Stay up to date on the latest IBOC news, business and technology information with the twice-monthly newsletter from Radio magazine.

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Index:

• Clear Channel Multicasts Available Online
• France Approves DRM/T-DMB for Domestic Broadcasting
• IBOC by State: Massachusets
• Slacker Seeks to Redefine Online Radio
• The New Language of Digital Radio
• Axxes Offers OEM HD Radio Upgrade Path
• First DAB+/Wireless Internet Radios Arrive in Europe

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News

Clear Channel Multicasts Available Online
In an attempt to make potential HD Radio consumers hear what they've been missing, Clear Channel Radio has placed all its HD Radio multicast content on the websites of its respective stations across the country.

To sample multicast programming in your market, simply go to any local Clear Channel station website and click on the HD Radio logo.

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Business

France Approves DRM/T-DMB for Domestic Broadcasting
Both Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM ) and Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (T-DMB) are now officially accepted broadcast emission standards in France, as French Minister of Culture, Christine Albanel, signed a decree confirming the new digital radio/TV standards on Dec. 5. Under the new ruling DRM can be deployed on broadcast radio services below 30MHz, while T-DMB will be deployed for combined radio and TV services in band III (VHF) and L-band (UHF). According to a press release by Minister Albanel's office, the declaration reflects years of testing and evaluation by various authorities.

It is not yet known how the move by France to authorize T-DMB broadcasting will impact a pending controversy in the European Union over which digital multimedia broadcast system ought to be standardized. Although a number of systems are in play, EU Information Society Commissioner Viviane Redding filed a recommendation in March 2007 that seemed to back DVB-H, not T-DMB, as a potential standard across the 25 member nations.

Of all the digital standards currently under consideration, T-DMB is one of the oldest, with its architecture rooted in the original DAB Eureka 147 standard now embraced by the UK and that saw more limited success elsewhere in the European Union. South Korea was the first nation to authorize routine operation of T- DMB in 2005.

Digital radio will officially launch in France late next year, as the Conseil Superieur de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) is in the process of soliciting application by radio stations and programmers interested in operating over the new systems.

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IBOC Across America

IBOC by State: Massachusetts
Ibiquity has a list of stations with licensed HD Radio technology and notes those on the air now. IBOC by state looks at various states and list the stations making the transition. There are 41 stations in the Bay State broadcasting 62 HD Radio channels.

Market	Station	HD1 Format	HD2 Format	HD3 Format	Owner
Amherst	WFCR-FM 88.5	News/Classical/Jazz	News/Talk	-	University of Massachusetts
Boston	WERS-FM 88.9	Variety/Hip Hop	Variety/Hip Hop	-	Emerson College
Boston	WGBH-FM 89.7	Classical/Jazz/News	Classical	News	WGBH Educational Foundation
Boston	WBUR-FM 90.9	NPR/News/Talk	-	-	Boston University
Boston	WNEF-FM 91.7	Folk	-	-	University of Massachusetts
Boston	WUMB-FM 91.9	Folk	-	-	University of Massachusetts
Boston	WBOS-FM 92.9	AAA	Radio You Boston	-	Greater Media
Boston	WMKK-FM 93.7	Adult Hits	Rhythmic AC	-	Entercom Communications
Boston	WJMN-FM 94.5	Urban CHR/Rhythmic	Old Skool Hip Hop	-	Clear Channel Radio
Boston	WTKK-FM 96.9	Talk	The Irish Channel	-	Greater Media
Boston	WKAF-FM 97.7	Rock	Live Rock	-	Entercom Communications
Boston	WBMX-FM 98.5	AC	-	-	CBS Radio
Boston	WCRB-FM 99.5	Classical	Classical	-	Nassau Broadcasting Partners
Boston	WZLX-FM 100.7	Classic Rock	Deep Cuts Classic Rock	-	CBS Radio
Boston	WKLB-FM 102.5	Country	Classic Country	-	Greater Media
Boston	WBCN-FM 104.1	Alternative	Indie and Ultra-New Rock	-	CBS Radio
Boston	WROR-FM 105.7	Classic Hits	70's	-	Greater Media
Boston	WMJX-FM 106.7	AC	Smooth Jazz	-	Greater Media
Boston	WAAF-FM 107.3	Rock	Live Rock	-	Entercom Communications
Boston	WXKS-FM 107.9	CHR	New CHR	-	Clear Channel Radio
Boston	WNNW-AM 800	Span/Tropical	-	-	Costa Eagle Broadcasting
Boston	WBZ-AM 1030	News/Talk/Sports	-	-	CBS Radio
Boston	WILD-AM 1090	Talk/Hip Hop	-	-	Radio One
Boston	WMKI-AM 1260	Children	-	-	ABC Radio
Boston	WXKS-AM 1430	Talk	-	-	Clear Channel Radio
Cape Cod	WFPB-FM 91.9	Folk	-	-	University of Massachusetts
Cape Cod	WBUR-AM 1240	News/Talk/NPR	-	-	Boston University
New Bedford-Fall River	WUMD-FM 89.3	Variety	-	-	University of Massachusetts
New Bedford-Fall River	WFHN-FM 107.1	CHR	-	-	Citadel
Springfield	WTCC-FM 90.7	Variety	-	-	Springfield Tech Community College
Springfield	WHYN-FM 93.1	80's, 90's	New CHR	-	Clear Channel Radio
Springfield	WRSI-FM 93.9	AAA	-	-	Saga
Springfield	WPKX-FM 97.9	Country	Americana	-	Clear Channel Radio
Springfield	WLZX-FM 99.3	Rock	-	-	Saga
Springfield	WRNX-FM 100.9	AAA	T.B.D.	-	Clear Channel Radio
Springfield	WVEI-FM 105.5	Sports	-	-	Entercom Communications
Springfield	WHYN-AM 560	News/Talk	-	-	Clear Channel Radio
Worcester	WICN-FM 90.5	Jazz/Folk	-	-	WICN Public Radio
Worcester	WBPR-FM 91.9	Folk	-	-	University of Massachusetts
Worcester	WSRS-FM 96.1	AC	Pride Radio	-	Clear Channel Radio
Worcester	WTAG-AM 580	News/Talk/Sports	-	-	Clear Channel Radio

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Eye on IBOC

Slacker Seeks to Redefine Online Radio
Internet radio, which has shown strong growth over the past few years, and which is already offering a degree of personal adaptability not possible with existing terrestrial and satellite broadcast technology, may be moving to another level with the introduction of a service called Slacker Radio earlier this year.

What Slacker is attempting is the merger of several distinctly different models of delivering preferred audio content to the consumer. Until recently, the average consumer has had to choose between subscription and pay-per-song download services for music players, or simply acquiesce to programming choices made by radio programmers. Internet services like Pandora or CBS-owned Last.FM improved on those models by offering adaptive online listening services, but are so far limited to broadband connectivity and conventional browsers.

So what's different about Slacker? First, it's supported on a portable, dedicated player platform (car dock available) with a two-tiered service. Users can access the ad-revenue supported system for free, or subscribe to a $7.50 per month premium service that bypasses ads and allows enhanced interactivity. Slacker builds its users a custom radio service, based on genre or artist preferences, and then loading up to 10,000 songs directly to the portable players via both Wi-Fi and direct satellite connections. If connectivity is lost for a period, the system continues to function normally, updating the dynamic library during periods of connectivity. Users can ban any particular tune at the push of a button, or step up selection of preferred tunes by pressing a heart-emblazoned key. Another interesting twist of this service is the ability to skip ahead in the playlist (six times/hr for free, unlimited with subscription).

For the curious not yet ready to invest in the dedicated player hardware, a taste of Slackers musical cuisine is available for free via standard Internet browsers at Slacker.com

From an industry standpoint, a number of things stand out about Slacker. The first is that it's a well-capitalized venture lead by digital music heavyweights CEO Dennis Mudd, (ex-Musicmatch CEO) and President Jim Cady (ex-RioCEO). Second is that Slacker is dodging the Sound Exchange royalty nightmare by licensing directly with labels and artists (more than 2 million songs so far. And third is that Slacker's real appeal is to those many millions of consumers who don't want to be burdened with music purchasing or maintaining playlists and libraries -- in other words, people who appreciate the convenience of old fashioned music radio, but who can now get it with a personalized format.

User reviews of Slacker have revealed a few hardware/software bugs with the service, but certainly nothing insurmountable, or even out of the ordinary with a new system rollout. The real question now is how successful Slacker will be in attracting users, and how it might further expand consumer expectations for a diverging audio medium we still call radio.

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HD Radio Terminology

The New Language of HD Radio
waveform: The amplitude-versus-time representation of a signal. The term waveform is often employed in the context of a set of time and frequency characteristics that describe a specific type of signal.

signal: Detectable transmitted energy that can be used to carry information. In the radio frequency spectrum a signal has a characteristic waveform.

matrix: A two-dimensional block of data indicated by a double underscore. If accompanied by a subscript, the subscript elements represent matrix row and column numbers, respectively.

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Products

Axxes Offers OEM HD Radio Upgrade Path
Yet another option is now available for consumers wishing to add HD Radio to their existing car OEM audio systems. The Axxess AHDT-01 HD Radio Tuner is designed to work with most factory-installed automotive radios, plugging directly into an existing OEM wiring harnesses and eliminating the need for an FM modulator, according to its manufacturer, Metra Electronics.

The product consists of a universal HD Radio tuner box that mounts under-dash along with an interface specific to each vehicle class. Once installed, the package enables the factory radio to receive HD radio, including multicasts. The AHDT-01 also permits reception of HD Radio wireless data (titles, artists, weather, traffic, etc.) on radios equipped with scrolling text display capability.

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First DAB+/Wireless Internet Radios Arrive in Europe
Revo Technologies, a Scottish-based designer and manufacturer of digital radio products says it's offering European consumers the first audio appliance to combine DAB/DAB+, analog FM and Wi-fi Internet radio functionality all in one unit. The REVO Blik Radiostation offers a unique industrial-design look with plug-and-play reception of both DAB and DAB+ broadcasts, combined with conventional FM and the ability to store a large number of Internet radio station presets, available via Wi-fi connection. For traditionalists, standard clock radio functionality is included as well.

David Baxter, managing director, REVO Technologies says the newest addition to REVO's product line, powered by Frontier Silicon's Venice 6 Multimode module, will provide access to virtually every type of streamed audio media without the need for software or hardware upgrades.

While DAB has achieved a significant penetration level in the UK, other EU nations have been relatively slow to adopt the technology. The arrival of DAB+, which uses an improved AAC plus derived codec, reportedly has a number of countries giving the system a fresh look, particularly in the case of Australia, which has officially committed to launching a national network of DAB+ multiplexes in Jan 2009.

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