Friday, March 14, 2008

San Antonio College Station Converting to HD

San Antonio College radio station KSYM-90.1 FM is working on a switch to high-definition programming. According to a piece in The Ranger:

"After 42 years of an analog FM signal, KSYM is upgrading to a new high-definition sound...Converting to an HD signal allows AM frequencies to sound more like FM frequencies, and KSYM's FM signal is expected to sound as good as a CD. HD gets rid of the static and popping that interferes with the listening experience."

The article continues:

"...[station manager] Onderdonk said that KSYM will buy the license from iBiquity before the June 30 deadline to avoid an extra $10,000 fee. However, he is not sure when KSYM will actually convert to high definition because the change requires purchasing equipment and software that could cost upwards of $100,000.

According to iBiquity.com, some colleges in Texas that have switched are Texas A&M University in Commerce and Bryan-College Station, Texas Tech University in Lubbock, University of Houston and University of Texas at Austin and El Paso."

I'm kind of amazed that there are college stations upgrading to HD considering the tremendous costs associated with it. I gather it must be a multi-step process with incremental costs along the way. If you're at a station considering the conversion to HD, I'd love to hear about the process, advantages, disadvantages, etc. By the way, you can find a list of radio stations broadcasting in HD here.

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