RDS?

[Keith_Lake]

In all the excitement over IBOC and HD radio, stations seem to have forgotten about their RDS decoders, if they ever bothered installing one to begin with.

RDS is an excellent idea that is woefully underutilized. Most stations in this market with RDS merely display the liner/positioner/slogan of the station, repeating the on-air brand that you already know if you're listening. Some stations display the title of the song currently playing, but if you already know the title it can be redundant.

I've brought this up before, but I think it bears repeating: stations with RDS could earn brownie points with their audiences by including breaking news such as Amber alerts, traffic jams, or news of national significance. The stations could thusly inform their listeners about stuff without interrupting their precious formatics, which is one reason older listeners who like to be informed of real-world events are deserting the FM band in droves. The world could be coming to an end and you'd never know it from listening to a typical Clear Channel franchise station.

Can RDS or HD radios be configured to trigger an alarm or automatically turn recievers on when there's a tornado alert or bad chemical spill, for example?

RDS could also come in handy when HD radio gets established and one station broadcasts multiple formats, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Feedback?

KL <P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a></P>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

Ok, someone please tell me I wasn't the only one who, upon seeing the subject line "RDS," was thinking this was about 93/KHJ's afternoon jock (the Real Don Steele).

 

[SamBuca]

Most EAS decoder have character generator interfaces so automating EAS alerts via RDS would be very easy.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>

 

[SirRoxalot]

> Ok, someone please tell me I wasn't the only one who, upon
> seeing the subject line "RDS," was thinking this was about
> 93/KHJ's afternoon jock (the Real Don Steele).

Sorry. You were the ONLY one.

Well, maybe you and Old Akronite.

 

[SaltyDog]

Feedback? Yes, I think you are absolutely right that it's underutilized and it shouldn't be.

> In all the excitement over IBOC and HD radio, stations seem
> to have forgotten about their RDS decoders, if they ever
> bothered installing one to begin with.
>
><P ID="signature">______________
"He who looks under the bed once hid there himself." - Proverb of unknown origin</P>

 

[miamimadman]

That was my first thought!

He was great in the double episode of Bewitched with Ben Franklin

> Ok, someone please tell me I wasn't the only one who, upon
> seeing the subject line "RDS," was thinking this was about
> 93/KHJ's afternoon jock (the Real Don Steele).
>

 

[Robert Bass]

Using RDS to relay EAS text data is a bad idea. You’re sending far more information than just the song title and artist. Also, some RDS receivers only show 8 characters at a time. This would be confusing for the listeners, and it’s too risky from a driver distraction standpoint.

R

> I've brought this up before, but I think it bears repeating:
> stations with RDS could earn brownie points with their
> audiences by including breaking news such as Amber alerts,
> traffic jams, or news of national significance. The
> stations could thusly inform their listeners about stuff
> without interrupting their precious formatics, which is one
> reason older listeners who like to be informed of real-world
> events are deserting the FM band in droves. The world could
> be coming to an end and you'd never know it from listening
> to a typical Clear Channel franchise station.

 

[tpt]

The European RDS standard allows for switching the receiver audio on (or from CD player or other source) when the emergency event code is transmitted.

Some Ford car radios had this feature, but it is not commonly used under the American RDBS standards.

 

[Keith_Lake]

> Using RDS to relay EAS text data is a bad idea. You’re
> sending far more information than just the song title and
> artist. Also, some RDS receivers only show 8 characters at
> a time. This would be confusing for the listeners, and it’s
> too risky from a driver distraction standpoint.
>
> R
>

Then what's the point of transmitting an RDS signal at all? Just
having it spell out "Z-104" or "TODAY'S HOT MIX" is rather redundant,
seeing how a typical music station hollers their liners between every
song. I think it would be an excellent means of getting vital info-
rmation to people in their vehicles without breaking format.

Most music stations switched to TV network audio feeds on 9/11, which
was understandable. But for local breaking news (traffic jams, chemical
spills, Amber alerts, etc) most people do not have TVs in their cars
(yet), and only the biggest markets have the luxury of all-news radio
stations. RDS would fill that gap nicely, but most stations don't
want to be bothered with anything that can't be done FOR them by a
computer.

And they wonder why their audience numbers are trending downward...

KL<P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://home.nc.rr.com/gttyson/lastradio.html">The Last Radio Station<a></P>

 

[whyhellothere]

>
> And they wonder why their audience numbers are trending
> downward...
>
> KL
>


Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that this is to blame for the decline in listening, but that's for a whole 'nother topic.

What is wrong with having a stationary RDS unit? You can purchase them for just a couple hundred bucks, and it saves you from having to spend eons trying to configure your automation system to talk to it, if it's even possible.

Our company purchased a good handful of basic units at once. Our reasoning was that if we can spend a few bucks and get our station name in front of people, that's a good thing! Song titles would be cool, but could be saved for down the road if we upgrade both our automation system and RDS boxes.<P ID="signature">______________
The power is yours!</P>