Really dumb HD formats

[AMRocks]

So which stations near you are really wasting their HD signals?

In Greenville - Spartanburg SC, iHeart is running "Club Jam Christmas" on the HD-2 of Country WESC. Yes, I know it's January 14th. And it's still on. Also from iHeart, hot AC WMYI is running "lullabies" on it's HD-2. I guess there are a lot of new mom's in the market. These 2 stations, along with a "breeze" format and "classic soul," are not on a translator (thank God.) They are all just formats that are available on the iHeart ap. (I heard the ID of "lullabies" identifying a Providence RI station.)

As far as I can tell, none of the HD signals from iHeart are carrying a local legal ID.

All other HD signals in the market, including an HD-4, are being broadcast on area translators.

 

[kevtronics]

Dead air is a very popular HD subchannel format, even in large markets.

 

[rbc]

In Greenville - Spartanburg SC, iHeart is running "Club Jam Christmas" on the HD-2 of Country WESC. Yes, I know it's January 14th. And it's still on. Also from iHeart, hot AC WMYI is running "lullabies" on it's HD-2.

Are they using HD sub-channels for Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) style programming? I've read about DRM being used for relaying programming over long distances, that's then sent out through local FM translators in the Pacific.

 

[Kelly A]

Are they using HD sub-channels for Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) style programming? I've read about DRM being used for relaying programming over long distances, that's then sent out through local FM translators in the Pacific.

Sure, just as with old version of analog SCA's, many stations lease their HD-sub channels to foreign language providers.

 

[rbc]

Sure, just as with old version of analog SCA's, many stations lease their HD-sub channels to foreign language providers.

Maybe some broadcasters have found that using HD sub-channels as a medium for relaying programming is more practical than using a separate transmission system. It sounds a bit like what Radio New Zealand (RNZ) did with DRM:

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/rnz-pacific-using-drm-to-feed-pacific-relay-stations

RNZ isn't going after Shortwave listeners with DRM. They are using DRM over HF to relay their programming to local FM translators in the Pacific islands that they provide service for. I guess the HD radio use case for relaying would be a bit different, because it's line of sight rather than skywave propogation.

 

[davideduardo]

Are they using HD sub-channels for Subsidiary Communications Authorization (SCA) style programming? I've read about DRM being used for relaying programming over long distances, that's then sent out through local FM translators in the Pacific.

HD is also being used, with narrow bandwidth slices, for data streams such as in-car navigation system traffic updates.

 

[TheBigA]

All other HD signals in the market, including an HD-4, are being broadcast on area translators.

What's dumb about that?

 

[Ralph Martin]

.So which stations near you are really wasting their HD signals?

In Greenville - Spartanburg SC, iHeart is running "Club Jam Christmas" on the HD-2 of Country WESC. Yes, I know it's January 14th. And it's still on. Also from iHeart, hot AC WMYI is running "lullabies" on it's HD-2. I guess there are a lot of new mom's in the market. These 2 stations, along with a "breeze" format and "classic soul," are not on a translator (thank God.) They are all just formats that are available on the iHeart ap. (I heard the ID of "lullabies" identifying a Providence RI station.)

I think (hope) they're just experimenting with possibilities while the medium is still finding its way. Club Christmas?!?! Haha... Sounds interesting

. As far as I can tell, none of the HD signals from iHeart are carrying a local legal ID.

All HD channels are required to broadcast their local legal IDs each hour -- just like their analog counterpart. FYI... They're also required to broadcast EAS messages on all HD channels for their local area as well.

. All other HD signals in the market, including an HD-4, are being broadcast on area translators.

Nice opportunity if it's available! We don't have any translators for our station, so our HD 2, 3 and 4 channels require an HD capable radio.

 

[Kelly A]

Nice opportunity if it's available! We don't have any translators for our station, so our HD 2, 3 and 4 channels require an HD capable radio.

In my opinion unless one is running a voice-only format, the audio quality of an HD-3 or HD-4 channel suffers from too few available bits to support a music format.

 

[Ralph Martin]

In my opinion unless one is running a voice-only format, the audio quality of an HD-3 or HD-4 channel suffers from too few available bits to support a music format.

Kelly A, you're right. We get a total of 96kbps devided up as we choose with an additional uncombined 24kbps using extended hybrid. The HD Radio compression seems to be pretty good considering it's bitrate -- sounds close to AAC.

Our HD1 is 48kbps stereo, which matches nicely with our analog counterpart (especially needed for LPFM). It's all student produced programming.

Our HD2 is 32kbps stereo (student composed, performed and recorded music). It sounds surprisingly good.

Our HD3 is 16kbps mono and runs student dramas and OTR. It sounds fairly comparable to our HD2 given that it's one audio channel.

Our HD4 is 24kbps (extended hybrid) mono and runs school and community announcements in loop. Really good sound for voice -- actually better than HD3 for obvious reasons.

We get good comments about our sound. This is most likely because of our choice of more forgiving audio content on 3 and 4.

 

[WJPYFM]

With the correct processing and no mp3 audio used, the HD subchannels can still sound good. However many stations don’t care about the subchannels especially if there is no money being made. Dead air or very low volume level is the worst use for HD radio. In Buffalo, Cumulus stations have all HD off due to “not enough HD radios” and most of the other FM stations repeat other AM/FM stations in the market. We only have 3 stations that have original programming on HD2 out of the 9 HD stations on the air. Jazz, Christian music, and the 3rd is hard to get HD because it is a rim shot with spotty coverage but that is 107.7 HD2 “The Lake” deep cuts/classic rock.

 

[TheBigA]

In Buffalo, Cumulus stations have all HD off due to “not enough HD radios” and most of the other FM stations repeat other AM/FM stations in the market. W

The other problem in Buffalo is the lack of translators to attach to the HD channels. Where that's done, the HDs tend to do well.

 

[Gregg.]

For folks who miss Smooth Jazz, Classical, Classic Oldies, etc., HD Radio is a plus. It may be true that few people are investing in HD Radios. But some new cars have the technology.

Yes, when an HD subchannel feeds a translator, it's like creating a whole new station, although one that can only be heard in the home city and a few adjacent communities. But without translators, they still can supply missing programming that some people will seek out and enjoy.

 

[rbc]

In Buffalo, Cumulus stations have all HD off due to “not enough HD radios” and most of the other FM stations repeat other AM/FM stations in the market.

I think broadcasters have to lead the way for HD Radio to succeed. Xperi can help promote HD Radio with consumers, but broadcasters are the ones who have to invest in the programming to bring in listeners. They also need to build out the broadcast facilities to support HD Radio. If they don't make those investments, consumers won't have any reason to buy the radios.

Terrestrial radio still has an advantage compared to streaming or Satellite radio. I think consumers are starting to feel like subscription models for audio programming aren't worth the expense. I certainly feel that way. It might be a direct cost like a subscription to SiriusXM or Spotify. It might be indirect cost like bandwidth charges on their smart phones for streaming content. I think broadcasters might find some audience in picking off "subscription cutters" in the same way that OTA television is benefiting from "cord cutters".

 

[rbc]

Nielson recently ran an article called "The Evolving Over-the-Air Home":

https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2019/nielsen-local-watch-report-the-evolving-ota-home.html

The article highlights the growth in Over-the-Air television at the expense of cable and satellite. Perhaps there are similar trends in Radio listening habits to exploit. I haven't seen much published on that though.

 

[Ralph Martin]

With the correct processing and no mp3 audio used, the HD subchannels can still sound good. However many stations don’t care about the subchannels especially if there is no money being made. Dead air or very low volume level is the worst use for HD radio.

Here's a little trick to test just how well your local station is handling their HD audio processing and diversity delay for consistency. You won't find this in the operation manual.

Radio Geeks only beyond this point:

If you have an Insignia portable tabletop radio (other units might also work, since it's probably a function of the HD chip set), there are some hidden functions that are really cool for testing - especially if you're a radio geek. The receiver I mentioned runs about $45 at Best Buy.

Turn on the power and tune to an FM station broadcasting in HD.

Push the "MEMORY" and the "- HD SEEK" buttons at exactly the same time and hold down for about 5 seconds untill the display says, "CH: Normal." Then (this is the tricky part) press and hold the "MEMORY" button and immediately after, also press the "-HD SEEK" button; holding both for about 8 seconds and then release both. The display will show "CH:L-HD CH:R-FM." One speaker will now play the analog channel and the other speaker will play the HD1. With this side-by-side function you can easily hear if the station main channel is synchronized correctly and if the levels and processing is agreeable.

If you stay in this mode and then tune up to their HD2, 3 and 4, it will play these channels on one speaker while staying on the main analog channel on the other so you can hear how consistent the sound is "side-by-side."

There are other hidden functions too, but you figure those out.

My students use these functions all the time to monitor our station's HD operation.

Note: the HD signal actually plays on the right speaker, contrary to what the display says.

Have fun