Las
Vegas – ClearChannel plans early in the third quarter
to add real-time news to the real-time traffic reports that it delivers via HD
Radio.
The announcement,
taking place at the site of National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
show, here, said that the expanded service, called
, will be
available at that time in the 63 largest metro areas. It will deliver such
information as local and national weather conditions, sports scores, and news
headlines directly to installed in-vehicle navigation systems, as well as to
such mobile devices as portable navigation devices (PNDs), equipped with HD
Radio tuners.
The first product
that will access the service will be JVC’s $1,199-suggested double-DIN
KW-NT3HDT in-dash navigation system with CD/DVD
player and embedded iTunes-tagging HD Radio, Clear Channel said. It ships at
the end of April, JVC said, and it will be the first of many devices equipped
to receive the data, Clear Channel said.
On the JVC nav system
and PNDs, the data will be displayed on the navigation screen with no audio
playback, Clear Channel said.
Total Traffic
Network delivers traffic information over analog FM radio in 125 metropolitan
areas in four countries to more than 125 million consumers through OEM vehicle
systems from BMW, Mazda, Aston Martin, Volvo (all of whom offer
subscription-free services) as well as from aftermarket products such as
in-dash nav systems and PNDs from TomTom, Garmin, Asus, Navigon, NavNGo, Mio
Technology, Delphi, Kenwood, Clarion, Harman Kardon and others.
