-public-radio/feed/ 0 4407 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/04/dj-chairman-genachowski-throws-a-few-bones-to-radio-at-nab/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/04/dj-chairman-genachowski-throws-a-few-bones-to-radio-at-nab/#respond Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:56:15 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=4169 The National Association of Broadcasters wraps up its annual national trade show in Las Vegas tomorrow. Radio has its own annual show, so at the big one it tends to take a back seat to television when it comes to big announcements. Nevertheless, when FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave his remarks [PDF] to the crowd […]

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  DJ Genachowski

  The National Association of Broadcasters wraps up its annual national trade show in Las Vegas tomorrow. Radio has its own annual show, so at the big one it tends to take a back seat to television when it comes to big announcements. Nevertheless, when FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski gave his remarks [PDF] to the crowd on Tuesday, he had a few things to say about radio.

  First, the Chairman revealed his own secret radio past, telling attendees that he was “a radio DJ while in high school, spinning disks — literally — on an old carrier current station.” I must note that means young Julius was actually broadcasting without a license. But I also presume his high school station operated legally under Part 15 rules for AM carrier current, which also kept his signal confined to school grounds.

  Genachowski laid out the statistic that “radio has actually grown its over-the-air audience by almost 10 percent over the last decade.” If accurate that about matches the growth in the US population over the same period (based upon the Census Bureau’s current population estimate of 309,069,148). He also touted a couple of the bones the Commission recently threw to the radio industry, authorizing the HD Radio power increase and allowing AM stations to have translator repeater stations on the FM dial.

  Genachowski used most of his time to defend the FCC’s controversial proposal to ask TV broadcasters to sell back some spectrum space to be repurposed for wireless broadband. Still, he did make a nod towards the upcoming ownership rules review, saying that the Commission will issue a Notice of Inquiry “soon.” At the moment its up to tea leaf readers to decipher what will be up for consideration. Genachowski’s only comments on the rules review amounted to vague pronouncements of respect for “the traditional Communications Act values of competition, localism, and diversity,” while acknowledging that “an America with universal broadband access and deployment looks different from one without.”

  At least it’s nice to hear the FCC Chairman give some props to radio, especially since he didn’t attend last year’s NAB Radio Show (Commissioners Atwell-Baker and Clyburn went instead). We’ll see if he chooses to grace this year’s.

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