The other day I was listening to WNTA when a very interesting call came in... The call was about RDS... The talkshow host was clueless as to what was being talked about... This got me to thinking that with the exception on WFEN and WJVL there are no stations in Rockford that use RDS... I know there are other bigger issues that are involved with radio station operations, but why has RDS not taken off in Rockford... I have been in smaller markets where RDS is used for more than just song titles and station identifiers... Maybe I am crazy or just the radio geek is coming out of me or heck maybe I just like seeing the broadcast band used for lots of broadcasting creations... Either way I think it is time for the two radio companies here in Rockford to join the 21st century. What are your thoughts... Happy New Year... CC1
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Rockford Radio Where We Still Live In The Past
- Thread starter CrazeeCarroll1
- Start date
Considering that is costs a couple of thousand dollars per station along with getting RDS locked in from the studio/automation through to the transmitter, some will wait for their conversion to HD. As with the company I work for in the west...we will do it all at once. More cost effective that way. Besides...it will happen when there more than 5 HD radios in the market (kind of kidding but not really - visited Best Buy recently, asked about HD radio and was sent to the television department - radio (industry) needs to do more PR work.
LOL HD Radio is a whole other subject 
. While I was having my Sirius Starmate 4 installed I was checking out HD radio and WYRB was the only FM station that I could pick up in the CC store... SCR, WGN, and BBM must have had their HD off because the RCVR would not lock into the IBOC broadcast... As for cost of RDS it has been around for quite sometime now which is why I am shocked that more stations has not put it to use... I know a lot of the stations that I listened to when I was still living down south back in the late 90's was using RDS... CC1
. While I was having my Sirius Starmate 4 installed I was checking out HD radio and WYRB was the only FM station that I could pick up in the CC store... SCR, WGN, and BBM must have had their HD off because the RCVR would not lock into the IBOC broadcast... As for cost of RDS it has been around for quite sometime now which is why I am shocked that more stations has not put it to use... I know a lot of the stations that I listened to when I was still living down south back in the late 90's was using RDS... CC1"As for cost of RDS it has been around for quite sometime now which is why I am shocked that more stations has not put it to use"
It wasn't viewed as a necessary item for quite a while - it has become more an important weapon to have as satellite radio has come into popularity and as more and more vehicles get RDS capable radios. This as well - when stations are doing budgets, your cap ex budget is going to contain the absolute investment needs - it gets put in as a request but usually gets cut because it is not an essential need. My choice was an new automation system or RDS...RDS lost out - if you can't run your systems correctly, RDS just isn't going to matter. My new Scotts was far more important to the internal operations and the happiness of the staff who have had it with trying to keep the old system running.
It wasn't viewed as a necessary item for quite a while - it has become more an important weapon to have as satellite radio has come into popularity and as more and more vehicles get RDS capable radios. This as well - when stations are doing budgets, your cap ex budget is going to contain the absolute investment needs - it gets put in as a request but usually gets cut because it is not an essential need. My choice was an new automation system or RDS...RDS lost out - if you can't run your systems correctly, RDS just isn't going to matter. My new Scotts was far more important to the internal operations and the happiness of the staff who have had it with trying to keep the old system running.
Anymore cost is a silly excuse. In the summer of 2005 our stations got the basic Inovonics 702 Encoders for $320 a piece...because we bought all of our stations a unit at once. Sure it doesn't do song titles or any other fancy stuff but it gets the job done. We figured the cost was well worth it since you're literally putting your name in front of people, much like any ad you put in a newspaper or on TV.
The next model up is around $1200 and depending on your automation system will do song titles with no extra hardware or configuration.
The next model up is around $1200 and depending on your automation system will do song titles with no extra hardware or configuration.
S
stillovertheohio
Guest
guys...
a radio station that spends money on RDS is better served by spending the money to upgrad from the generic toilet paper from Georgia-Pacific to Charman. the only people who even know about RDS are the radio geeks like us that frequent this board.
a radio station that spends money on RDS is better served by spending the money to upgrad from the generic toilet paper from Georgia-Pacific to Charman. the only people who even know about RDS are the radio geeks like us that frequent this board.
S
spark gap
Guest
stillovertheohio said:
I think you spelled Charmin wrong. Call me sometime
Yeah cause pretty much all of the GM and Chrysler cars from 2001 and up are owned by radio geeks...
1
11south
Guest
stillovertheohio said:
This guy is out to lunch. Better times have passed him by.
D
Deleted member 76036
Guest
I guess the radio geek is coming out in me...when I saw this topic...I immediately thought RDS.
I live in Peoria and I can get the following stations with RDS:
Static RDS: 91.5, 92.3, 96.5, 98.5, 99.9, 101.1
Stations doing Artist/Title: 93.3, 94.9, 95.5, 97.3, 101.5, 102.3, 104.9, 105.7, 106.9
HD Radio: 95.5... 89.9 will be in HD Radio within the next few weeks.
Even 23-watt 103.3 WEWT-LP in Bloomington, IL is doing dynamic RDS. It shows TRUTH103 + Show Name. They are using a software based encoder, which is $20.
I think a lot of non-radio geeks like RDS. They may not know how it exactly works but they know what it is and love it! I've had quite a few conversations with various people and sometimes RDS will come up. I'll mention RDS and they will be like "what?". Then I'll say something like, "Some car radios will show the station name and the artist and title that are playing", and they'll be like... "AWESOME! My car does that and I love it!".
Anyways...I'll agree that Rockford is behind. The Quad Cities and Springfield markets are also behind.
Here's the rest of the Central Illinois:
Bloomington: 92.9, 93.7, 96.7, 97.9, 98.9, 99.5, 100.7, 101.5 (Artist/Title), 103.3, 104.1 (Artist/Title)
Champaign: 90.9, 91.7, 92.5 (Artist/Title), 93.5, 94.5 (Artist/Title + HD Radio), 95.3, 96.1, 99.1 (Artist/Title), 100.3 (Artist/Title), 105.9
Springfield: 91.9, 104.5 (Artist/Title)
Decatur: 93.1, 105.1
LaSalle/Peru: 98.1, 99.3, 100.1, 100.9, 102.1, 104.7
Quad Cities: 0 Stations!
There are many other stations in Illinois doing RDS. I can understand priorities, but I'm guessing over 1/2 of vehicles have RDS now. My car radio has RDS and I have two home radios that have RDS. Oh...my iPod also does RDS too!
Chris Cervantez
Peoria, IL
[email protected]
http://www.rdslist.com/
I live in Peoria and I can get the following stations with RDS:
Static RDS: 91.5, 92.3, 96.5, 98.5, 99.9, 101.1
Stations doing Artist/Title: 93.3, 94.9, 95.5, 97.3, 101.5, 102.3, 104.9, 105.7, 106.9
HD Radio: 95.5... 89.9 will be in HD Radio within the next few weeks.
Even 23-watt 103.3 WEWT-LP in Bloomington, IL is doing dynamic RDS. It shows TRUTH103 + Show Name. They are using a software based encoder, which is $20.
I think a lot of non-radio geeks like RDS. They may not know how it exactly works but they know what it is and love it! I've had quite a few conversations with various people and sometimes RDS will come up. I'll mention RDS and they will be like "what?". Then I'll say something like, "Some car radios will show the station name and the artist and title that are playing", and they'll be like... "AWESOME! My car does that and I love it!".
Anyways...I'll agree that Rockford is behind. The Quad Cities and Springfield markets are also behind.
Here's the rest of the Central Illinois:
Bloomington: 92.9, 93.7, 96.7, 97.9, 98.9, 99.5, 100.7, 101.5 (Artist/Title), 103.3, 104.1 (Artist/Title)
Champaign: 90.9, 91.7, 92.5 (Artist/Title), 93.5, 94.5 (Artist/Title + HD Radio), 95.3, 96.1, 99.1 (Artist/Title), 100.3 (Artist/Title), 105.9
Springfield: 91.9, 104.5 (Artist/Title)
Decatur: 93.1, 105.1
LaSalle/Peru: 98.1, 99.3, 100.1, 100.9, 102.1, 104.7
Quad Cities: 0 Stations!
There are many other stations in Illinois doing RDS. I can understand priorities, but I'm guessing over 1/2 of vehicles have RDS now. My car radio has RDS and I have two home radios that have RDS. Oh...my iPod also does RDS too!
Chris Cervantez
Peoria, IL
[email protected]
http://www.rdslist.com/
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