HD Radio: The latest developments

How Serialization Benefits Radio Broadcasters
By Tom Rucktenwald and Hugo Latapie of NDS Americas

Platform operators in satellite and cable TV have successfully used serialization for many years.  Because radio has never required or used the process before, few broadcasters understand the serialization concept or the advantages it offers. 

Serialization opens up many possibilities for HD Radio broadcasters and consumers. This paper discusses the serialization process, how serialization works within the HD Radio ecosystem and the benefits that broadcasters can realize and consumers can enjoy. 

Serial Numbers
Most people understand the general concept of serialization: each device, item or software program has a unique serial or identification number assigned to it which manufacturers and consumers use for verification and warranty purposes.

But serialization goes beyond just a number; it also offers the opportunity to embed valuable digital information that can be used by both the manufacturer and the broadcaster.  While the consumer who listens to their radio might simply see the serial number, the broadcast system and the radio receiver can work together to capitalize upon the important information that is associated with each radio.

Serialization Process
All HD Radio receivers will soon be serialized.  The serialization is built into the radio receiver through HD Radio decoder ICs (integrated circuits).  New integrated circuits, like those built by NXP, SiPort, Samsung, ST Micro, and Texas Instruments will soon have this serialization.  This integration is part of the manufacturing process and is one of the key benefits of HD Radio conditional access (CA).

As each integrated circuit is manufactured, it is given a unique serial number and specific information that mates to that serial number.  The serial number and related information come from a black box server associated with every HD Radio IC decoder manufacturing line. 

The source of the black box information is a master serialization server located at NDS, the HD Radio conditional access provider.  NDS is bringing the CA and serialization knowledge and experience used in pay-TV to HD Radio. The server coordinates all of the unique serial numbers and all of the additional information that the system will use for every manufacturer.  As the IC manufacturer processes the serial numbers and information, the results are reported to the master serialization server and then stored in the National Resource Manager (NRM).  The NRM is the database of all valid radios using HD Radio conditional access.  That database is then available to all broadcasters using the system. 

For years, TV set top box manufacturers have used this serialization process successfully and have seen no difference in IC yield or quality. 

Serialization and Conditional Access in HD Radio
Conditional access uses serialization by assigning entitlement rights through the addressable ICs.  Entitlements are secure and can be individually addressed, group addressed, or addressed to all devices.  This rights information transfer must be secure because the system must be safe from piracy and spoofing.

Through serialization, the broadcaster can transmit data and audio securely to any individual radio, such as information, programming and content to groups of radios owned by like-minded consumers.

When this happens in an automatic and intelligent way, without need of direct continuous requests from the listener, the radio industry has discovered something very exciting.  Even more interesting is how this secure form of communication can be used in advertising.

The Benefits of Targeting Advertising
As a free service, radio is profitable because of advertising.  Radio advertising is expected to generate an estimated $17B of revenues in 2008.  As lucrative as this seems, radio advertising revenue is declining.  Targeted advertising will reverse this downward trend. 

The value of targeted advertising varies from 10 times CPM (cost per thousand) on the optimistic side to a conservative 15% total industry uplift.  But just 15% of $17B is an extra $2.55B for the industry. 

The extra revenue exists because the audience is more valuable to the advertisers, who know that they can get their message to consumers who are specifically interested in their product or service.  Would a car manufacturer or local car dealership spend more to advertise to qualified consumers that will buy within the next 3 months?  Yes, they will.  While the CPM may be significantly higher, the total dollar amount for a small local advertiser would be less and much more effective when they approach only the population that will be interested in their product or service. 

Within this system, broadcasters can sell the same airtime several times over, increasing their revenue opportunities, while the advertiser effectively reaches engaged consumers.  The consumer then learns only about products and services that mean something to their lives.  It is a win-win for everyone.

Serialization also facilitates additional targeted applications like automated recording, pushed data applications and programming recommendations or offers.  Implementing targeted advertising also makes niche program offerings possible and profitable

Sign-up Can Be Optional
Traditionally, consumers are required to sign up for such a service.  Each user would make his/her desires known via a telephone call or web registration.  To some, however, signing up is a barrier as consumers may not want to take the time to do so.

Radio and mobile receiver manufacturers are contemplating a return path via various technologies.  Once a return path is present, the registration is no longer required and can be optional. 

In this scenario, when the consumer discovers a desirable application or service through their radio, the system can, via two-way connectivity (return path), identify itself and begin associating with the offering.  As the program proceeds, the consumer can indicate their opinion of it. The radio will then react accordingly in the future.  

Registration is still the most desired relationship.  Through registration and opting into a program, the consumer provides clear direction, and their listening behavior and feedback can be used to modify future offerings generated through the broadcast.  The radio entitlements are modified to target the listener habits.  This approach provides a customized offering and a higher satisfaction level.  Eventually, broadcasters will find ways to reward this loyalty and participation, offering them yet another marketing opportunity.

Serialization Is the Key
This new world is available because radio receivers are uniquely identifiable using CA.  Many of the applications that will target serialized units will be automated.  The consumer can use these radio units as a common item; they will not need an advanced degree in operations.  The next-generation radio will simply have advanced capabilities not available today.  The key to this new capability is the unique serialization information that the radio carries and the secure route that it is delivered on.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Thomas Rucktenwald is the Director of Data Applications Sales at NDS Americas, located in Costa Mesa, CA.  Tom is responsible for the business implementation of NDS RadioGuard, the HD Radio conditional access solution. He has a great deal of experience working in the broadcast and entertainment industries, having previously worked for CBS, Sony Music, and Broadcast Technology Partners. Tom can be contacted at trucktenwald@nds.com.

Hugo Latapie is chief technology officer at NDS Americas. He has over 20 years experience designing and implementing mission critical systems for the defense, medical, and telecommunications industries. His research interests include radar data imaging systems, telemetry systems, large-scale distributed systems, databases, cryptography, embedded systems, digital television, and HD radio. He is a member of the IEEE and ACM and can be contacted at hlatapie@nds.com.

Reality Check from BE’s HD Radio Town Hall 
Consumer awareness up, receivers on the rise and digital mapping and iTunes tagging show promise
By Ray Miklius, Vice President Studio Systems, Broadcast Electronics

The HD Radio Town Hall webinar hosted by Broadcast Electronics (BE) last week was like graduation day for many of us.   

It was evident to me and to many of the 90 attendees listening in, that sometime in the last year or two, HD Radio has graduated into something of significance to consumers, radio manufacturers and broadcasters. 

Speaker Diane Warren, President of the HD Radio Alliance, informed us that more than 77 percent of the public is now aware of HD Radio. Just as important, receiver manufacturers are starting to turn out HD radios in a larger variety and number. HD Radio models are approaching the 100 mark this holiday season, according to a slide put up by Scott Stull with iBiquity.
 
In fact, Scott could have been speaking for most of us when he commented on another slide showing a trend line of HD Radio station adoption that now represents 47 percent of all U.S. listeners and covers 84 percent of the U.S. population. “What you are looking at is 10 years of my life on a single page,” he commented.

We’ve certainly come a long way from the early days of having to FedX the only 30 or so HD Radio receivers from show to show – not models, but actual receivers!  For those of us who mostly dabble in the advanced data end of HD Radio, the latest developments are especially meaningful.

iTunes Tagging Reinforces Radio as Predominant Source of Music Discovery

Of these, iTunes tagging is perhaps the most exciting. As Michael Cooney, VP and CTO for Beasley Broadcast, pointed out during the webinar last Wednesday, radio is still the predominant source of music discovery. iTunes tagging reinforces that position and at the same time, turns radio from a one-way medium into a perceived two-way medium – with a potential source of new income to boot.   

The idea behind iTunes tagging is that listeners can “tag” songs they hear on-air for later purchase and download to their iPods. The latest generation of HD Radio receivers has a button they can press for this and other commerce purposes. Later, when they are at their computers, they can view the songs they selected for purchase and download them via the Apple iTunes music store to their iPods.

The revenue part for broadcasters comes in the form of a service fee charged for each song a listener buys from Apple iTunes.

Radio manufacturers seem genuinely interested in tagging, too. Polk Audio, JBL, Sony and Jensen all have HD Radio iPod docking systems with iTunes tagging.

For stations already broadcasting in HD Radio, this application is fairly straightforward and inexpensive to add. Michael explained during the webinar that Beasley simply added an application plug-in to its BE The Radio Experience (TRE) Message Manager system. The TRE Message Manager suite is an automation system similar to any music automation system in the studio, only for text. Beasley has been using BE’s TRE Message Manager suite to generate text messages like song title and artist name that are broadcast to HD Radio and RDS radios.

To add iTunes tagging capability to the TRE Message Manager, Beasley added the Jump2Go application. Jump2Go Go Commerce embeds the correct Apple tags and provides the synchronization required for earmarking songs in real-time as they’re played over the air.

Navteq and Others Interested in HD Radio for Distributing Data
Data distribution is another HD Radio application that shows great promise as a way to inject new income into radio stations. Paul Brenner, VP of Integrated Technologies for Emmis Communications, spoke about this application at the webinar last Wednesday, specifically Navteq’s interest in HD Radio for distributing mapping data to its in-vehicle units. 

Navteq, which is now owned by Nokia, is the dominant map maker in the world; Navteq digital maps are use by mapquest.com, for example.

It was just a few years ago that Emmis, BE and Navteq began experimenting with sending data over HD Radio to refresh in-vehicle map systems with traffic and other information. And, it hasn’t been too long ago that we actually put that idea to the test – more recently on an Emmis station in Chicago using BE’s The Radio Experience data manager system and conditional access technology to establish a pay-per-view business model.

Now, this idea has taken root in the industry. It has grown into the Broadcast Traffic Consortium, a coalition of stations across the nation to provide a nationwide footprint for distributing digital information to end devices like mapping systems. And, as Paul pointed out, the data distribution model isn’t confined to traffic or mapping data. Broadcasters can plug any data source into the BE TRE Message Manager system for distribution over HD Radio. There’s no limit to the number of applications and information HD Radio can distribute to devices.

There is still much to explore when it comes to the potential of HD Radio, but for the most part, the webinar last week showed us all that much of the hard work has been done already.

By Ray Miklius, Vice President Studio Systems, Broadcast Electronics
Quincy, Ill. rmiklius@bdcast.com 217-224-9600

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