Audio News for September 30, 2008

by | Sep 30, 2008 | Audio News | 0 comments

HD Radio Advances With New Audio Channels & Data Services – At the recent National Association of Broadcasters annual convention in Austin, Texas, iBiquity Digital Corporation president Bob Struble said “We’re seeing a renaissance in radio programming and a whole new group of consumer services that have never existed before.” In addition to improved audio quality on the main channel for most listeners, HD Radio technology lets broadcasters supplement their main signal with up to two additional channels of audio or data.  More than 900 HD2 and HD3 channels are already on the air, and HD Radio is available to over 84% of the U.S. population. There are 90 different HD Radio receivers and tuners now available, including auto units. Some of the newest receivers feature iTunes Tagging, allowing listeners to buy songs they hear from the iTunes store.

Here are some hints of the innovative programming on the HD Radio multicast channels, accessible on any HD Radio:  ESPN Radio; ethnic programming from WorldBand Media, with a strong focus on South Asian communities in major cities; CBS Radio’s Psychic Channel, AMP Channel for teens, Nascar Channel; Bonneville International’s “iChannel” for global music; programming directed at college-age audiences from Greater Media; and NPR’s dedicated HD Radio channels for the deaf/hard-of-hearing and visually impaired listeners. The first NPR service will use a captioned radio text stream and the second a conditional access feature allowing a broadcaster to send content only to designated receivers.  One of the special uses of HD Radio datacasting is an effort of 12 leading broadcasters to develop a nationwide network distributing realtime traffic data and location-based information together with GPS-device maker NAVTEQ.

Steinway Lyngdorf Selects HT Consulting Partner
– The new collaboration of Steinway & Sons with Danish high-end audio maker Lyngdorf to offer the Model D Music System and other home theater products has taken on a third partner for HT consulting. Performance Media Industries (PMI) will offer highly trained engineers who specialize in room construction acoustics and AV system design for very high-end home theaters.  PMI is led by audio engineer Anthony Grimani, whose career included positions at both Dolby and Lucasfilm THX where he invented the Surround EX6.1 audio format. Grimani said “…we believe in maximizing the sound and picture quality of home theaters by using the best products in an optimally designed layout. Steinway Lyngdorf’s new line of home theater products delivers the truly uncompromised sound quality we  demand…”

DVD Declines, Blu-ray on Rise – A new detailed business report from Research and Markets in Dublin, Ireland, on the worldwide Blu-ray and DVD player/recorder market, finds DVD on the decline in most parts of the world, while Blu-ray – fresh from being crowned winner in the format war – is on the rise. However, there are some issues to overcome, primarily the higher price.

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