Washington - Sep 15, 2011 - The National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC), co-sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), adopted an updated version of its in-band/on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcasting standard, NRSC-5-C. The new version includes more than 70 modifications that address improvements and refinements to the HD Radio system benefitting both broadcasters and listeners.

The modifications in this new version include the ability to use asymmetric sidebands, new modes of operation, and updated RF masks. A major part of this work has been the update of "reference documents" by iBiquity Digital, which contain the technical details of the standard.

The new standard was adopted by the Digital Radio Broadcasting (DRB) Subcommittee, which is co-chaired by Andy Laird, vice president and chief technology officer, Journal Broadcast Group, and Mike Bergman, vice president of new digital technologies, Kenwood USA. It was developed by the subcommittee's IBOC Standards Development Working Group (ISDWG), which is chaired by Dom Bordonaro, chief engineer, Cox Broadcasting - Connecticut.

The updated Standard will be available free-of-charge on the NRSC website, following a final, procedural review that will take approximately two weeks.