By now, nearly everyone has heard about the conservative congressional initiative to de-fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In fact, as this article is being submitted for publication, a house rules committee is conducting a hearing over a proposed bill to achieve that objective, even as a similar bill is in preparation for introduction in the Senate.

Of course there's nothing new about this controversy. That federal funding of the CPB has been a political football since the organization's establishment in 1969 is a matter of historical record. And even if one of the current bills to cut the cord should pass through the Capital to the White House, it's still likely to be tabled in the oval office -- at least for now.

Even so, populist outrage over burgeoning public debt suggests that the perennial proposal to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting may finally find its legs in the halls of Congress -- and that could well be causing some discomfort for those whose interests align with the advancement of HD Radio.

Consider the following: