[BC] seattletimes.com: Regional stations join the ranks of HD radio

[halllb@ldschurch.org]

Regional stations join the ranks of HD radio
Full story: 
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003567591_hdradio12.html

By Christina Siderius
Special to The Seattle Times

When KRKO transforms itself from a small Snohomish County radio 
station to a big AM broadcaster later this year, it wants the message 
to be clear, literally.

The Everett operation, which broadcasts at 1380, plans to become one 
of the few AM stations in Washington to upgrade to HD radio, joining 
the ranks of broadcasters who are using digital technology and its 
promise of flexibility and clearer reception as muscle in the 
tug-of-war battle for your ears.

Known as NorthSound AM 1380 KRKO, the station is set to make the 
switch to HD this summer, when it replaces its 5,000-watt transmitter 
with one 10 times as powerful.

"The primary thrust of this entire deal is getting inside of all the 
homes out here and being able to reach commuters coming out of 
Bellevue and Seattle on their way home who live here," said Andrew 
Skotdal, KRKO president and general manager.

Since 2000, the station has been working on getting permission for 
the power increase and last month got the green light from King 
County Superior Court. This means its local sports programming will 
reach 1 million more potential listeners, the scope of advertisers 
increases and HD can be added at the same time at "no measurable 
cost," Skotdal said.

The station, which intends to keep its content the same, plans to go 
on the air in September with HD broadcasting.

In a time when one in four Americans totes a portable digital music 
device like an iPod, and tunes come in crystal clear through 
satellite or off the Internet, an industry that's been around for 
nearly 100 years is putting its faith in digital powers to keep it competitive.

HD radio, a technology created by iBiquity Digital in Columbia, Md., 
transmits digital signals over existing analog AM and FM signals. HD 
radio does not stand for high-definition, as it does in the HDTV 
acronym, or anything at all; but it has come to be associated with 
improved quality.

And quality is considerably better -- radio programming loses its 
signature crackle, as FM sounds like a CD and AM comes in like good 
FM reception.



Receiver is needed

As opposed to some Internet downloads or Sirius or XM satellite, HD 
radio is free after buying an HD receiver.

Besides sound, one of the major advantages of HD radio is that FM 
stations can be split into multiple channels. This means broadcasters 
can at least double their content and paves the way to expand into 
new niche markets. For now, most subchannels are commercial-free.

An added perk, especially for AM stations (which cannot add multiple 
channels), is text displays -- the station can eventually list song 
artists and titles, movie listings, traffic grids, stock listings and 
weather reports.

Clark Smidt, an Andover, Mass., analyst with Broadcast Ideas, said 
it's hard to say when or if HD will sweep the entire industry but 
insists that "content is king."

"Radio stations are investing in HD because they believe it's the 
future, and if they put a decent product on these channels, it will 
be more of a reason for you and me to buy an HD radio," Smidt said. 
"It's going to be the content -- that's what's going to bring people 
in the door."

HD radio made its debut in the Puget Sound region three years ago at 
public-radio station KUOW 94.9 FM. Using an $80,000 grant from the 
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, it constructed a new antenna and 
100,000-watt transmitter, as well as upgrading to HD.

Now there are 24 stations broadcasting in HD in Washington, and all 
but two are in the Seattle-Tacoma area, according to iBiquity. Of the 
Seattle-Tacoma stations, 15 offer multiple channels.

The only AM station broadcasting in HD in the state is KHHO 850 AM 
out of Tacoma, but within the next six months KUOW 1340 AM in 
Tumwater plans to offer it.

Skotdal, also chairman of the Washington State Association of 
Broadcasters, said the cost to upgrade to HD is anywhere from $75,000 
to $700,000 for AM stations and about $235,000 for FM stations.

The big difference in prices is that AM stations often have to revamp 
their transmission sites or rebuild them to make HD work. But for 
some stations valued at several million dollars in Seattle, that sort 
of expense "is a drop in the bucket to upgrade," Skotdal said.

KUOW was also the first station in the area, and one of the first in 
the country, to push for subchannel broadcasting, said KUOW director 
of operations Dane Johnson.

Its second channel, KUOW-2, offers more news talk shows, while KUOW-3 
broadcasts BBC World Service.

The cost of adding a subchannel is about $10,000 upfront, Johnson 
said. If a broadcaster wanted to offer that sort of additional 
content on terrestrial radio, it would cost about $500,000 a year to 
rent out a station in Seattle.

In theory, an HD station could support up to 10 subchannels, Johnson 
said, and KUOW would like to split into six or seven to allow for 
niche broadcasting -- programs in foreign languages, for instance.



Little known

For all the possibilities, HD radio is still relatively little known. 
More than one-third of Americans said they were interested in HD 
radio, but only after reading a description of what the technology 
was, according to a 2006 study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research.

The majority of those interested in HD radio said they would be 
likely to purchase a receiver if it cost between $50 and $100, the study found.

Receiver prices exceed that now. At Radio Shack and Circuit City, 
original prices of models start at about $200. Last month BMW 
announced it would be the first carmaker to offer HD radio receivers 
as an option in all of its 2007 models -- for an extra $500.



Driving force

Education will be the big driver forcing receiver prices to drop, Skotdal said.

The HD Radio Alliance, a group of heavyweight broadcasters backing 
the technology, announced it is plugging almost $250 million into 
promoting HD radio this year.

Glenn Johnson, a professor of broadcast communications at Washington 
State University, said getting the manufacturers of HD radio 
receivers to create affordable products will be a big issue.

"That's always been our problem," said Johnson, a former broadcaster 
in California . "Until you get radios along with it [the 
advancements], you always have a problem."

However, he thinks that the growing popularity of HDTV will help 
promote HD radio.

"This is a great technology to help the existing broadcasting and 
offer far better quality than they have been able to do," he said. 
"It will just take a little time for the consumers to get the equipment."

Skotdal predicts HD radio broadcasting and receivers will become a 
standard within the next five years.

"The one thing our industry has that XM and Sirius don't have is the 
ability to reach 99 percent of the public every week," Skotdal said.

"This industry has started promoting HD radio, started driving 
consumer demand. As more stations jump onboard, we're only going to 
hit consumer demand harder."



Christina Siderius is a freelance writer in Seattle.