Washington - Jun 2, 2008 - The National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) has published the NRSC-5-B In-band/on-channel Digital Radio Broadcasting Standard, which was adopted by the Digital Radio Broadcast (DRB) Subcommittee at the April 12, 2008, meeting of the group. This document and the associated reference documents are available for free download at www.nrscstandards.org/SG/NRSC-5-B.asp.

NRSC-5 was first adopted in April 2005 and revised in September 2005 as NRSC-5-A. The standard sets the requirements for broadcasting digital audio and ancillary data signals in the AM and FM radio bands. It is structured as a main document, which provides an overview of the AM and FM IBOC systems designed by Ibiquity Digital (and upon which the standard is based), and a set of reference documents authored by Ibiquity with input from the NRSC that provide the detailed information needed to construct compatible equipment. NRSC-5-A differed from the original document in that it specified a mechanism for transmission of advanced data services.

This latest version includes substantive but relatively minor changes and editorial revisions designed to make the document easier to understand and more complete. None of these changes are expected to cause any backward compatibility issues with HD Radio receivers.