A Clever Sports Quadmulcast
Written Mar. 8, 2010 by Larry Rosin in HD Radio with 1 Comment
Among the many challenges HD Radio has faced, the idea that to hear country music in New York you would go to WKTU and then somehow switch to their HD2 channel was high on the list. Not exactly an obvious match (and not really any more obvious now that Clear Channel moved country to WLTW's HD2 location).
So kudos to CBS and WJFK in Washington for making all of WJFK's HD options re-broadcasts of sister sports talk stations in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. (And as an aside, did we know there even was an HD4 before this?)
At least this creates a congruent cluster of stations built around the mothership of WJFK. And perhaps, for some Washingtonians, a true reason to buy an HD Radio.
Of course, at the same time, all of these stations are and have been available on their streams. And if one really were that big an Eagles or Yankees fan or whatever, they were probably already streaming these stations, especially in a market like DC which is among the most high-tech areas of the country.
One item not covered in the press release -- will the play-by-play broadcasts of local sports teams be available? I have to believe Major League Baseball will not allow the Mets games to be broadcast in DC. Does anyone out there know?
All that said, congratulations to CBS for a creative use of HD real estate. It sure beats an untended music jukebox. We've already seen that that compels almost no one.
Reader Comments
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Larry,
WJFK is the first station to turn on an HD4. The ability to even do so was only approved by the FCC in conjunction with the HD power boost a few weeks ago.
Additionally, Play-By-Play will presumably be handled the same way as it is online. Today, for example the Baltimore Orioles/Minnesota Twins game on WJZ-FM Baltimore was replaced by a rerun of the morning show as crosstown 980 WTEM has the rights to Orioles broadcasts in Washington.