It has been called the biggest thing in radio since the introduction of FM over 50 years ago. Some say it will revitalize terrestrial radio. HD Radio ® is iBiquity's name for IBOC (In Band On Channel) technology that converts broadcasts into a digital signal. Unlike HDTV stations will broadcast the new HD signal on the same FM frequency of its main channel.

The new digital signal "rides" alongside the analog signal radio stations currently send out. For the listener, the benefit is immediately audible. Unaffected by the atmospheric conditions that distort analog signals, digital FM radio has near CD-quality sound, while digital AM  sounds like FM.

HD Radio technology isn't as familiar to the general public as HDTV, and there's some confusion about the two terms. HDTV is coming because TV stations have been required by law to make the switch to digital broadcasting in 2006. HDTV signals will be broadcast on a new band of frequencies, meaning older TVs without some kind of HD converter won’t be able to get any signal at all.

There’s been no similar federal mandate for digital radio. Unlike television, where digital signals will be broadcast at an entirely new bandwidth, radio stations will keep their assigned frequencies. Basically, the conversion to HD Radio technology means stations will be broadcasting a digital signal at the edge of their allowed frequency in addition to their current analog signal. Older radios won’t become obsolete — they just won’t be able to pick up the newer signal (although they’ll continue to receive the analog transmission).
 

The station at 91.3 FM is broadcasting a normal signal. The station at 91.1 FM has added an HD Radio signal. The width of the signal increases slightly, but not enough to interfere with neighboring frequencies.

Along with this near CD-quality digital audio signal, or Main Audio Program (MAP), there’s also a text stream embedded in the carrier wave. This Program Associated Data (PAD) gives land-based stations capabilities similar to satellite radio services. Text scrolls across the front of the receiver’s LCD panel. Song and artist information and station ID are standard content, but the PAD can also include traffic and weather updates or other information the station provides — even commercials on commercial stations.

Along with this near CD-quality digital audio signal, or Main Audio Program (MAP), there’s also a text stream embedded in the carrier wave. This Program Associated Data (PAD) gives land-based stations capabilities similar to satellite radio services. Text scrolls across the front of the receiver’s LCD panel. Song and artist information and station ID are standard content, but the PAD can also include traffic and weather updates or other information the station provides — even commercials on commercial stations.
 

An HD radio broadcast from hypothetical WXYZ — WXYZ splits its digital signal into the Main Audio Program (MAP) and Subsidiary Audio Program (SAP). The MAP duplicates the programming going over the analog FM. The SAP is further subdivided, allowing WXYZ to digitally broadcast three different formats simultaneously.

The above is part of an online article found at

It's a brave new world of broadcasting! WMOT is currently providing digital service on WMOT 89.5 HD1. If you have a digital receiver, once you turn in to 89.5, wait a short time, and HD1 will lock up and take over your receiver.

To help you learn more about receivers and how to best tune in our digital broadcasts, go to our article HDRadio

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1319 Adams St. Nashville, TN 37208 615-242-JAZZ (5299) (click here for a map) Contact Us info@nashvillejazz.org   Hear It! Learn It! Do It!     Mission The Nashville Jazz Workshop is a nonprofit educational organization for the advancement of jazz musicians, enrichment of jazz enthusiasts & promotion of jazz in the Nashville area. This is accomplished through: A workshop environment where jazz professionals pass on their knowledge & experience in a journeyman/apprentice situation Classes for players & non-players Performances to promote community appreciation of jazz   About NJW The Jazz Workshop has classes from introductory to advanced - for students just beginning to improvise, professionals wanting to "sharpen their edges," and non-musicians wanting to learn more about jazz. Instructors are Nashville's finest jazz musicians. NJW is now running 18-20 classes per 6-week term. Classes are week nights, with some afternoon classes depending on student interest. All classes are 2 hours a night once a week. Classes are structured as workshops. This means NO GRADES, AND NO PRESSURE!! Everyone can go at their own pace, and Directors Lori Mechem and Roger Spencer are available to answer questions and to help with placement of students in classes. NJW is located in the Neuhoff complex at the end of Monroe Street, east of 2nd Avenue North on the Cumberland River. Please call (615) 242-5299 for more information. >> Read More

Listen Here --We're Talking Jazz!

New Show Airs Sundays 9 AM to 10 AM

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Listen Here! is the jazz review radio program hosted by critics, friends and sparring partners Neil Tesser and Mark Ruffin. Listen Here! debuted in January 2005, as a high-energy two-hour show incorporating conversation, criticism, debate, recorded music, interviews, and occasional live performances from jazz venues around North America.

Tesser and Ruffin preview and review the newest jazz recordings, analyzing and playing the best of the best and often agreeing to disagree. Each week's program includes an interview with at least one prominent jazz artist, discussing his or her latest recording. Selected programs feature guest jazz critics with their own perspectives on what's new in jazz.

And Listen Here! goes on the road as well, recording live on stage at some of the best-known jazz clubs and settings in the U.S. and Canada. Tesser and Ruffin have earned the right to disagree. Friends for more than twenty years, both have been active in the jazz scene in Chicago and across the United States - as critics, radio hosts and journalists for both print and broadcast. Their chemistry as radio co-hosts has been proven during special jazz festival broadcasts of Miles Ahead, Chicago's only afternoon drive-time jazz radio program, now going strong in its fourth year.

WMOT – JAZZ89 is the non-profit, non-commercial, public broadcasting station of Middle Tennessee State University, broadcasting at 89.5 on the FM dial. More information on WMOT is available at www.wmot.org. Additional information on National Public Radio is available at www.npr.org.

© Copyright 2005, WMOT