HD Radios To Get Sporty

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 5/12/2009

New York – Multicast HD Radio channels could become a mecca for sports fans who can’t get enough of their favorite team.

FM station WXDX, the radio rights holder to Pittsburgh Penguin games, will launch a 24-hour HD2 channel covering all things Penguin and NHL. Programming will air 24/7, the station said, beginning with training-camp coverage in September.

In Dallas, all-sports stations KRLD-FM, the radio rights holder of Dallas Cowboy games, plans to use its HD2 channel to provide Cowboys and NFL talk and programming on a 24-hours-a-day basis. The programming will also be streamed online around the clock every day of the year. A start date was unavailable.

On its HD2 channel, WXDX will include a live local weekday show, classic Penguins games, and other NHL and hockey-related programming, including training-camp coverage. The content will also be streamed online.

“This is a growing trend,” HD Radio developer iBiquity said.

Earlier this year, The HD Digital Radio Alliance launched a 13-week radio-ad campaign whose focus includes a digital radio’s ability to tune into multicast HD2 and HD3 channels broadcast by digital FM stations. The radio ads will drive consumers to www.HDRadio.com to learn about new station formats they can hear on the multicast stations.

As of late March, 1,000 multicast stations were being broadcast, iBiquity said.