FM? AM? HD? IBOC? Digesting the alphabet soup

By now, you've probably all heard of a young technology on the radio dial. Supposedly, it will make AM sound like FM, and FM sound like digital CD quality. In addition, it has the potential to double, triple, even quadruple the selection of programming on the dial.

But the question all of us are asking is, what the hell is HD Radio?

I've been thinking about writing something about HD Radio for awhile. As readers of LTR know, audio technology, in the form of webcasting, WiFi, podcasting and satellite radio has been a frequent part of this site. I guess what inspired today's entry is the news out of Cincinnati that venerable online (and former local station) WOXY.com will be making a return to the Queen City airwaves thanks to this semi-obscure technology. Today, we turn our focus on a different type of radio animal, HD Radio. Now, I am far from an expert on this, and I may even get a flaming comment from some tech geeks. Think of it as a rube talking to other rubes, trying to explain it all in simple terms.

But the question is, how does one listen? What does it cost? Can I pick it up in my everyday Chevy beater?

In short, what the hell is HD Radio?

HD Radio was developed by a company called iBiquity Digital Corporation. And it is a brand name of a form of digital transmission for your everyday AM and FM radio stations. The HD Radio system allows stations to broadcast crystal-clear audio and a variety of text and data-based services, in addition to more FM channels, without changing to new frequency bands.

To help avoid confusion with HDTV, a much faster-growing technology, the 'HD' in 'HD Radio' does not stand for 'high definition'. It's basically a brand and trademark of iBiquity. There's really nothing 'high definition' about it, except that the signal it receives is in the form of ones and zeros. In short, it's digital. The 'HD' doesn't officially mean anything in iBiquity's scheme of things. If one were to attach a meaning to it, I guess 'hybrid digital' would be adequate.

In keeping with the rest of the world, and as the FCC is heavily foisting HDTV upon the masses, to the point that all analog television broadcasting will be kaput in a year and a half, the commission selected HD Radio as the standard for digital radio broadcasting. Evidently, they learned their mistakes from the AM stereo blunder in the 1980s, where they fumbled in establishing a broadcast standard, to the point that when they finally settled on a technology, Motorola's C-QUAM standard, nobody really cared anymore. Hell, the only place I've ever heard AM stereo was in an old Dodge K-Car. Think typical AM sound, but with channel separation. Still sounded pretty cool, though.

Now, I guess the best way to describe HD Radio is by comparing it a little with its TV counterpart. Keep in mind that TV uses a totally different technology. But some of the main components are similar. The content is sent digitally, rather than in plain analog. Meaning that in pure digital mode, there is no static or ghosting. You either get it or you don't. Today's HD radios, however, are designed to switch back and forth between analog and digital, depending on the strength of the signal (like in digital TV, the digital signal in radio is far weaker than the analog one). So if you venture outside of reception areas, it may flicker back and forth a bit. Kinda like stereo to mono on typical FM. Fret not, they're working on the signal strength issues, and newer receivers will be more finely tuned. And unlike HDTV, in which stations use a separate dedicated digital channel, digital radio piggy-backs on current frequencies, making transitioning a little more complicated.

Hearing radio in far superior sound quality may or may not be enough to entice consumers to go out and buy new receivers. But the icing on this cake does hold some promise. Namely sideband channels. HDTV is already well-known for this. You can see for yourself on your local NBC affiliate, which will likely have an all-weather side channel. Or your local public TV station, which may have different side channels devoted to children's programming, Spanish-language shows, and even the really cool 'Create', which consists of lifestyle, travel and how-to programming.

Digital FM (AM is not a possibility) will have something similar. This concept is called IBOC (in-band on-channel). For example, people in Los Angeles listening to KROQ on their HD units can flip over to the HD2 channel to hear a separate "ROQ of the '80s" channel, complete with all the old music they used to play and even really old liners and promos). Or they can hear a secondary channel consisting of jazz, classical music or eclectic rock on their local NPR outlet. People in Sheridan, Wyoming, who would otherwise never get to hear liberal talk on a local station, can tune into KYTI's HD3 side channel and hear the straight Air America Radio feed. Their other two sister stations carry ESPN radio and comedy on their sidebands. And so far, aside from talk formats and AM simulcasts on the sidebands, it's all commercial free.

The cost to receive the programming? Zilch. So far, many of the big radio companies, such as Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom, Citadel, etc. have upgraded their broadcasting and transmission equipment for this and over a thousand stations nationwide are broadcasting digitally, side channels and all. Clear Channel even went to the workshop and came up with "Format Lab", 75 distinct automated formats for their stations (and others) to pick up. Formats like bluegrass, dance club music, classic and alternative country, golden oldies, blues, indie rock and others. They also have Pride Radio, targeted toward LGBT listeners, and even a channel programming nothing but classic Casey Kasem countdowns from decades past. Aside from audio programming, some companies are exploring other options, such as commuter traffic data.

So, you're probably thinking this sounds pretty damn cool. What's the catch? Well, in order to hear this stuff through a radio, you gotta get the right equipment. A typical receiver will not pick this stuff up, only the venerable analog signal. An HD Radio-compatible unit is required. And this is where iBiquity and their partners have screwed up. Sure, they promote the hell out of it, but it's all very confusing, particularly since there's a competing (but somewhat compatible) technology out there called FMExtra. The biggest problem is that there's hardly any product out there. There's a few household and tabletop units available, but not as many people really listen to radio that way. Most of the listening is done in cars, and so far, there's not many options available. BMW and Volkswagen supposedly are offering it as an option on their factory-installed units. Some car dealerships are following suit. A few companies have HD Radio car converters available (remember those old FM converters from the '70s? These are a bit more advanced.). And so far, only one company, JVC, manufactures a complete HD-ready aftermarket head unit for about $199, with other companies such as Sony and budget line Jensen to soon follow suit. But that's not enough. In order to grow, people have to have an easier way to hear it. And for that to happen, they need to get receivers out there, and especially in cars. And they need salespeople in the Best Buys and Radio Shacks of the world who know what the heck it is. Often, there are stories about salespeople who have no clue as to what the hell HD Radio is. They're most likely to take you to the TV section.

Another hurdle for HD Radio is competition. Satellite radio services such as XM and Sirius are fairly well-established, and are widely available from the car manufacturers and in aftermarket kits. Many car receivers made today have connection plugs for easily plugging in an iPod or similar device. And with new technologies such as WiFi and phone-based internet services, the day when we can actually hear internet radio conveniently in the car may soon arrive. Where does HD Radio fit into this grand scheme?

HD Radio does have some advantages. Namely, the infrastructure is already there. AM and FM radio are not going away anytime soon, and many stations have or are working on upgrading to the technology. Unlike TV, which is being forced to upgrade by the FCC prior to the analog shutoff in February 2009, the commission is letting HD Radio cut its teeth first, allowing the marketplace to determine its destiny. HDTV also has an advantage in that all TVs sold today are capable of digital reception (older TVs are S.O.L.). For radio, this will take a bit longer.

The HD Radio standard is different than digital radio in other countries. iBiquity's technology is in use only in the United States, Brazil and now the Philippines. This allows digital signals to piggyback on already existing AM and FM ones. Many countries are going with a different standard, Digital Audio Broadcasting, which broadcasts in a different frequency spectrum (and yes, the U.S. has been experimenting with this one). One system found in some European countries is Digital Radio Mondiale. Of course, these different technologies are in no way compatible with each other. Confused?

The slow rise of digital radio can best be compared with FM radio. FM hit the marketplace in 1940, with stations located on the 42-50MHz band. After WWII, all the FM stations moved up the dial to the present 87.9-107.9MHz, leaving the few FM radios out there instantly obsolete, save for tinkering radio geeks and collectors. FM didn't make an impact in the ratings until KPEN (today's KIOI) in San Francisco became the first to crack the top five in the early '60s. It took until the mid-late 1960s, the advent of stereo FM and distinct formats such as easy listening and freeform progressive rock to actually draw listeners in general. And it took until the early '70s to tweak FM technology so that people could actually listen to it in moving vehicles (i.e. 'circular polarization'). FM receivers weren't really installed in cars until that decade. The FM band didn't overtake AM in popularity until 1978 or so. So, FM radio took over a quarter of a century to get anywhere with consumers, and so far, it has stuck around. Likely, digital radio will take some time as well.

Like with most other innovations, there are some very vocal critics out there. They claim that HD Radio is a non-starter. That it's dead in the water. That it's useless technology. That it interferes with analog signals. Now, I don't really get some of the more die-hard critics. Hell, there's one guy, who calls himself "Pocket Radio" who seems to be on a personal obsessive vendetta against it, practically spending his every waking hour trashing it. What I don't understand is, why? What's wrong with technology? He obviously isn't footing the bill for it, so who cares? As for interference, most listeners may not notice it. It's more prevalent on the AM dial, since the digital signal stretches the already narrow AM sidebands to even more extremes. Apart from radio geeks who like to DX distant radio stations (i.e. dial around at night to pick up stations from hundreds of miles away), most people are indifferent. Let's face it, DX'ing stopped being fun when every powerful radio station in the land decided to put George Noory on at night and baseball teams started moving their games to weaker AM stations that would cave in to their excessive demands (like in Minneapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco and other markets). DX'ing was more fun back in the day when CKLW, WLS and WABC blasted the country with the hottest hits and jocks in the land. Today, most AM radio sounds the same, so DX'ing is no longer as much fun. And the point is moot anyway, since, as a casual DX'er, I have had little problem pulling in stations from even a thousand miles away after dark. So essentially, casual listeners to analog radio will likely not notice any issues due to HD Radio.

So, what will be the ultimate fate of HD Radio? Well, it will survive in one form or another. It has to. There's a lot of money tied up in it, far more than was tied up in AM stereo. And the technology will get better. Just like the original FM technology was impossible to pick up in cars prior to a few tweaks, digital radio will get better. The equipment will improve and be more readily available. The signals will get stronger. As will the programming choices. I say give it some time. More listening options are not necessarily a bad thing, are they? Now why would anyone complain about that?

(Note: I originally posted this entry yesterday, but for some reason, was not pinging correctly. Hopefully, this repost will show up on feeds, search engines, etc.)