Washington - Nov 3, 2008 - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is accepting grant applications for Priority I digital radio transmitter conversions and secondary Priority II and III projects. Priority II and III projects are those that add multicasting and other advanced digital radio services, as well as demonstration projects that support the digital conversion of translators and boosters. This round is for the FY08-02 funding cycle.

The intent of Priority I grants is to convert analog transmitters to digital. Additionally, the CPB is extending consideration of digital technology projects that facilitate the delivery of digital content by adding multicasting and other advanced digital radio services to the existing digital infrastructure (Priority II) and demonstration projects that support the digital conversion of translators and boosters (Priority III).

Details on eligibility and application requirements are available at the CPB site.

To date, the CPB has approved funding for the digital conversion of 697 public radio transmitters. More than 430 public radio stations have completed conversions and are now transmitting digital signals. Of those, 137 are multicasting for a total of 181 multicast streams.