The Chicago White Sox just signed a new multiyear agreement with CBS Radio station WSCR-AM to broadcast the home team’s games. Normally this isn’t the sort of news we cover here at Radio Survivor, but the unique twist to this contract is that it comes with a all-White-Sox HD channel on WSCR’s sister station, WJMK-FM. […]
![By Universal Studios (Frankenstein promotional photo) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Frankenstein%27s_monster_%28Boris_Karloff%29.jpg "Fear the mobile device mandate monster, now with HD Radio too!")
I stand in awe at the sheer number of features the National Association of Broadcasters and its members want mandated on cell phones. First they’re proposing that Congress pass a law hotwiring an FM radio chip into every mobile. Broadcasters are also talking about a TV tuner requirement. And now they also want HD! Here’s […]
After two years of kicking the can down the road, the Federal Communications Commission has finally established rules for allocating those “qualified entity” Sirius XM channels. Quick history: back in July of 2008 the FCC approved the merger of Sirius XM satellite radio, but with lots of conditions. One of them was that four percent […]
If you were hoping that the longstanding feud between Sirius XM and holders of wireless spectrum in the 2.3 MHz band was over, well, it appears that it isn’t. Sirius XM (SIRI) has filed a Petition for Partial Reconsideration with the Federal Communications Commission, asking the agency to rethink its new rules for the two […]
One of the explanations bandied about around the internet lately for why HD Radio hasn’t seen much uptake with radio listeners is to compare it with the early days of FM radio. In essence some HD Radio defenders are arguing that consumers are reticent to try a new technology, just like AM radio listeners were […]
Last month I noted how Radio World columnist and HD Radio fan Thomas Ray encountered nothing but trouble when he tried to buy a new Ford with a factory-installed HD radio. Ray’s plight didn’t escape the notice of Bob Struble, the CEO of iBiquity, which owns the HD Radio technology. In a commentary published in […]
Following on the heels of my unimpressive AM HD radio listening test last week, industry stalwart Radio World magazine published a report that comes to terms with the fact that “AM HD radio has stalled.” In fact, I’d say that characterizing AM HD as “stalled” is very optimistic. Instead, reading the same article I come […]
One of the supposed advantages of HD Radio is improved fidelity over analog. As I observed in my listening test of HD on FM, there’s almost no real improvement for HD over the analog signal. The advantage for HD on FM, then, is the addition of one or two more channels of audio. However, due […]
On Monday the trade publication Automotive News reported that the number of car makers offering HD Radio is up, mostly relying on stats provided by iBiquity, which owns the technology. According to the article pricey brands Volvo, BMW and Rolls-Royce now offer HD Radio as standard, while twelve other brands offer it as an option. […]
I spent the better part of this afternoon listening to my new HD Radio receiver, the Sony XDRF1 HD, tuning through the Chicago FM dial. There are 33 FM stations broadcasting HD in Chicago according to iBiquity, which owns the technology. I was able to tune in the HD signal for 19 of them. After […]
