HD Radio is back on my mind after reading a recent article in Current about how public stations are using the technology. iBiquity, the company behind HD Radio, has hired the former director of NPR Labs to survey stations on the technology, obviously with the hope of encouraging more use. Writer Scott Fybush talks to […]
Welcome to our new Wednesday feature, Digital Watch. Each week I’ll be tackling news and analysis about radio’s intersection with the digital world, online and off. This takes the place of Podcast Survivor, but it doesn’t mean podcasting coverage is going away. I’ll explain further at the end of this post. The week’s biggest news […]
I am endlessly buying books about the history of radio. Here are some updated recommendations for the holidays. The Hits Just Keep on Coming: The History of Top 40 Radio: Ben Fong-Torres’ immensely fun history of Top 40 radio explores the lives, accomplishments, and antics of the great Top 40 deejays. Frank, engaging, lots of […]
To say that public comments on the FCC’s AM revitalization proposals are barely trickling in could be charitably called an understatement. As of yesterday there were a total of three comments filed. Two of these are from amateur radio operator Nickolaus Leggett, which Matthew reviewed last week. In the absence of more commentary on the […]
My friend John Anderson wrote his dissertation on the complex policy machinations behind HD Radio becoming the digital radio standard, and now he has a book coming out telling the story. He knows more about the topic than just about anyone else. So when he says that the all-digital option for AM revitalization is very […]
Here’s what’s been going on in the world of pirate and unlicensed broadcasting. A Radio Survivor reader tipped us off to this story about a pirate radio operator in the hotbed of South Florida who died installing his antenna. The aerial accidentally hit a power line and he was electrocuted. His death is certainly unfortunate, […]
Some unexpected excitement for iTunes Radio, digital radio future for Sweden and an online shortwave archive are in today’s round-up of radio news not to miss. Music blogger Tyler Hayes published an excited mash note to Apple’s new iTunes Radio for FastCo.Labs, based upon sampling the beta version. Our own Matthew Lasar expressed his own […]
Inside the radio industry there has been quite a bit of hand-wringing about the AM dial. Though conservative talk stations and sports stations in big markets continue to generate ratings and revenue, there’s an increasing recognition that other AM stations aren’t doing as well. Many blame overcrowding on the dial which leads to more interference, […]
While digital HD Radio in the US generated some light interest during January’s Consumer Electronics Show, the BBC was sharpening its hatchet in anticipation of taking a few whacks at its digital radio service. The UK has had the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) service since the mid-1990s, predating HD radio in the US by a […]
June 12, 2009 is a day that will live on in broadcast history. That’s the day that the nation’s television broadcasters switched off their analog signals and went all-digital forever more. But does anyone remember January 7, 2003? That was the date of the very first digital HD Radio broadcast, originating at Detroit FM station […]
