New Radio Technology Can Name That Tune

You’re driving in your car. You turn on the radio. The station is playing a Bruce Springsteen song, but you don’t need a deejay to name that tune. Right there, on the radio console, a text panel reads, “Springsteen, ‘Fire,’ 1986.”

Change stations and the message changes too: “WXYZ-FM Jazz 109.” On another: “Drink Coca-Cola.” On another: “Orioles 4, Blue Jays 2.”

Or maybe you’re just riding along in silence, unaware that a toxic-waste spill has tied up the interstate a few miles ahead. As if by magic, the radio turns itself on and tunes in a public-safety broadcast that warns you of the delay.

The humble radio, that most ubiquitous of consumer-electronic appliances, is about to enter a new age. Thanks to a technology called radio broadcast data system (RBDS), the next generation of portable radios, car stereos and home receivers may soon be able to perform a variety of “smart” tricks that could transform the conventional radio into a multifaceted wonder.

By pressing a preset button on an RBDS radio, for example, a listener can automatically scan stations by format, tuning in only those playing country music or classical music or rock. If a station’s signal becomes weak, the receiver instantly can switch to a stronger station playing the same program, a “hands-off” function that will make it possible to listen to ballgames or National Public Radio while driving from city to city.

Home RBDS receivers with larger display panels will be able to receive more textual data than those in cars. These larger units may enable broadcasters to send airline schedules, weather reports and stock market quotes, according to those familiar with the technology. One entrepreneur has proposed sending coupons to loyal listeners equipped with RBDS radios and home computer printers.

RBDS technology even makes it possible for car radios to become paging devices. Imagine driving down the freeway and seeing the words “phone home” pop up on your dashboard.

“Radios are in so many places that anything that enhances their usefulness is very, very exciting,” said Robert Heiblim, president of Denon America Inc., the domestic unit of the Japanese consumer-electronics company. “There isn’t any reason this shouldn’t succeed.”

Incorporating these new features will raise the cost of radios by $50 to $100, although the cost is likely to fall as sales increase and manufacturers boost production, Heiblim said.

The technology has manufacturers such as Denon excited for a good reason: The average American household owns six radios, including car radios, and more than 50 million radios were bought in the United States last year, according to the Electronic Industries Assn., a Washington-based trade group.

Not wanting to be left out, 37 manufacturers, including Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.’s Panasonic unit and General Motors Corp.’s Delco automotive-radio group, are expected to bring RBDS radios to market early next year. Manufacturers and broadcasters are in the final stages of approving an agreement to establish common RBDS standards for the radio receivers and the transmitting devices stations will use.

RBDS technology is a byproduct of the computer revolution and has been in use in some European countries since 1987. In rough terms, it works like this: A radio station, outfitted with special equipment, sends an extra, inaudible signal along with its normal audio channel. The extra signals are sent in digital form--that is, in the ones and zeros that make up the binary language of computers.

A RBDS radio receives and decodes the incoming signal with the help of a special microchip. The decoder can recognize a unique identity code sent by each station, permitting the station to send customized messages such as sports scores, call letters or ads to the radio’s display panel. The station also sends out a standardized format code that is recognized by the radio’s built-in scanner. The code enables the station to be identified by its broadcast format, such as easy-listening or talk-show programs.

Instead of scanning all stations in a market, as many radios now are capable of doing, the RBDS unit picks out only those stations in the desired format, a potential boon for travelers who aren’t familiar with a city’s radio lineup. However, with only 24 format codes available, some program directors complain that their station’s format won’t easily fit one of the categories.

“What this does is conceivably very interesting,” said Terry Denbrook, director of engineering for station KUOW-FM in Seattle. “It’s going to work technically. Whether it works from a marketing perspective is an open question. It all depends on what (broadcasters) do with it.”

Broadcasters appear to be slowly warming to the technology. About 30 radio stations nationwide, including Denbrook’s Seattle station, have successfully sent RBDS broadcasts to the few thousand receiving units in use, said Gerald LeBow, president of Sage Alerting Systems Inc.

LeBow said the equipment that stations need to send RBDS broadcasts is relatively cheap--$1,500 to $4,500--and that broadcasters are pleased by the technology because it allows them to display their call letters and format, which helps listeners remember the station during ratings periods.

One potential offshoot of the technology may be the creation of ad-hoc programming and advertising networks, said Ken Springer, a digital communications engineer at the National Assn. of Broadcasters in Washington.

Since RBDS automatically passes listeners on to the same program no matter how far they travel, stations along the East Coast or in the Midwest may simulcast the same programs and jointly sell advertising time to regional sponsors, Springer said.