Faced with having to push old media—radio—into a fresh digital form in the past 12 months, iBiquity Digital Corp, developer of the proprietary version of IBOC digital radio, has convinced an impressive number of the nation’s broadcasters to deploy the IBOC digital radio system. About 200 stations across the U.S. have converted to IBOC digital radio so far, a number iBiquity expects to increase to 600 by the end of the year and 2,500 during the next four years.

At the 2005 International CES, 21 of the nation's top radio broadcast groups (ABC, Beasley, Bonneville, Clear Channel, Cox, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Entravision, Greater Media, infinity, Jefferson-Pilot, Journal, Liberman, NextMedia, Radio One, Regent, Saga, Sandusky, Susquehanna and Univision) announced plans to accelerate conversion of 2,000 AM and FM stations to IBOC digital radio technology. According to industry estimates, there are 13,500 radio stations in the U.S., all with a potential to upgrade to the digital technology offered by IBOC digital radio.

In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) digital radio transforms AM and FM radio by transmitting digital audio and data simultaneously with the existing analog broadcast. It provides subscription-free digital sound, without the static and hiss associated with analog broadcasts and gives stations the ability to broadcast additional information on their programs as well as local traffic conditions, stock and news information, and weather directly across the radio's display.

Another attractive feature of IBOC digital radio is its supplemental audio technology, which allows several digital audio streams to be broadcast using a single carrier frequency. In practice, a radio station could either simultaneously broadcast the same program in several languages or engage in multi-casting, so consumers could choose to listen to talk shows, rock or jazz programming channels, all on a single frequency. National Public Radio’s “Tomorrow Radio” initiative is aimed at producing content for IBOC digital radio’s supplemental audio services. NPR has 309 affiliate public radio stations currently converting to IBOC digital radio.

One major barrier to widespread acceptance of IBOC digital radio has been the paucity of available hardware. That’s rapidly changing as manufacturers such as Alpine, JVC, Kenwood, Panasonic and Sony have announced IBOC digital radio-ready models will be included in their new model line-ups. Better still, prices for some new IBOC digital radio receivers have dropped by some 50 percent. Panasonic’s $499 second generation IBOC digital radio equipped CD receiver, for example, replaces last year’s model that carried a $999 price tag.