HD Radio data testing underway in Toronto

6

HD RadioThe Broadcaster Traffic Consortium (BTC), Nautel and iBiquity have partnered with Corus Media and Entertainment in Toronto to begin testing HD Radio-delivered traffic data on CING-FM 95.3, Hamilton, Ontario, a suburb to the south of Toronto.


Industry Canada approved an experimental license for the testing.

Said BTC President Paul Brenner: “The Corus team has been a strong partner for our FM RDS business since the beginning of our network launch.  We are excited to have this opportunity to test the innovative efforts of HD Radio data with one of their Canadian stations.”  iBiquity and Nautel have also contributed in helping to use this business case as an opportunity to test and consider the use of HD Radio  technology in Canada.

The motivation behind the experimental license, HD Radio station build out and testing efforts is based largely in part to the success of HD Radio data services here in the states. Garmin, as an example of one consumer device maker, which has launched products with HD Radio-based devices, could benefit from the extension of digital radio in Canada. BTC will provide the HD Radio data services broadcast for Garmin and other automakers in the United States for traffic, weather and related services to the dashboard.

Data tests are being managed by Corus the BTC team along with a select group of current and future customers.

RBR-TVBR observation: The existing Eureka-147 DAB system in Canada was shut down in 2010, due to lack of interest and lackluster receiver sales. While the country seems not to be interested in HD Radio as a digital component to radio stations’ audio broadcasts, HD Radio does offer an ROI model for existing stations with its data services. That’s what they’re interested in for now.

6 COMMENTS

  1. So one radio station using 3 channels of bandwidth instead of one (95.1-95.3-95.5 = 600 kHz) just for some traffic info is an efficient use of radio spectrum? What happens when 94.9 Oshawa & 95.7 Barrie want to do the same thing? The mutual interference will limit the range to a few miles. Surely the same traffic data could be sent on a simple FM subcarrier.

    • You are too logical. Yes, a subcarrier is a cheap, non-profit making tool of the old school we must crush and forget. Logic is last century. This is derivative driven,key word, key phrase culturalism. The traffic reporting can help us to know why we are sitting on the freeway, perhaps allow more video sources (when the vehicle is not moving faster than 5MPH) and pave the way for better, more ‘robust’ chipsets (creating new jobs in other approved countries). I learned all of this on line. We need more interference, not less. Can you see the time when we can use the interference to stack a new quadrature of data for noise free broadcasting? I’m awakened to the agenda benders.

  2. @Jerry..apparently you don’t understand what mutual interference is. When two digital signals occupy the same bandwidth .. neither will decode. You can’t change the laws of physics.

  3. Oh wow you guys have this all wrong HD radio is IBOC signal Does Not Need An Analogue signal at all to work it will be tuned into the same frequency as the analogue fm signal say lite 95.9 fm and hd radio will piggy back off of that analoge signal one will be iboc the other analogue and will be perfectly timed so it wont sound messed up when you lose youre iboc signal hd radio will go back to analoge fm and become the same fm tuner you have right now and now with iboc witch is called hd radio you will have three stations on one channel say lite 95.9 fm calgary would look like this lite 95.9 HD-1 regular programing HD-2 95.9 hard rock channel 95.9 HD-3 news talk whats hard to understand that people and will work without analogue fm signal they just keep analogue running cuz no one wants to throw out there radio cuz it doesn’t decode HD RADIO no one knows what HD RADIO is yet are they would throw out there old fm tunners like analogue tv sets did if they found out what hd radio is and can do

  4. Is there any further update on HD Radio data testing? Is the signal available now in GTA? I will appreciate your response.

  5. HD radio would be great (especially in the GTA). I realize it’s for data right now, but how great would it be if Q107 had a HD-2 station that didn’t only play the same 7 songs from Led Zep or The Doors? 😉

Comments are closed.