Overview

Greg Pitts, Ph.D.*

* Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois).

Consumer demand for improved audio fidelity is undeniable. Access to superior digital audio technologies, such as compact discs and in the near future satellite DARS, and the perceived benefits of digitization generally, fuel such demand. We believe that an important benefit of DAB will be enhanced sound quality. DAB technology should permit significant improvements in audio fidelity and robustness over current analog service (FCC, 1999, p. 10).

The NRSC therefore recommends that the iBiquity FM IBOC [DAB] system ... should be authorized by the FCC as an enhancement to FM broadcasting in the United States, charting the course for an efficient transition to digital broadcasting with minimal impact on existing FM reception and no new spectrum requirements (NRSC, 2001, p. 9).

The word radio fails to deliver the image of sexy technology capable of competing with the latest digital communication technologies. Radio is, however, a big part of the lives of most people. Each week, the more than 13,000 radio stations in the United States are heard by more than 227 million persons, and advertisers spent $18.36 billion on radio advertising in 2001, even with a soft economy (FCC, 2001; RAB, 2001; and RAB, 2002). Changes in radio station ownership, digital technology, and marketplace forces are slowly changing the stodgy world of analog radio transmission into a digital radio future. Whether consumers will respond as willingly to the new product offerings will determine the success of new radio...