What you should know about the proposed HD Radio power increase

Written 12/06/2008

The FCC is currently considering a petition for a tenfold power increase for the new digital signals of full power radio stations. This could cause a lot of trouble for the regular analog signals that we all listen to.

Now branded as HD Radio, In-Band-On-Channel (IBOC) technology has been proven to produce poor coverage and even interference to existing analog signals. Though the technology was adopted on the basis that a digital signal can provide more coverage with less power, in practice many digital signals are in fact covering less than the old analog signals did. But now that IBOC has been deemed the sole digital radio technology, what’s their solution when it doesn’t work?... Give it more power!

A coalition of the biggest HD radio broadcasters and manufacturers has recently petitioned the FCC to permit an additional 10 fold power increase in digital operation power, citing a study by IBiquity Corporation. However, an NPR led study showed such an increase could cause interference to existing analog stations. Low power community stations could be left especially vulnerable. The irony is that the same broadcasters who fought the creation of analog Low-power FM (LPFM) stations on the bogus basis of cross-channel interference, are now advocating a power increase that would create vastly more interference than LPFMs ever could have... Read more of this article: HD Radio- A New Wave of Independent Media or the Next Wave of the Same Old Media Monopoly?- 11/20/08