tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57330569431913149072023-06-20T05:58:28.063-07:00HD Radio on the Medium Wave (AM) bandA collection of stories dealing with the new in-band, on-channel (IBOC) technology used in HD Radio (tm) on the AM bandRadio Listenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12207663888100346065noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-25058416266130052942012-05-07T06:02:00.004-07:002012-05-07T06:02:57.990-07:00After 13 years, inventor waits for HD radio to break out<a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/article831033.ece">http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/gusto/article831033.ece</a><br />
<br />
Hybrid Digital radio, with its superior sound and reception -- and
the ability to squeeze more channels into one frequency -- should be an
obvious part of this digital media age. Yet after 13 years, HD radio has
failed to match its expectations -- for many reasons.<br />
<br />
"I don't think the industry has done a good job promoting it," said
Joseph Puma, vice president, engineering and technology, for WNED
broadcasting. "And I don't think IBiquity is getting manufacturers to
make receivers for it. Table radios have not gone below $100, and most
people don't want to pay that for a clock radio. If you were a classical
music aficionado, you may be more apt to buy it."Radio Listenerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12207663888100346065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-77530149895808172982012-02-01T06:10:00.000-08:002012-02-01T06:12:01.396-08:00Study: Americans Still Unfamiliar With HD RadioNearly five years into this grand experiment, and most of the public still doesn't know what HD radio really is ("zero progress") and the numbers are shrinking...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=2377010">Study: Americans Still Unfamiliar With HD Radio</a><br />
<br />
Research and strategy firm Mark Kassof & Co. has conducted a new survey that shows a continued "knowledge gap" among consumers when it comes to HD Radio. The research findings, based on 670 telephone interviews in the U.S., show that 54 percent of 18- to 64-year-olds have "heard of" HD Radio, which is down from 67 percent in a 2008 study. Included in that 54 percent, however, are 16 percent who have only heard of HD Radio and don't know anything about it.<br />
<br />
The #1 image of HD Radio is that it delivers better audio quality. Twenty percent of respondents express that view, which is essentially flat from 2008 (21 percent). But for many, better quality sound is not something they actually know about HD Radio. Rather, it's something they infer based on their knowledge of HDTV. Other findings show that only 8 percent understand that HD Radio delivers more channels and choices, which also is identical to the 2008 survey. And 6 percent have the misconception that HD Radio is satellite radio.<br />
<br />
Firm President Mark Kassof states, "The results show a decline in awareness and zero progress in listeners' understanding of HD radio. The industry still has much work to do promoting HD radio and selling its benefits."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-71364362045526541242012-01-04T19:20:00.000-08:002012-01-04T19:20:46.286-08:00HD RADIO - IT'S JUST TOO COMPLICATEDHD RADIO - IT'S JUST TOO COMPLICATED<br />
Dan Halyburton<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2361386&spid=2364174">Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2364174">Part 2</a><br />
<br />
I started to write about the content offerings of HD Radio and the deeper I was in, I reached the conclusion that while the new “band” shows some promise, the whole thing is just too damn complicated. There is a significant price that Radio is paying for this complexity.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-16487874115751290482011-04-24T08:44:00.000-07:002011-04-24T14:26:55.078-07:00More Heartache on HDLiterally, that's the first tag line on the flash page that welcomed me when I went to the newly re-done <a href="http://hdradio.com">hdradio.com</a> website: "More Heartache on HD" (along with "more music on HD...more chill on HD...more relaxing on HD..."). How fitting an admission!<br />
<br />
Also, now that the Zune HD has been discontinued, the number of portable HD-capable players available is exactly... two - both Best Buy Insignia house brand models. Remember the old days when you'd see industry leaders like Sony followed by other companies like Panasonic, Sharp, etc. fielding quality portable radios? Not for this turkey of a technology, I guess. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.hdradio.com/buyers-guide/hd-radio-player">http://www.hdradio.com/buyers-guide/hd-radio-player</a><br />
<br />
The NSHD-01 gets respectable feedback but the NSHD-02 has reviews calling it a "joke", saying "don't bother" - both for the user interface and the reception, it seems.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-42523506065439186802011-03-22T04:06:00.000-07:002011-03-22T04:07:23.206-07:00Microsoft cancels Zune HD leaving one last portable HD radio on the market<a href="http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/03/17/microsoft-cancels-zune-hd-leaving-one-last-portable-hd-radio-on-the-market/">Microsoft cancels Zune HD leaving one last portable HD radio on the market</a><br />
<br />
This week Bloomberg reported that Microsoft will introduce no new versions of its Zune HD portable music device. Conceived as a competitor to Apple’s market-dominating iPod line, the Zune added an HD Radio receiver in 2009, making it one of only two portable HD radios available. The other comes from the Best Buy Insignia house brand, which has a touch-screen making it look like an MP3 player, even though it’s only a radio.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.<br />
<br />
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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-40338970790743217432011-02-11T04:17:00.000-08:002011-02-11T04:18:44.721-08:00Detroit Pistons moved to CBS due to HD Radio interference?<h1 style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.rbr.com/radio/detroit-pistons-moved-to-cbs-due-to-hd-radio-interference.html">Detroit Pistons moved to CBS due to HD Radio interference?</a></span></h1>Pete Skorich, Detroit Pistons Director of Broadcasting, addressed a rumor that RBR-TVBR heard regarding a rate reduction in The Detroit Pistons contract with Clear Channel’s Sports WDFN-AM 1130 kHz over poor reception in the evenings. Details had it that 50-kW KMOX St. Louis (1120) and 50-kW WRVA Richmond (1140) were killing WDFN’s nighttime signal because of their skywave HD Radio carriers on 1130. Well, Skorich tells us there was no rate reduction but instead a complete move to CBS Radio’s The Ticket (WXYT) simulcast of 97.1 and 1270 some two years ago.<br />
But he did note it was because of reception complaints: “That was one of the components, and we were with them for five years. They had a weak signal and we were getting a lot of people that could not hear us. It could have been [because of] HD Radio, but at the time we were totally unaware of it.”<br />
<h1> </h1><h1> </h1>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-66898318452548279112010-09-07T04:23:00.000-07:002010-09-07T04:23:44.086-07:00AM HD Radio Has Stalled. Now What?<a href="http://radioworld.com/article/105898">AM HD Radio Has Stalled. Now What?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
by Leslie Stimson, 08.31.2010<br />
<br />
<br />
AM HD Radio, it seems, is the stepchild of the digital world. <br />
Proponents point to AM HD’s dramatic improvement in audio quality over that of analog. But several experts say that, at best, AM HD is having mixed success. Many even characterize it as struggling or not successful. Others, however, say it’s too early to tell what its future will be.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-32312429193609490292010-09-07T04:18:00.000-07:002010-09-07T04:18:52.390-07:00HD Radio on AM – Not worth it<a href="http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/08/29/hd-radio-on-am-not-worth-it/">HD Radio on AM – Not worth it</a><br />
<br />
<br />
August 29th, 2010 by Paul Riismandel in HD Radio <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-31611600120974488712010-09-04T20:06:00.001-07:002010-09-04T20:11:25.133-07:00HD Radio "Practically Buried Again"From a translated article, Switzerland has switched off HD radio:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.persoenlich.com%2Fnews%2Fshow_news.cfm%3Fnewsid%3D90185">Praktisch schon wieder beerdigt</a><br />
<br />
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</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="3" width="490"><div class="underline"> <span onmouseout="_tipoff()" onmouseover="_tipon(this)"><span class="google-src-text" style="direction: ltr; text-align: left;"><b>HD-Initiant Ruoss sieht Projekt gescheitert.</b></span> <b>HD-initiator Ruoss provides project failed.</b></span> </div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span onmouseout="_tipoff()" onmouseover="_tipon(this)" style="background-color: #e6ecf9;">Five private radio stations presented in February 2010 an application for an HD Radio (digital FM ") from autumn 2010.</span> <span onmouseout="_tipoff()" onmouseover="_tipon(this)"><span class="google-src-text" style="direction: ltr; text-align: left;">Die technische Konzession erhielten sie dann im Juni.</span> The technical concession, they then received in June.</span> <span onmouseout="_tipoff()" onmouseover="_tipon(this)"><span class="google-src-text" style="direction: ltr; text-align: left;">Und nun dies: Markus Ruoss, Inhaber von Radio Sunshine und einer der HD-Initianten, gab am RadioDay sozusagen die Beerdigung des Projektes HD-Radio Schweiz bekannt.</span> And now this: Markus Ruoss, owner of Sunshine Radio and the HD-initiators, announced on RadioDay known, as it were the burial of the project HD Radio Switzerland.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-54425130882420076122010-09-04T20:01:00.001-07:002010-09-04T20:04:21.798-07:00AM IBOC Stations on (off?) the AirFrom Barry McLarnon's website, the latest roll-call of stations that have switched off AM IBOC...<br />
<br />
Stations which previously ran IBOC but currently have it turned off completely are shown in <span style="color: #009900;">green</span> (nearly <u>50</u> as of September 2010):<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html">AM IBOC Stations on the Air</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-86396139158251818712010-09-04T19:50:00.000-07:002010-09-04T19:51:54.498-07:00HD Radio Shouldn't Be This Hard<h1><a href="http://www.radioworld.com/article/104712">HD Radio Shouldn't Be This Hard</a></h1>by Thomas R. Ray III, 08.11.2010<br />
<br />
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"><b>NEW WINDSOR, N.Y.</b> — Unless we give Joe Consumer a reason to go out and purchase an HD Radio for his car — until he can obtain it easily and at a reasonable cost, and a device that works — I fear that HD Radio is going to go the way of FM quad and AM stereo, relegated to the scrap pile of history. </span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"> </span><br />
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop">This statement may surprise you, coming from </span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop">me. I'm the vice president/corporate director of engineering for Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio, New York City. As you may be aware from news reports and my own commentaries, I've been a vocal HD Radio supporter; indeed our station WOR was the one of the first AMs on the air with an HD Radio signal.</span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"> </span><br />
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"> <br />
</span><br />
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<tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><img src="http://www.radioworld.com/uploadedimages/Radio_World/News_and_Technology/Digital_Radio/ford1_0811.jpg" /> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td align="left" valign="top"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> <i> The author contemplated the install of his new Kenwood KDC-HD545U, featuring built-in HD Radio… </i> </span> </td> </tr>
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<br />
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"><br />
</span><span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-47016689840973108532010-09-04T19:45:00.000-07:002010-09-07T04:14:24.878-07:00HD Car Radio Investigation<content></content><br />
Now the trial lawyers are smelling blood... never a good sign:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.keefebartels.com/CM/Custom/HD-Car-Radio-Investigation.asp"> HD Car Radio Investigation</a><br />
<br />
The trial lawyers at Keefe Bartels, LLC are currently investigating the marketing and sales of HD car radios by certain car manufacturers. HD radios utilize a technology by which AM and FM radio stations transmit both audio and data signals along with their analog signals. HD radios are frequently touted as cutting edge technology which will dramatically improve sound quality, provide new benefits to the user and enhance the radio listening experience. In recent years HD car radios have been included in various high end automobiles. HD radios are also frequently sold as an add-on feature for such luxury brands as BMW and Jaguar.<br />
<br />
(snip) <br />
<snip></snip><br />
<content><snip></snip></content><br />
Despite the increased sales of HD car radios and the growing number of radio stations transmitting digitally, there are continual complaints about the technology and these audio devices. <b>HD car radios are plagued by an inability to receive the digital signals transmitted by FM and AM radio stations and a significantly reduced sound quality when such signals are received</b>. Such problems coupled with the increased costs for HD car radios call into question the utility of this supposed technological innovation. Consumers are being enticed to purchase HD car radios that commonly fail to perform or provide any benefits and features. The additional cost to the consumer is both unwarranted and unnecessary when the HD radios do not work as they are supposed to.<br />
<br />
Despite iBiquity’s claims of improved sound quality and transmission, there have been numerous complaints about HD Radio from not only the radio industry but also consumers. These complaints have included:<br />
<br />
<br />
-Radio receiver bumping station from HD to analog mode; <br />
<br />
-Echo sound heard when the radio switches between HD and analog modes; <br />
<br />
-Crackling or static sound when HD mode is inactive; <br />
<br />
-Insufficient numbers of HD Radio stations; <br />
<br />
-Loss of signal while driving in valleys or between high buildings; <br />
<br />
-Signal disruption for environmental conditions; and <br />
<br />
-Adjacent channel interference.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-69925988231515823872010-09-02T18:17:00.000-07:002010-09-02T18:17:16.656-07:00Now Tom Ray is doubting HD Radio?!<a href="http://www.rbr.com/radio/26662.html">Now Tom Ray is doubting HD Radio?!</a><br />
<br />
The Buckley Broadcasting VP/Director of Engineering, who oversees 50-kW WOR-AM NY, posted an opinion piece in a trade pub this month that holds some real doubts about AM HD Radio’s viability. Now this might not be a big deal to some, but Tom is, and has always been, one of HD Radio’s biggest supporters. The article mentions his attempts to buy a Ford Escape at a local NY State dealership that hopefully included a factory HD Radio. Ford was supposed to be offering it as an option for 2010 models, from what he understood.<br />
No one at the dealership knew anything about HD Radio and all there said he was the first and only person who has ever asked about it.<br />
Ray tells RBR-TVBR: “On the dealer side, it doesn’t surprise me, because if they’re not fed the information from the corporate home in Detroit, they’re not going to know what it is. They are told, ‘Here is your Sirius display,’ which quite frankly, there’s a huge Sirius display right there in the showroom. They’re told, ‘Here’s Sirius radio—push it.’<br />
He adds, “What was very dismaying was the fact that when I talked to people at Ford, there wasn’t one person over there who could help me and most of them also told me I was the very first call they’ve ever had on HD Radio. So at least they knew what it was, but nobody could direct me.”<br />
Tom ended up buying the car anyway and went through hell and high water to buy and install aftermarket HD Radio gear and other devices like XM Satellite Radio to make it work with the car’s Sync system. He finally got it all working, but it wasn’t easy and the car is certainly now a target for petty theft.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-68988783321620142972010-09-02T18:13:00.000-07:002010-09-04T19:53:52.454-07:00Among AM HD Users, Opinions Vary<a href="http://www.rwonline.com/article/105924">Among AM HD Users, Opinions Vary</a><br />
by Randy J. Stine, 09.02.2010<br />
<br />
<br />
The experiences of broadcast engineers managing AM HD Radio signals appear to vary greatly.<br />
<br />
(snip)<br />
<br />
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_lblContentTop">Noncommercial WKAR(AM) in East Lansing, Mich., launched HD Radio in 2005 but turned off the digital carrier in 2009, according to Harold Beer, chief engineer for WKAR, which is licensed to Michigan State University. <br />
<br />
“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,” Beer said. <br />
<br />
“We also collected a number of negative comments due to the digital carrier, including complaints about the buzz that was always present, especially if a listener had an analog tuned radio that was slightly off-channel.” WKAR is a daytime directional AM operating on 870 kHz with 10 kW. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-34855698841393773582010-05-20T04:33:00.000-07:002010-05-20T04:33:48.945-07:00The future for AM HD Radio doesn't feel nearly as secure (according to iBiquity!)This, direct from iBiquity's own <a href="http://hdradio.com/the_buzz.php?thebuzz=419">website</a>...<br />
<br />
The future for AM HD Radio doesn't feel nearly as secure. Ibiquity seems to have made a concession to the reality of staying alive here and now on the medium-wave band by offering a compromise mode of AM IBOC that trades down digital bandwidth for acceptable analog audio quality. Among AM license holders, interest these days seems to have shifted from a digital solution to AM's woes to what's available in the next FM translator filing window. To be sure, AM IBOC still has a few champions, but looking at receivers, it's clear their passion isn't moving anyone at the retail level. Long wavelengths remain a huge handicap in an era of tiny, processor-driven devices.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-4709995670634258532010-04-23T04:02:00.000-07:002010-04-23T04:07:12.819-07:00Oh Well, On With The Experiment<a href="http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100421/#/4">Oh Well, On With The Experiment</a><br />
<br />
by Barry McLarnon<br />
Radio World<br />
April 21 2010<br />
Page 5<br />
<br />
"The saga continues... on the AM side, the saga seems pretty much concluded: the ship has sprung a leak and is badly listing. The number of AM IBOC stations plateaued several years ago and now seems to be slowly declining. The system was torpedoed by poor nighttime performance, interference problems, and the lack of any real selling point, like new audio services And now we have the specter of an FM IBOC power increase."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-7751065829119026052010-04-07T07:31:00.000-07:002010-04-07T07:31:49.205-07:00Mexico is set to elect IBOCThe country's regulator is expected to formalize the decision this spring:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100407/#/45/OnePage">http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100407/#/45/OnePage</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-20808530621532440662010-02-12T13:29:00.000-08:002010-02-12T13:29:57.329-08:00Navigating Convergence: Charting Canadian Communications Change and Regulatory Implications<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">IBOC isn't getting a rousing endorsement north of the border...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><i><a href="http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/rp1002.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/rp1002.pdf</span></span></a></i></b></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></span> </i></b></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Broadcast digital radio</span></span></i></b></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although broadcast digital radio was generally considered to have a key role in alleviating spectrum scarcity in major markets, the L-band <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">DAB and IBOC technologies have been slow to evolve in Canada, to the extent that there is considerable doubt as to whether they will have a role to play in shaping Canada’s future radio landscape.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">L-band DAB</span></span></i></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Industry Canada and the Commission proposed L-band DAB, defined as 1452-1492 MHz, as a replacement technology in the mid-90s, believing that AM and FM radio stations would voluntarily migrate to L-band to take advantage of the superior sound quality associated with the technology.</span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Commission licensed digital radio services (79 authorized, 44 on-air as of June 2007) using L-band DAB, based on the Eureka-147 standard. However, widespread migration to the L-band has not materialized as planned. From a consumer standpoint, L-band also has several drawbacks, including the lack of original services and the limited availability and cost of receivers on the market.</span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Furthermore, the U.S. did not follow Canada’s lead and in October of 2002, the FCC adopted IBOC instead of L-band DAB as the digital radio standard. Also, in a May 2007 letter to the Commission, Industry Canada announced that it had stopped issuing broadcasting certificates for L-band transmitters and is awaiting the results of a future policy review to determine the future of the L-band in Canada. This has led to considerable doubt about the future prospects of L-band in Canada.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">IBOC</span></span></span></i></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">While a number of radio stations (1,750 out of 13,000 AM/FM stations) in the U.S. are operating IBOC transmitters, sales of receivers remain sluggish. Further, AM IBOC rollout has essentially stopped in the U.S. in 2008 due to interference issues.</span></span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For its part, the Commission, through its digital radio policy (Broadcasting Public Notice 2006- 160),</span></span><span style="font: normal normal normal 6.5px/normal Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">89 </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">stated that it would be prepared to authorize services using the IBOC technology. Industry Canada is preparing rules and regulations for the operation of IBOC which could include an amendment to FM Broadcasting Procedures and Rules (BPR-3).<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"> It is not actively looking at AM IBOC.</span></b></span></span></div><div style="font: 10.0px Arial; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">However, where the Canadian market is concerned, IBOC is at a very nascent stage and an eventual large-scale deployment in the Canadian market remains highly uncertain</span>.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-35128916919955331532009-07-25T04:52:00.000-07:002009-07-25T04:53:23.465-07:00HD Radio To Go, Or Just Going, Going, Gone?<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2009/07/hd_radio_to_go_or_just_going_g.html?hpid=sec-tech">HD Radio To Go, Or Just Going, Going, Gone?</a><br /><br />Have you, unlike what seems to be the majority of electronics customers, been pining for a cheaper way to try out HD Radio? A new portable model on sale now in Best Buy stores brings the entry-level cost for HD Radio to its lowest point ever, $49.99. But somehow, I don't think it's going to do much for this digital-radio technology's questionable prospects.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-3756521321559205382009-07-25T04:42:00.000-07:002009-07-25T04:43:12.224-07:00Insignia NS-HD01 portable HD radio hands-on and impressions<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/17/insignia-ns-hd01-portable-hd-radio-hands-on-and-impressions/">Insignia NS-HD01 portable HD radio hands-on and impressions</a><br /><br />HD Radio has been desperately trying for years to become important in a world where most Americans are perfectly fine with tinny, 96kbps MP3s, and by and large, it's been unsuccessful.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-46052282038075006622009-04-10T03:16:00.000-07:002009-04-10T03:20:54.671-07:00HD Radio Crying Out to Be Heard<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/technology/personaltech/09pogue.html">HD Radio Crying Out to Be Heard</a><br /><br />By DAVID POGUE<br />Published: April 8, 2009 <br /><br />Q: How do you make an HD radio executive bang his head against the wall?<br /><br />A: Ask him, “What’s HD radio?”<br /><br />The HD radio alliance has spent millions of dollars on promotion, ads and educational efforts. Yet even after four years of this, most people still don’t have any idea what HD radio is.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-91598801181128750492009-03-07T08:21:00.000-08:002009-03-07T08:22:20.148-08:00HD Radio: The Brand Extension Is Dead<a href="http://www.rwonline.com/article/74002">HD Radio: The Brand Extension Is Dead</a><br /><br />A theory that's gaining momentum is that our time is running out to get the public interested in HD Radio. There have been numerous letters to the editor in this very publication where readers compare HD Radio to AM stereo technology. It sounded pretty good if you ever got the chance to hear it, but so what?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-26641336044791739872009-01-06T08:20:00.000-08:002009-01-06T08:21:34.493-08:00HD Radio stalls out<a href="http://www.fybush.com/nerw-yir2008.html">HD Radio stalls out</a><br />by Scott Fybush<br /><br />So 2008 wasn't "the year" for HD Radio's long=promised breakthrough into mass success, either. A handful of new stations added HD signals, a few others shut theirs off, either temporarily or permanently, and while receiver penetration in the marketplace increased (thanks in part to a few impressive new radios such as Sony's XDR-F1HD), it was only incrementally, not the exponential gains the system's proponents had hoped for.<br /><br />Any hope of exciting new format development on FM HD multicast channels in the commercial world was pretty well quashed by the budget realities that made funding tight even for main-channel programming; indeed, if there could be said to have been any real trend in HD programming, it was the repurposing of existing programming - mainly CBS' news and talk AM stations - on HD2 and HD3 channels of their FM sister stations.<br /><br />And when the FCC opened the gates for public comment on a proposal to increase FM digital power levels tenfold to solve one of the system's frequent complaints - poor coverage compared to analog - many commenters were strongly opposed, citing the potential for increased interference to analog listeners. (It's an open question, too, whether cash-strapped broadcasters could or would spend the money needed for such a power increase if it were to be permitted.)<br /><br />HD on AM radio? While the corpse hasn't quite stopped twitching yet, the AM system ended the year looking awfully stiff, with only a handful of broadcasters (most notably CBS, Crawford and New York's WOR) still pushing it at the corporate level, even as some of their local staffers quietly admitted that the adjacent-channel nighttime interference issues between closely-spaced stations such as WINS, KDKA and WBZ reduced usable analog coverage and rendered the digital signal all but unusable even within much of their home markets at night. And if there was a single new digital AM installation on the air anywhere in NERW-land this year, we don't know about it. (Nor, was there any action on that pending interference complaint from Bob Savage's WYSL against Boston's WBZ.)<br /><br />As for the long-pending promise of HD as a standard feature in new cars, the auto industry's near-death experience appears to have put a halt on further progress in that area for a while.<br /><br />Now here's the part where the handful of anti-IBOC diehards over on the message boards (hey, Bob! how's it going, Greg?) will stop quoting: there were also some interesting signs of life on the FM HD side. Several public stations - WRTI in Philadelphia, WNED in Buffalo, WXXI in Rochester, VPR in Vermont, to name a few - found plenty of demand from listeners for programming that was otherwise unavailable on their analog signals, and the advent of less-expensive radios made it possible for them to offer receivers to listeners as pledge-drive premiums. A few adventurous stations - WFUV at Fordham University, WXPN at Penn, WSOU at Seton Hall among them - used their HD subchannels to develop new programming, some of it with live DJs, even. And Emmis found a new commercial application for one of its HD3s in New York: it announced a partnership with a broadcaster who will lease the channel for a South Asian service promising better sound quality and wider reach than the usual SCA subcarriers.<br /><br />(The rival FMExtra system, for all its staunch supporters, made HD Radio look lively by comparison in 2008; at year's end, it was still receivable by only a single $300 tabletop radio, and looks to have a future primarily as a means of studio-transmitter distribution at the rate things are going.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-59390890503783606602008-12-31T15:38:00.001-08:002008-12-31T15:43:28.122-08:00Stop IBOC Now!<a href="http://www.stopiboc.com"><br />from StopIBOC.com:</a><br /><br />BY THE NUMBERS<br /><br />As of September, 2008:<br /><br /><br />NUMBER OF US AM STATIONS: 4783<br />AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC”: 258<br />AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC” 24-7 DAY AND NIGHT: 87<br />(the remainer are “digital daytimers” meaning that directional antenna systems used at night will not work properly with HD. The overall figure of 258 includes a number of AM stations noted as “intermittent operation” meaning HD broadcasts may be infrequent or irregular.)<br /><br />PERCENTAGE OF AM STATIONS OPERATING “IBOC”: 5%<br /><br />Note: Most AM stations utilizing IBOC do not utilize the system at night. According to IBOC proponents, as of October 2007, “fewer than 100 stations” are utilizing the system because of skywave adjacent-channel interference problems (see “DROPPING LIKE FLIES,” this site.) An unknown number of AM stations using IBOC are “daytimers” meaning they have no nighttime authority under any circumstances, or are “daytimers with post-sunset authority” meaning they have very small nighttime operating power. Since IBOC utilizes only about 1/100th of AM carrier power the system would not work reliably with the usual PSSA authorized station, operating with only 5 to 50 watts, so daytimers are not candidates for nighttime use of the system.<br /><br />For a running pop-count of AM stations operating IBOC, a constantly updated list including data from numerous sources: <a href="http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html ">http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html </a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Summer 2008: CLEAR CHANNEL STOPS NIGHT IBOC ON WRVA RICHMOND TO PROTECT CO-OWNED ADJACENT-CHANNEL STATIONS IN MIDWEST</span><br /><br />Although radio’s biggest company (and a major investor in iBiquity), Clear Channel has moved decisively to end adjacent-channel IBOC interference emanating from its heritage flagship WRVA 1140 in Richmond, VA. CC won’t comment publicly but internal sources tell stopiboc.com that nighttime IBOC has ceased on WRVA because of destructive interference to three high-power AM stations the company owns in Detroit, Milwaukee and Minneapolis operating on adjacent 1130 kHz.<br /><br />The 1130s all operate with powers between 10 and 25kw at night and utilize complex 9-tower directional arrays, and are highly impacted by the nighttime noise from Richmond.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Summer 2008: 50KW KMJ 580 FRESNO TURNS OFF IBOC</span><br /><br />CBS, a stalwart booster of IBOC and investor in iBiquity and the HD Alliance, has stopped IBOC on legendary KMJ. No reason was given publicly.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Summer 2008: KTCT 1050 SILENCES IBOC IN SAN MATEO</span><br /><br />The 50kw Cumulus outlet in San Mateo, CA, has stopped its IBOC operation without explanation to the public.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5733056943191314907.post-1028409399127268462008-12-31T15:31:00.000-08:002008-12-31T15:33:01.537-08:00They’re turning off HD in Washington, DC<a href="http://www.rbr.com/radio/12018.html">http://www.rbr.com/radio/12018.html</a><br /><br /><br /><br />Well, this time it’s not an anomaly or a digital exciter glitch—at least not that we can see. For weeks now the Washington, DC market has been turning off its HD Radio signals en masse. There is no longer any station in the market on AM broadcasting in HD. ESPN Deportes Radio/Red Zebra’s 730 WXTR-AM long ago shut off the signal. But now that list includes 630 WMAL (Citadel); 570 WTNT (Clear Channel); Red Zebra’s 980 ESPN Radio; and 1500 WFED-AM (Bonneville). The FM list now includes 106.7 WJFK-FM (CBS Radio); 102.3 WWMJ-FM (Radio One); 104.1 WPRS-FM (Radio One) and 107.7 WWWT-FM (Bonneville).<br /><br />RBR/TVBR observation: The most likely culprit is licensing fees. Just not worth it for some in tough economic times. Also, these FMs did not have HD multicast (HD2) signals, and two of them were broadcasting in mono—so what’s the point? For the AM side, unless you are 50,000 watts, most radios can’t pick up AM HD very far from the tower array. WFED is 50-kW, but you’d never know it because of its higher frequency—just doesn’t propagate well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0