Radio Column March 3, 2006

Listening In

March 3, 2006

By Sandy Wells


Radio’s answer to satellite: HD Radio


HD radio is terrestrial radio’s answer to satellite radio. Its digital signal offers better quality sound, promising AM stations that sound like FM and FM with “CD quality.” Now the race is on to get consumers to adopt the new technology by purchasing HD radio receivers.

Last month, Boston Acoustics, a leading manufacturer of HD tabletop radios, announced it had lowered its suggested retail price from $499 to $299.

“We’re very excited about the level of interest our Recepter Radio HD has had from both consumers and the media,” said Phil Cohn, Boston Acoustics Vice President of Sales. “We were the first to offer a table radio featuring digital HD Radio technology and are the first to be able to make this technology accessible to a broader audience of radio listeners. We continue to work closely with the broadcasting industry which is quickly launching more and more HD Radio stations and HD2 channels across the country.”

Other manufacturers producing HD radios are Radiosophy, polkaudio, Yamaha, Rotel and ADA.

Nationwide, more than 3,000 stations are in the process of upgrading to HD Radio broadcasting, with more than 700 on the air so far and several hundred also launching new multicast channels this spring.

Multicasting allows radio stations to offer several channels of content beyond the one signal per frequency spot on the dial what analog radios can deliver. For instance, KOST-FM 103.5 also offers “Lite Classics” in addition to its popular soft rock format.


“HD radio is the most exciting thing to come to radio since being able to stream on the internet,” said Mary Beth Garber, President of the Southern California Broadcasters Association. “Los Angeles already had several Clear Channel stations broadcasting in HD, and they are already programming sub channels. Emmis, Clear Channel, Infinity and ABC have committed to HD radio, as have others. One of the appealing sides to programming for HD is that the station can also stream the material and make podcasts out of it, so it can garner appeal that will drive the purchasing of HD radios. I have one; the sound is amazing.”

And Garber swears that this will not be another technological fizzle the way AM stereo was back in the 80s. Lots of AM stations took a stab at broadcasting in stereo, but the sound was never really good enough to stem the exodus of music programming to FM and the industry never fully rallied behind a single technical standard until the 90s. By then, it was too late to interest the public at large. In Los Angeles, only KABC-AM 790 continues to broadcast in AM stereo.

“It won't go the way of AM Stereo,” says Garber of the new technology. “We are talking new capabilities with HD, not just the tweaking of the sound. This gives the stations new ways to connect with their listeners, and gives their listeners reason to spend even more time within a given radio station's ‘family of content.’ The broadcasters are behind it. The listeners will be behind it as they come to know about it and are able to sample it.”

Current LA area stations broadcasting in HD are: KBIG-FM 104.3, KCRW-FM 89.9, KCSN-FM 88.5, KDIS-AM 1110, KHHT-FM 92.3, KIIS-FM 102.7, KKBT-FM 100.3, KKJZ-FM 88.1, KLVE-FM 107.5, KLYY-FM 97.5, KMXE-AM 830, KMZT-FM 105.1, KNX-AM 1070, KOST-FM 103.5, KPCC-FM 89.3, KPWR-FM 105.9, KROQ-FM 106.7, KTNQ-AM 1020, KUSC-FM 91.5, KWIZ-FM 96.7, KWVE-FM 107.9 and KYSR-FM 98.7.

So far, only BMW offers factory-installed HD car radios, but JVC, SANYO and Kenwood sell installable car radios.


Conservative host joins KABC

Conservative commentator Mark Levin joined the KABC-AM 790 lineup this week with a one-hour rebroadcast of his New York-based program starting at 9 p.m., Monday through Friday. Levin, a popular talk show host for WABC, has often filled-in for Sean Hannity’s nationally-broadcast midday program also heard on KABC. Levin’s show is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks and airs live in New York from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific Time.

Levin’s conservative credentials are impeccable. He served as a top adviser to several Cabinet members during President Ronald Reagan’s administration and currently practices law in the private sector as head of the Landmark Legal Foundation in Washington, D.C. He is also a contributing editor for National Review Online.

“Mark’s show is smart, entertaining and informative,” said KABC Program Director, Erik Braverman. “He takes on the tough issues and the tough guests in a passionate and intelligent way that I think our audience will really enjoy.”

The “Ask Mr. KABC Show” starts an hour later and now airs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., followed by “Red Eye Radio” with Kevin James.