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People often say that HD Radio means nothing or that there isn’t anything new and different on those stations. In fact, it’s not true.

HD Radio is digitally broadcast radio which requires a decoder unit, but does not have a monthly subscription fee. In
Atlanta, several stations, though certainly not all, take advantage of HD broadcasting. Of Those, 5 stand out!

1. WABE All News: People have been begging for an all news outlet in Atlanta for years and now it’s here! They broadcast shows you never hear on regular WABE such as Tavis Smiley’s show and Day to Day. All News is 90.1 HD-3
2. WABE all Classical. If you’ve never heard classical radio is all digital before, you’re in for a treat. The notes are crisper and its good that WABE maintains a classical outlet for those interested. It would be great if this channel focused more on modern classical composers, but its great to have classical music on the airwaves. WABE Classical is 90.1 HD-2
3. WZGC Roots. This station does precisely what HD was supposed to do: give commercial stations the chance to program music currently unavailable. American Roots music flourished as an art in the 1990s in the wake of the efforts to recognize great American music pioneers and the over commercialization of art forms such as country that lost any connection to their original sound. It’s amazing to hear Gillian Welch, Plant & Krauss, and T. Bone Burnett on the radio! For the moment, this is commercial free, but that likely won’t last long. Still, just having something different to listen to is worth it. WZGC Roots is 92.9 HD-2
4. WVEE Neo Soul. Just as Dave FM looked at part of their niche market, so ‘The People’s Station’ looked at theirs and developed an all Neo Soul station for those who like newer music, but just are not in the mood for Snap. Plenty of Jill Scott, plenty of Maxwell, though a little more Michel Ndege Ocello would not hurt. 103.3 HD2
5. WVEE Simulcast of WAOK. One of the powers of FM is that at night, it does not decrease in power. For those stations which have virtually no nighttime AM presence, HD radio provides a great opportunity to expand their range! WAOK is Atlanta leading African American voice of talk radio in Atlanta. It’s an important voice, but after 6 P.M. it fades. Now the station has the chance to be heard and so to add voices. Giving more opportunities for people to speak their mind.

There are also HD opportunities which are not being realized. Here are a few ideas which various stations should consider:

• Local Music: Atlanta has a ton of musicians. We produce a ton of music in this town, but the amount of public exposure for locals on radio is not great. If stations create local channels, they’ll create loyalty and listeners.
• One of the Country stations should create a Celtic Channel. Anyone who has listen to the Thistle and Shamrock knows the diversity in Celtic music with country music’s roots in such music, a contemporary Celtic station would do well.
• Carry more sports on FM. Right now, if you like the Hawks and you live in Roswell, you can’t hear them on radio. Same with the Thrashers. Any one of the big FM stations could use the third HD channel to create Atlanta HD Sports and simulcast the games. They could also carry the Gwinnett Gladiators and college sports!

HD radio has not taken off as quickly as expected precisely because so many programmers haven’t the imagination to program new and different materials. Rather too many stations are just creating more opportunities to let more payola’d music hit the airwaves, and that’s pretty pointless. It’s just crap that sounds better.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 9:58 am and is filed under ATL Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.