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HD radio call letters

N

nd2023

Banned
On my HD radio, most stations that broadcast in HD put their call letters and the applicable -FM suffix. There are 2 stations in my area that don't: WAWZ 99.1 displays as "STAR-FM" and WXRK 92.3 alternates between "NOW-FM" and "WXRK-FM".
 
Nick said:
On my HD radio, most stations that broadcast in HD put their call letters and the applicable -FM suffix. There are 2 stations in my area that don't: WAWZ 99.1 displays as "STAR-FM" and WXRK 92.3 alternates between "NOW-FM" and "WXRK-FM".
Click to expand...

Yeah, what's with that four-letter-limited ID display in HD Radio?

RDS (developed over 20 years ago by European "socialists") offers eight characters, making it possible to display MAGIC 92, MIX 102, LEGENDS, OLDIES98, K_R_Z, or WIOQ.COM, but this expensive newfangled American digital system forces stations to revert to FCC-assigned call letters (unless the handle is short like STAR or NOW, or the default HD). Good luck selling it in Mexico where stations have five letter calls like XETRA and XHERS.

Even worse, when an FM station simulcasts its sister AM on a HD multicast channel, the FM ID appears on the display. So if you've spent decades building a brand like KYW (News) or WIP (Sports), the front panel of the radio shows it as WYSP-2 or WYSP-3. Wait, isn't WYSP a rock station again?

Did programmers have ANY influence in the design of this system, or was it just a bunch of bankers, lawyers, and engineers?
 
Not many engineers, except computer types. Otherwise it would have been way different, and maybe worked.
 
Play Freebird said:
RDS (developed over 20 years ago by European "socialists") offers eight characters,
Click to expand...

The European system was developed principally to identify and allow signal handoffs of national networks, the norm in most of Europe.

Good luck selling it in Mexico where stations have five letter calls like XETRA and XHERS.
Click to expand...

In Latin America, the calls are seldom used to identify a station. They are even licensed by name, not calls.
 
Play Freebird said:
Even worse, when an FM station simulcasts its sister AM on a HD multicast channel, the FM ID appears on the display. So if you've spent decades building a brand like KYW (News) or WIP (Sports), the front panel of the radio shows it as WYSP-2 or WYSP-3. Wait, isn't WYSP a rock station again?
Click to expand...

The default is 4 characters and "-FM" but that can be reprogrammed. In addition, I was able to put a 96 character slogan and positioning statement and other stuff on the additional "Name" field (for KLVE-FM HD3). This could also be used to give song titles, etc., so this is where the station name can go.

What I still can't figure out was whether the call field can be eliminated totally.
 
So then, how many characters are available in the ID field? Every station I've checked only has four, plus an -FM or -HD1, -HD2, or -HD3 suffix. This is the field that displays by default on most receivers. It just seems to me that this limitation is a step backwards from RDS.
 
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