from the April 12th USA Today

Radio close to increased digital transmissions

By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

LAS VEGAS - AM and FM radio are finally ready for the digital revolution,
according to broadcasters who've been waiting a decade to jump in.

Toward the end of this year, big-city stations reaching about half of all
listeners are expected to supplement their current analog signals with
digital
transmissions.

For consumers who buy digital radios, available early next year, AM
programming should sound as sharp as FM - and FM will approach CD clarity.

"Static, hiss and pops all go away," says iBiquity Digital CEO Bob Struble,
whose company just unveiled its technology to lead the radio industry's
digital
charge.

"You're talking about a diametrical upgrade in audio quality."

IBiquity's digital radio was the most talked about new offering shown at the
National Association of Broadcasters convention here this week.

"This could revitalize AM radio," says Radio World news editor Leslie
Stimson. "A lot of AM stations have been forced into adopting talk formats"
because
of audio quality inferior to FM.

Broadcasters are intrigued with iBiquity's promise to help station owners go
digital in less than a year using the airwaves they already control.

"It will be an orderly transition," says NAB chief Edward Fritts. "We know
the world is going digital. For radio to sit back and not have an avenue to
step
forward would be a tragedy."

The plan won a key, but qualified, endorsement this week from the National
Radio Systems Committee, the broadcast and consumer electronics industries'
standards
group. It blessed iBiquity's technology for FM stations to use beginning in
November.

It said AM stations should use it only during daytime until more tests
determine whether it would create night interference.

IBiquity has spent $100 million on the business, Struble says, and expects
clear reception among station owners.

Financial backers include top station owners Viacom, Radio One and Clear
Channel, as well as Lucent and Gannett (publisher of USA TODAY). "The radio
industry
set us up," he says.

New signal equipment will cost a station from $27,000 to $215,000, depending
on its size and signal strength, plus a license fee for iBiquity's software.
The company will begin by going after stations in New York, Chicago, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami.

Consumers who want to receive the clearer signals will initially pay about
$300 for a high-end radio that receives existing analog and digital signals.
Other, less costly, digital-only radios are expected to run about $100 more
than comparable analog units.

And some will include new features. For example, motorists will be able to
push a button on the radio to instantly retrieve the latest information
about
traffic conditions, weather, sports and stocks. When music's playing, the
radio will display the song title and artist.

Kenwood, Alpine, Harman/Kardon and JVC have said that they'll make the
radios.

Retailers such as Crutchfield, Good Guys, Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics
have said they'd sell them.


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