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Power Boost Urged for HD Radio
The NAB has now come out supporting a proposal filed earlier this year by a group of 18 radio broadcasters -- including Emmis, Clear Channel, Radio One, CBS Radio, Greater Media, Entercom, Lincoln Financial, and Beasley -- to allow HD digital Radio broadcasts to air at up to 10 percent of a station's analog power to increase radio strength. Four cutting edge, leading electronics manufacturers also signed on to support the the proposal
The NAB indicated that with more than 85 percent of radio stations yet to convert to digital format, and that authorizing a power increase today will be more efficient because stations just starting HD digital radio service will be able to build fuller digital facilities and avoid the disruption and expense of a retrofit at a later point.
Automakers, including Ford Motor Co., reviewed the proposal and expressed its support for the upgrade, noting that it offers HD Radio as a dealer-installed option on most of its product lines and that Ford and other auto companies hope to offer HD as original equipment "in the near future." Ford has said that HD Radio "can offer important benefits to consumers," through upgraded multicast and audio channels in particular.
While some digital stations do have very good coverage, a review of the report shows that there are a number of stations that are not able to fully duplicate their analog coverage with the current configuration of the HD Radio system. And unfortunately these coverage problems are particularly problematic in the automobile environment.
BMW of North America also filed comments in support of the improved strength and power boost, noting that it was the first automaker to offer HD Digital Radio as a standard option and that it plans to include HD as standard in future models.
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