Technology360

NPR and iBiquity strike deal on HD Radio power increase

2009-11-05T13:42:08-05:00

National Public Radio (for which I work) and iBiquity Digital Corporation today jointly filed with the FCC a framework to allow an increase in digital power of at least 6 dB while minimizing the occurrence and severity of interference to existing analog operations. I’ll withhold specific comments except to say that this agreement makes me more optimistic about the future of digital radio in this country than I have in a long time. It’s intended to help digital radio succeed. I’m following this with the press release and then links to two press reports which have already appeared.

NPR & IBIQUITY STRIKE DEAL ON HD RADIO POWER INCREASE

Blanket 6 dB increase, interference safeguards

recommended to FCC; higher power levels possible

November 5, 2010, Washington, DC; iBiquity Digital Corporation and NPR announced an agreement for managing an HD Radio™ power increase that will significantly improve reception of HD Radio signals. The two organizations are jointly presenting their recommendations to the FCC today and encouraging the Commission to move to adopt the power increase quickly.

“We are delighted that the radio industry is now poised to push this technology ahead together. We’ve found practical and balanced solutions that will greatly improve reception while limiting interference to existing analog operations,” said Bob Struble, President and CEO of iBiquity Digital Corporation.

The agreement proposes that the Commission authorize a blanket 6 dB increase for all commercial and non-commercial radio stations’ digital power from the current level of -20 dBc to a power level of -14 dBc; this is four times the current power level. NPR and iBiquity consulted with a broad spectrum of commercial and noncommercial stations over the last few weeks, and identified several conditions and criteria to manage the power increase process. These conditions were informed by NPR Labs' recent field research, “Advanced IBOC Coverage and Compatibility Study,” filed with the Commission earlier this week. Conditions of the blanket increase included commitment by iBiquity and NPR to additional enhancements to the HD Radio™ system. The development work of the two organizations will focus on single frequency networks to fill gaps in digital coverage, asymmetrical digital sidebands to reduce the potential for digital interference to short spaced first adjacent analog stations, and low bitrate codecs and conditional access crucial to moving radio reading services into the mainstream of digital radio broadcasting.

Notably, the two organizations offered an approach to additional power increases beyond a 6 dB increase, depending on spacing criteria and conditions that limit harmful interference, and initial models suggest most stations will be able to exceed 6 dB.

Mike Starling, Executive Director of NPR Labs, said “We are optimistic about the future of HD Radio broadcasting, and eager to continue to work with iBiquity on the developments that will make this power increase work to everyone’s advantage – stations, listeners, and receiver makers.”

"I am thrilled that a workable and efficacious compromise has been agreed to on this extremely important and controversial issue," said Milford Smith, Vice President of Radio Engineering at Greater Media, Inc. "Replication of analogue coverage by the new, digital service is absolutely critical to the continued successful roll out of HD Radio technology."

iBiquity and NPR encouraged the Commission to act on unresolved complaints in cases in which interference is shown to cause a problem.

The agreement also proposes a series of steps drawn from the current AM rules for interference to be applied to qualifying and limiting harmful interference with analog at the 6 dB increase level (-14 dBc). These steps would remediate harmful interference from any stations increasing power above the existing -20 dBc power level.

[paragraphs describing NPR and iBiquity omitted]

The story has been picked up by Inside Radio and Radio World's The Leslie Report. --Dennis

The Reconstruction of American Journalism

2009-10-28T09:06:44-04:00

This is the title of a new report by former Washington Post executive editor, Leonard Downie, Jr. and Professor Michael Schudson, The Journalism School, Columbia University. They begin:

... Newspapers and television news are not going to vanish in the foreseeable future, despite frequent predictions of their imminent extinction. But they will play diminished roles in an emerging and still rapidly changing world of digital journalism, in which the means of news reporting are being re-invented, the character of news is being reconstructed, and reporting is being distributed across a greater number and variety of news organizations, new and old. ...

Some lengthy comments on public broadcasting begin on p. 5 of the online version (p. 12 if you make a 39-pp. pdf of the document). Their recommendations for public broadcasting begin on p. 14 of the online version (p. 33 of a pdf) and look to reorienting public radio and television "to provide significant local news reporting in every community served by public stations and their Web sites." I've given shortcuts to pubcasting material, but it's important to read their analysis and recommendations in context.

Link: Columbia Journalism Review. Thanks to Vivian Schiller for the link.

Update: 28 October 2009:

The "atomic" version of Current newspaper has a page one overview of this report by Karen Everhart. It's not yet on current.org. Also on page one but not on the site is a report on the forward-looking Chicago News Cooperative. WTTW-TV is a founding partner and the article says WBEZ-FM may also join the partnership. I'll try to remember to add links when they appear. --Dennis

Why is HD Radio™ important for public radio?

2009-10-21T15:21:44-04:00

... Asks Caryn Mathes, GM of WAMU in Washington, in an essay reprinted from Current (can't find it there) for Radio Business Report. WAMU is a public radio station that recently won a well-deserved industry award for its leadership in HD Radio™. She concludes:

... However, I think that to truly “get” the importance of HD Radio, you must abandon the old metrics, and stop trying to layer those measurements on the new landscape. ¶ The days of double-digit share are gone; 1-2% may become a good share in the brave new world. The landscape has irreversibly changed, with so many platforms available to tempt the listener. Podcasts, mobile, Internet radio – the competition for ears is everywhere, as we all well know. I believe that, comparisons to Betamax and 8-tracks aside, very rarely does a format completely disappear – the pieces of the audience pie simply get smaller, and you need to be accessible on every possible platform in order to get the same aggregate AMOUNT of the pie. ...

Link: RBR.com. --Dennis