A content analysis of HD radio station programming to determine if/how commercial and noncommercial broadcasters are using their FCC-granted digital spectrum to promote localism, diversity, and serve the public interest.

HD radio has the potential to reinvigorate radio through the creation of anywhere from three to five times the number of stations than are currently possible in a local market with analog technologies. However, HD radio’s rollout has also raised a number of questions. The FCC has essentially handed over this additional spectrum to incumbent broadcasters without thinking seriously about the long-term implications of this transition, how it related to media ownership in local markets and its bearing on the Commission’s public interest obligations. FMC proposes a HD radio playlist analysis project during which a researcher would examine HD radio programming, and determine whether programming is increasing diversity, or addressing local issues or community interests. The completed research would be published and submitted to the FCC, along with any appropriate policy recommendations that would be determined based on the results.

Terrestrial radio is currently undergoing a major transformation. Using a technology called In Band, On-Channel (or IBOC), thousands of commercial and noncommercial broadcasters are transmitting analog signals simultaneously with higher quality digital signals on their existing spectrum. In other words, stations are using their allotted spectrum to broadcast both an analog and digital signal at the same time.

Unlike analog broadcasts, which bleed over onto adjacent frequencies, HD radio signals are interference-free. Since there’s no need to compensate for the fade off of the station’s main channel, the spectrum can be used much more efficiently. As a result, the station’s adjacent or “side channels” can be used for new purposes, including entirely different programming, transmitting stock prices or traffic information, or even delivering software updates to cars.

Most artist and public interest groups have expressed broad support for the opportunities that digital radio presents to citizens and musicians. If implemented wisely, HD radio has the potential to reinvigorate radio through the creation of anywhere from three to five times the number of stations in a local market than are currently possible with analog technologies. Clearly, a more efficient use of the public spectrum means more opportunities for local programming, “niche” stations that focus on specific genres like bluegrass, jazz, classical or world, and more voices on the air.

However, the emergence of this technology also raises a number of questions about how the FCC should define and enforce public interest standards on HD radio. Incumbent broadcasters stand to triple their licenses’ usable spectrum, and the FCC has essentially handed this valuable spectrum over to incumbent broadcasters without considering the long-term implications of this transition, how it relates to media ownership in local markets and its bearing on the Commission’s public interest obligations. During the FCC’s DAB proceeding in 2003, many public interest groups urged the FCC to use this opportunity to address ownership consolidation and articulate specific public interest obligations for HD radio, but no such principles were adopted.

In an effort to redirect the FCC’s attention on the question of public interest standards on HD radio, FMC proposes a playlist analysis project. Over a six-month period, a researcher would conduct a thorough quantitative analysis of a variety of HD radio stations currently available to examine the types of programming being offered on station’s HD channels. The HD radio station programming would be compared with other offerings in the same market, both analog and digital, to determine whether the HD radio station programming is increasing diversity, or programming that addresses local issues or community interests. The completed research would be published and submitted to the FCC, along with any appropriate policy recommendations that would be determined based on the results.

This work should be complete by the end of 2008, in order to take advantage of a likely transition in FCC leadership following the upcoming Federal election.