In what iBiquity (the intellectual property holder behind HD Radio) is calling a "watershed moment" in the history of digital broadcasting, a Swiss station has purchased and is broadcasting on the first HD radio transmitter in Europe. 

88 Radio Sunshine exists in a portion of the Alps where FM signals are spaced only 100 kHz apart on the dial, and several months of testing were performed before the announcement of the new signal at HD Radio Days, a conference in Lucerne, Switzerland this week.

"BE's implementation of the HD Radio system easily met all our digital requirements, even exceeding technical expectations despite our mountainous coverage area," said Markus Ruoss, principal owner of 88 Radio Sunshine, a private commercial radio station located in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Field-strength measurements of HD Radio broadcasts on Radio Sunshine exceeded acceptable levels, giving the station a green light to begin uninterrupted HD Radio broadcasts on its main and eventually some of its 12 boosters and translators in the region. Radio Sunshine is operating HD Radio broadcasting under voluntary status with the Switzerland Office for Communication (OFCOM).

Until now I hadn't been aware of any plans to use iBiquity's HD Radio system in Europe. The addition of some European markets to the consumer base for recievers could help being down prices, which are still a major hurdle for consumer adoption in the US.

Read the press release here.

MSNBC pitches woo for HD Radio in a recent article, "Making Waves: HD Radio tunes up broadcasters' options for listeners", which makes HD Radio sound like a panacea for broadcasters and listeners alike. I'm not buying it, and I'm the kind of consumer that would easily be an early adopter of the technology if it were warranted.

Sure, HD Radio, if widely adopted and massaged, will be an amazing advance in the world of broadcasting, and in many ways it already is in Europe. Adding channel room to crowded markets, supplemented with RDS to warn us of traffic tie-ups and slippery conditions, HD Radio will be the answer to a dying FM radio market.

Or should I say, could have been. The above scenario could turn out, but it's likely not to. With satellite radio dominating the hive mind, many people instantly think satellite when you mention digital radio. Marketing has already conditioned the public to a wide range of choices, and the need to pay a monthly subsciption cost to get them. Digital=Pay when it comes to radio in the minds of most consumers, and that perception is going to be hard to overcome.

Auto makers are already integrating SIRIUS and XM, while HD is hard to come by in new model options. Before you run right out and buy an HD set at the behest of MSNBC, take a minute to surveil your local programming options, I'll bet they are far from robust.

Clearchannel is making a $100 Million dollar bet on HD in the top 75 US markets. It remains to be seen whether once they build it, anyone will come listen.

Rumors of this were running around recently, but it's now a confirmed deal. Loveable, pot-head bio-diesel salesman Willie Nelson is coming to XM Radio with a whole channel to himself.

The new channel will replace "Hank's Place" (channel 13) and will be, quite predictably, called  "Willie's Place" effective July 10.

Namesake, Willie Nelson, will play cretive director for the new offering. Possibly the coolest part of all this, XM is building new studios for "Willie's Place" at Nelson's BioDiesel Truck Stop in Carl's Corner, Texas. The channel will begin broadcasting live from Carl's Corner in 2007.

Willie is a hep cat, and this shoud bring a depth of alterna-county programing to XM that SIRIUS can't currently match. With Country being a popular segment amongst a large portion of the US population, bringing a heavyweight name like Nelson on board can only be good for XM.

Read the press release here.

I reported over on The Digital Music Weblog that UBC is preparing to offer on the go downloads directly from your digital radio reciever. You'll soon be able to listen to a digital radio station, hear a song your like and purchase it on the spot to be downloaded to your choice of portable player at a later time.

I point out some issues with it, and I can't exactly call my self jealous of the UBC offering. One thing however bugs me, and it's becoming a constant theme. The US has entirely botched the roll-out of HD radio, first by chosing the wrong format (causing more expensive radios and incompatibility between the US and Canada) and we're going to pay for it in the long run. SIRIUS and XM are able to thrive not only because they offer uncensored content, but becuase they offer a level of choice that you simply cannot cram into the space between 87.9 and 107.9 on the dial.

Europe is already getting a taste of what can be done, and digital radio sales are soaring. New technologies are being built around the digital delivery system, and more are surely to come. Will the US miss the boat entirely, just like we've missed out on RDS (the Radio Data System for in car delivery of text information)?

[via The Digital Music Weblog]

Go go market unification. Well, not just yet, but it could be coming. Even with regulatory "question marks" looming, Mel Karmazin says he'd buy XM if the price were right.

The merger idea has been floated before, and many are certain that a consolidation between the two is inevitable in the long term. Still, when Karmazin talks, people listen and when he talks about a buy out of rival XM, it gets everyone talking.

Not the least of which is long time industry cheerleader, The Motley Fool. In the Fool's analysis, "If it does happen, it's likely to happen sooner rather than later. If XM and Sirius hit their mark and start producing positive operating cash flow in a few quarters, a lot of the bearish sentiment that has been marinating the stocks in recent months will evaporate. Prices will start inching higher, creating less of an incentive for XM and Sirius to cash out, and the potential acquirers may not be willing to pay those higher prices."

The Motley's have a point. Profitable, these two are going to be giants to contend with in terms of stock price. They will have created a new industry, something that isn't easy to do. To the victor goes the spoils, as they say.

A new HD Radio AM station has gone online, something that's becoming a regular occurance in the U.S. The catch is, this time the station is in Surabaya, Indonesia.

"Broadcast Electronics said the use of a new HD Radio system in Surabaya, Indonesia, marks the return of private AM radio to that nation.

The medium-wave system on 1062 kHz was installed on Radio Sangkakala in April, some 15 years after private AM stations in Indonesia migrated to FM, virtually abandoning the medium-wave band."

This marks the first known AM HD Radio station in Asia.

[via RadioWorld Online]

Rob Pegoraro, a tech reporter for The Washington Post says he's sending back his HD Radio. In a pretty scathing goodbye to his HD set, Pegoraro says the local stations in his area let their HD2 signals go silent.

"Each time, I'd tuned the Recepter to the "HD2" channel of a local radio station -- but the station had allowed this second, digital-only broadcast to go silent for no apparent reason. The first offender was WTOP; instead of its HD2 feed's usual pleasant classical music, I heard silence. Rather, I heard nothing -- with no music to awake me, I enjoyed an extra hour of blissful shut-eye.

WAMU pulled the same stunt a couple of weeks later, silencing its second channel."

Harkening back to the early days of TV, it seems many HD broadcasters are only filling the HD2 airwaves when they have something special to offer. According to WAMU's website, Pegoraro has it all wrong.

"At the moment, WAMU is only broadcasting programming content on one channel - 88.5 FM. During special events, we will use the second channel to bring you programming without interrupting our regular broadcast. After the event, we will continue to broadcast program content only on our main channel."

The other station mentioned in the story, WTOP, barely gives mention to HD Radio on its website, instead burying some HD Radio feelgood marketing deep within the site's structure.

If a tech reporter from The Washington Post finds it too difficult to understand when and what is suppoed to be on HD2 feeds of his local stations, and if the stations themselves barely bother to publish information on what they are making available, what hope does the average listener have? And, just how is anyone ever supposed to start salivating over HD Radio in the U.S.?

[via Washington Post]

Satellite radio has gained more than nine million paying subscribers in four years, and is now putting a crunch on the traditional broadcasting market. HD Radio and HD2, also known as multi-casting or supplemental audio channel broadcasting, offer a multitude of new opportunities for North American broadcasters faced with fierce competition.

"Fear of satellite radio is prompting an unprecedented level of cooperation among broadcasters in their efforts to launch HD Radio and HD2," says Frank Viquez, director of ABI Research's transportation practice. Viquez adds that HD Radio multi-casting is especially attractive to broadcasters because of its ability to divide the radio signal into separate audio channels, allowing new programming opportunities. "Traditionally, many stations with dual formats have been forced to split their programming according to a certain time schedule; thus HD2 offers them many new possibilities."

The downside is, HD2 cuts down on actual bandwidth available to each "channel", lowering the quality of the overall end product. Much as satellite radio is offering a myriad of channels with mediocre quality. The upside is, switching to HD Radio digital broadcasting costs stations relatively little, often requiring minimal additional equipment, and software upgrades.

As we've seen lately, and should see more throughout the remainder of 2006, broadcasters are currently in an aggressive HD Radio roll-out phase. One of the biggest HD2 proponents has been Clear Channel Communications, which has launched HD2 in more than 100 stations across 25 markets in less than one month. There are currently more than 300 stations broadcasting in HD2.

Viquez observes that "While specific revenue and business models have yet to be defined, the broadcast content on HD2 will vary from station to station and by market. However, we can easily imagine broadcasters offering specialized channels that feature little or no commercial interruption, 'pay-per-listen' events such as concerts or other special events, or new formats that target a very specific demographic audience." Just bringing AM sound quality up to par with that of analog FM is, he believes, enough to open new possibilities for AM broadcasters alone.

The real question remains, will any of this encourage sales of HD Radios to consumers.

MPEG surround is getting closer to market reality, and this week will see the Fraunhoffer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS (parent and patent holder of Mp3)  working with Agere Systems, Coding Technologies and Philips, to demonstrate the potential of the new Surround Sound system at AES (Audio Engineering Society) Pro Audio Expo.

MPEG Surround fundamentally reduces bit rate requirements for high quality multi-channel audio compression and maintains backwards compatibility to existing stereo equipment at the same time. It is backwards compatible to stereo MP3; a legacy MP3 device plays back MP3 Surround as high quality stereo.

"We are excited to be jointly demonstrating the MPEG Surround technique. After mono and stereo, MPEG Surround is the next step for sound quality in today's media entertainment", commented Dr. Peter Kroon, Chief Multimedia Architect of Agere Systems Mobility Division. "It brings true surround sound to any media system at next to no overhead in transportation and storage, and preserves consumers' investment as existing home stereo equipment can stay in use. This level of flexibility will be the key for MPEG Surround to be deployed on a global scale."

MPEG surround could have all sorts of super cool possibilities if widely adopted. With embedded surround expected to be used in DivX video files, HD Radio, video games and more.

Three major retailers this week launched a campaign to boost consumer awareness of HD Radio. This comes at the same time as member stations of the HD Radio Alliance launched a new wave of consumer awareness advertising. This new  wave of advertising from the HD Radio Alliance represents a second campaign as a part of an overall $200 million dollar strategy announced earlier this year.

The HD Radio Alliance also announced an expanded number of digital FM stations broadcasting two channels of programming simultaneously. HD 2 multi-casts will be available in 50 markets by mid summer, with over 450 stations broadcasting a second audio channel.

Representing major radio groups and independent station owners, the HD Radio Alliance is promoting the roll-out of digital AM and FM broadcasting and coordinating the roll-out of HD2 broadcasts to ensure as many new formats in the markets are launched as possible. Member broadcasters are responsible for programming each of their new multi-cast channels, which are initially being offered commercial-free.

"One of the most exciting things about HD Radio is the ability to offer innovative new content customized for each individual local market," said Peter Ferrara, president/CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance. "Unlike any other audio entertainment source, radio is all about serving the local community and these new HD2 channels will do just that."

Verizon recently added a host of independent music labels to its catalog of music available on its V Cast service. V Cast allows you to stream and download music and video clips to your cell phone. Verizon has partnered with the Digital Rights Agency, CD Baby, and the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) to offer music from over 2,200 national and international record labels. IODA, for example, contains labels who represent such diverse artists as Bebel Gilberto, Talvin Singh, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Clint Black, and Fela Kuti.

I'm interested in anything that gets music onto cell phones. Real Player on the Treo, the ROKR, MP3-based ringtones... It's obvious that devices will continue to converge. Oh, sure, there will always be diversity - some people really just want a phone to be a phone - but I want to carry one device, and I want it to get satellite radio, music from other sources, video, and phone calls. I want it to have my addressbook, a camera, and quick access to obscure song lyrics. This move by Verizon only helps the space, and giving indie bands another distribution channel can only be good. Of course, I have to admit that hearing people use their cell phones as a boombox on the subway is lame. If someone figures out a way to squeeze a subwoofer into a cell phone, I'm all ears.

[via FMQB]

The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill that would impose a flat-tax on all communications and video services, including satellite radio and Internet telephony. Instead of four separate communications taxes, there would be one, across the board 5% tax. Sounds good, everyone likes harmonizing and streamlining regulation. But... something's not right.  Why is satellite radio being taxed next to phone companies, cable providers, and VoIP? Especially since over-the-air radio & TV, Internet service, and music download services are specifically exempt! A sharp blogger named Craig Vitter had these same questions and wrote a Virginian Delegate to get some answers.  Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter responded, and Craig was kind enough to post the letter and his commentary here.

In his first post on the subject, Craig makes the point that satellite radio is not similar to traditional telecommunications services that use public facilities, nor is it in competition with the likes of cable and DBS. I think this is the most compelling issue; the Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites Davis as saying the bill would put Virginia "down the path of taxing content," and she's right. The taxes this flat-tax replaces are about public utilities, telecom subsidies, and local cable franchise fees. Satellite radio is a service that does not use public facilities - the tax is therefore discriminatory.

[Via FMQB and the TimesDispatch.com. Special thanks to Jeff Kelley at the Times-Dispatch.]

Friendster, the early pioneer of social networking, has teamed up with Pandora, a music service that creates radio stations on-the-fly based on the results of the Music Genome Project. The idea is you tell Pandora a song you like, and it builds a radio playlist based on your choice. Friendster likes this because a) it's a service differentiator, and b) it plays into social networking because radio stations can be shared.  Pandora is also available to owners of the Squeezebox, an Internet/digital music appliance that you connect to your stereo.

I like Pandora. It takes the idea of "auto-DJ" to the next level. Obviously, the value of the service is strictly determined by the quality of associations the Music Genome Project makes. If I found myself going from The Cinematic Orchestra to Weird Al, then there's a problem, but it seems to have a smart engine behind it. I also like Friendster's use of it.  The 'Net is, by its nature, about fragmentation and specialization - it encourages people to break off into narrow groups of like-minded individuals. Being able to share radio stations built by a combination of personal taste and computer algorithms is an experiment in hopping across the distances the 'Net puts between us, yielding a hybrid experience of social connection and music discovery.

SIRIUS partnered with DISH Network, so you just knew that XM would hitch with DIRECTV, right? It's the real deal now as DIRECTV has added 25 additional music channels courtesy of XM. The new channels for DIRECTV subscribers are in the 801 - 879 range on your DIRECTV channel guide. I never thought this would come in handy, but I keep tuning in to SIRIUS on my DISH set-top boxes; besides, free content is never a bad thing now, is it?

There's a pretty broad industry-wide move that's seeing traditional radio stations add HD signials as a way to up both the sound and image of radio stations as the compete against Sirius and XM. There's concern that the two providers of satellite radio aren't taking seriously the threat HD radio could be to their business model. While new hardware would need to be purchased there aren't the monthly subscription fees that need to be paid to get satellite service. That, and the potential for Apple to include some form of HD radio reception into their iPod line, could kill whatever forward momentum and lofty ambitions the satellite providers have.