Major radio companies announced Wednesday that they are accelerating their move to digitize their broadcasts, using new technology that could make broadcast radio more like the Internet.
The agreement, which dramatically increases the number of stations that companies plan to upgrade over the next few years, includes most of the biggest radio conglomerates, such as Clear Channel, Infinity Broadcasting, Cox Radio and others. Some of those had announced their expansion plans separately.
Today, about 500 stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to offer digital radio services, also known as HD radio, with about half of those already on air. The commitments from the radio companies, many of which are not yet licensed, would bring that total to about 2,500 stations around the United States.
"HD radio will especially benefit those in middle- and small-sized markets," Terry Jacobs, chief executive officer of Regent Communications, said in a statement. "This new technology will enable us to bring more local programming broadcast at a higher quality than ever before."
The radio stations have been spurred to fast action in part by the surge in
All of the companies will use products created by Ibiquity, whose technology was selected in 2002 by the FCC to be the standard for digital radio in the United States. That will allow them to improve sound quality, to split their current FM broadcasts into several channels and even to deliver on-demand information such as weather, sports scores and artist details.
In theory, that could also allow radios with hard drives that archive near-perfect copies of songs with artist information attached. That has worried record labels, which are seeking federal rules preventing songs from being automatically saved by listeners.
Consumer electronics companies are expected to announce new HD radio receivers at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Prices in HD radio receivers have dropped about 50 percent compared with last year, which will spur consumer sales, according to Robert Struble, chief of iBiquity Digital, adding that broadcasters have responded in turn.
"Broadcasters have invested over $200 million, making that the largest collective investment in radio," he said.
Alpine, JVC and Kenwood will be coming out with HD Radios, with 15 to 20 more from other manufacturers by the end of the year, according to Struble.
CNET News.com's Richard Shim contributed to this report.
I had a rental 2004 minivan while working in NYC. I noticed artist info was displayed with songs. I was not sure if they found an analog way to send this data or if it was a digital radio station, but either way the technology used was supported by the rental I was driving.
You were likely getting RDS (Radio Data Service), which is already available on suitably-equipped analog FM radio receivers. This is not the same thing as HD radio.
The RDS capability has been around for several years, but only recently have many stations (in the U.S., at least) started using it.
The reason I use satellite radio is not because it's a digital signal, or because track and artist names are displayed while a song is playing.
I (and I suspect many others) use it for two reasons: diversity of content, and no commercials.
I don't see Clear Channel, Infinity, Cox, etc. providing either of those features today. Why should I expect that they will, just because they're switching to a digital transmission medium?
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The RDS capability has been around for several years, but only recently have many stations (in the U.S., at least) started using it.
I (and I suspect many others) use it for two reasons: diversity of content, and no commercials.
I don't see Clear Channel, Infinity, Cox, etc. providing either of those features today. Why should I expect that they will, just because they're switching to a digital transmission medium?
This is another thing that terrestrial radio, whether analog or digital, can't touch.