[BC] HD2 makes it to Tucson

[Barry Mishkind]

 From our local morning paper:

HD radio on the air
Some Tucson stations are using it, but you need a special radio to listen
By Erin White
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

In a move that mirrors national radio trends, 
Tucson's Clear Channel stations planned to add four new formats today.

But hardly anyone will be able to hear them.

That's because the four new stations are being 
broadcast in a new "high-definition" format, 
which requires special radios that aren't yet widely available.

HD radio can be a complicated and technical 
concept, but it's being hyped as the biggest 
change to radio since the advent of FM.

Terrestrial radio still reaches vast numbers of 
Americans, but it needs to compete with newer 
technologies like the Internet, iPods, CDs and 
satellite radio, industry experts say.

For the past decade, younger listeners have been 
dropping off the dial, favoring other forms of 
entertainment. The amount of time 12- to 
24-year-olds spend listening to the radio, for 
example, has plummeted by almost 25 percent since 
the early '90s, according to Edison Media Research.

Radio stations are slowly adding HD digital 
signals. Clear Channel's four new formats consist 
of "side stations" that piggyback on their 
existing analog signals. Among other local 
stations, 93.1 KXCI-FM and KZPT-FM 104.1 are 
broadcasting digitally but have not rolled out new side stations.

Experts believe HD could usher in a new wave of 
radio and eventually overtake standard FM as the way we
listen.

Here's what you need to know.

  HD radio sounds better.

Instead of the muffled voices and background 
hisses that go hand in hand with standard radio 
listening, HD radio is full and clear. FM 
stations come in like a CD, and AM stations sound like FM.

Why the improvement in sound quality? HD radio 
uses a digital signal, instead of the analog signal used by standard radio.

Because of the way digital radio signals are 
transmitted, digital radio doesn't suffer 
interference from buildings or get disrupted by 
bad weather, so the signal is clearer, says John 
Kelley, station manager for KUAT.

You may have experienced the digital difference 
with your cell phone ? when you're in the 
boondocks and the phone switches to analog 
"roaming" mode, you get the same crackles and 
pops you hear when reception is weak on your standard radio.

  Digital radio means more stations.

HD radio could conceivably double the number of 
stations in any given market because when 
stations broadcast on a digital signal, they can 
split the allotted bandwidth and air two stations 
on the same amount of air space.

For example, with Clear Channel's new offering, 
instead of 93.7, listeners with HD radios now 
have the choice of 93.7-1 (with the same 
programming as the analog 93.7) and 93.7-2, a country side channel.

On the other side channels, 92.9-2 will play 
jazz, 98.3-2 old-school, hip-hop and R&B; and 97.1-2 will play Tejano.

To get to the side channel, tune to the original 
station on an HD radio. A touch of a button bumps 
the reception up to the side station.

Think of it like an office's Internet access, 
says Mike Irby, chief engineer for Clear Channel 
in Tucson. There's a set amount of bandwidth ? 
but it can be chopped up to accommodate more than one person.

Right now, each station can split the digital 
signal into one side channel without losing 
quality. If the equipment continues to get 
better, it might be possible to divide each signal up three or four times.

You have to have the right kind of radio.

Tucson stations ? like KIIM-FM, which started 
sending out a digital signal in January, 
according to program director Buzz Jackson ? have 
been broadcasting in HD for several months. Listeners just didn't know it.

That's because picking up the new stations ? or 
existing ones in the new, crystal-clear format ? 
requires a digital receiver. And hardly anyone has one.

Mass-market retailers aren't carrying them yet; 
they're easiest to find online. And they're still 
relatively expensive: Car radios cost at least 
$199; desktop models cost at least $250.

But prices are falling rapidly, Irby and other 
experts say. RadioShack could offer a desktop HD 
for $199 by as early as Christmas.

Retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy will 
likely offer the new technology for $99 by next 
Christmas or even earlier, says Peter Ferrara, 
CEO of HD Digital Radio Alliance, a consortium of 
major radio companies that's been spearheading the rollout of HD technology.

But after the start-up investment, HD radio is 
free, unlike say, satellite radio, which charges 
a monthly fee, or iTunes, which charges by the song.

No one really knows what type of formatting the 
side stations will eventually settle into.

Tucson's new side channels are music only ? like 
what you get when you turn on a cable music 
station ? and commercial free until January of 
2008. They ride the fence between locally and nationally programmed.

The Digital Radio Alliance drew up plans for 75 
different formats. Clear Channel chose from that 
list, but then did extensive local research to 
decide exactly which songs to play, said Nikki 
Van Doran, director of marketing for Clear Channel.

The four side channels were designed for mass 
appeal and to coordinate with the existing stations, Van Doran said.

This is the "testing window," Van Doran said. "In 
10 years, it'll be easier for someone to pick a 
bizarro format and make it stick. But right now, 
we're just trying to educate people."

On the Web
l HD Radio Alliance, www.hdradio.com
Where can I get an HD radio?
l Audio Express, 4501 E. Broadway and 5004 N. 
Oracle Road, sells several different models for 
cars, starting at about $300 and up.
l Showcase Home Entertainment, with four 
locations in the greater Phoenix area, sells a desktop model for about $300.
l For more choices, including online retailers, 
log on to www.ibiquity.com and click on "Buy a radio."




_______________________________________________________________________
Barry Mishkind     -       Tucson, AZ    -   520-296-3797