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Any Radio Services On DTV Subchannels?

As noted in the PBS subchannels thread, one of our PBS affiliates carries the Cleveland Sight Center Network radio reading service for the blind, in the open, on audio-only subchannel 25.9. It is receivable on most DTV tuners, including the popular Zenith/Insignia CECBs.

Are there any such examples in other markets?

WVIZ used to carry CSCN's audio on its analog SAP.

I'm also wondering if there are any commercial audio-only DTV subchannels.

I know religious WGGN/52.2 not far from here (COL Sandusky) carries the audio of co-owned WGGN-FM 97.7 Castalia...but they also air a cable-style video billboard that includes Cleveland-area traffic! (It's a hoot when they show incidents over on the east side, like on I-271, in an area that can't get WGGN with even the tallest receive antenna...)
 
Most don't carry commercial stations, due to copyright and royalty issues.

KUEN in Salt Lake City/Ogden carries KUER-FM (University of Utah). KBYU carries KBYU-FM, as well as the LDS Radio Network.
I'm sure there are quite a few ethnic and niche stations out there....check with rabbitears.info.
 
In New Jersey's NJN stations their -1s have the blind reading service on SAP while the -3s have it on the main audio without video. On my Zenith DTT-901 instead of the 'no signal' message it says 'audio only'. Nice idea. :)
 
Trip's page is very informative for the thread.

BTW here in south FL, WPEC 12.3 runs NOAA weather (for West Palm Beach) with the satellite image on screen. True, it's in the weather band, but it *is* radio.

cd
 
WLPS-14 Lumberton/Pembroke NC is an LPTV for local gospel ministries station, and they also own a radio station 89.5, which runs on 14-3.
 
Milwaukee Public Television airs KEC60 on their AccuWeather channel on WMVS 10.4, and then the Beethoven and Jazz networks from WFMT on WMVS 36.4 and 36.5. And WGVU/WGVK across the lake in Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo has their AM oldies station WGVU/WGVS 1480/850 (which carries the Real Oldies Network) on their scrolling schedule channel on 35.4/52.4.
 
WTNH-TV 8-2 in New Haven displays their NEWS 8 radar, with the audio of NOAA Weather Radio station WXJ-42, which transmits from West Peak in Meriden, CT.
 
WCHU-LD has WLFM-LP (technically a TV station on channel 6, but operate as a radio station) on 33.2. That loophole will eventually be closed by the end of 2012, & WLFM-LP could be history. For now, it's smooth jazz.
 
KOPB (and, I think, the other OPB channels) has the following on 10-04:
Code:
  Audio 01, KOPB-FM
  Audio 02, OPB Music (absolutely, positively excruciating)
  Audio 03, simulcast of KMHD-FM (well, what's left of KMHD, anyways)

For a brief period in 2008, OPB's Golden Hours radio reading service was also carried on an auxillary audio channel of OPB's main channel on 10-02.

As far as I know, OPB is the only one in Portland carrying audio-only programmingon ATSC.
 
In my area, very little is being done with SAP channels. With one exception, they only appear on main (*.1) channel. Most are silent. Some are the same audio (but in mono) as the primary audio channel. The on-screen label for most is "Spanish" but none of them is running audio in Spanish. A public television station used to play classical music on their SAP channel (after dropping classical music on the radio side) but they are now just duplicating the main audio channel. One alternate public television station is doing audio for blind - reading the news very, very slowly.
 
KLWB-DT 50.1 in Lafayette, LA runs audio from adjacent market KXKW-FM 105.3 radio (a 50s-60s Oldies Format) on their secondary audio feed. The KXKW-FM 105.3 audio is also carried on KXKW-LP Ch 6 which can of course be heard on 87.7 FM in the Lafayette area.
 
A little off topic but could a DTV subchannel or SAP be used as an over-the-air signal to feed an FM translator in the commercial band? If so, is it being done anywhere?
 
poledo said:
A little off topic but could a DTV subchannel or SAP be used as an over-the-air signal to feed an FM translator in the commercial band? If so, is it being done anywhere?

It's neither "translator" nor "commercial," but at WXXI in Rochester, we use audio-only streams on our WXXI-TV RF16 digital signal to get audio to one of our outlying FM signals, WXXY 90.3 in Houghton, 65 miles or so to the south. We don't put a virtual channel on the audio stream, but some tuners can see it as "16.7." Works pretty well!
 
In Greensboro, NC I have heard smooth jazz along with a live weather radar. Another area station has the radar with that robot voice on NOAA.
 
KFLA-LD in Los Angeles is running Kings Rock LA radio service on one of their subs.

Apparently, Kings Rock is seeking to develop a radio network on DTV sub-channels. Nice idea--now if they can only get people to kick the cable habit and hook up antennas to their shiny new HDTVs or converter boxes. Oh, yes and convince listeners to get into the habit of hearing radio through a television.
 
Scott Fybush said:
It's neither "translator" nor "commercial," but at WXXI in Rochester, we use audio-only streams on our WXXI-TV RF16 digital signal to get audio to one of our outlying FM signals, WXXY 90.3 in Houghton, 65 miles or so to the south. We don't put a virtual channel on the audio stream, but some tuners can see it as "16.7." Works pretty well!

Glad you checked in here. Is this the same thing WVIZ is doing with CSCN on 25.9? And does it show up on the Zenith(/Insignia) boxes?
 
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