Many stations sending text data

Ever hear of the Radio Broadcast Data System ("RBDS")?

Chances are, if you are driving a fairly recent-model car or truck, you are already enjoying this technology without really knowing what it is or what it can fully do.

According to John Dehnel, chief engineer for Bonneville Radio, the most common usage of RBDS is to display by text the title and artist as songs are played.

Salt Lake-area stations KXRK ("X-96"), KODJ (FM-94.1), KZHT (FM-97.1), KRSP (FM-103.5), KXRV (FM-105.7) and KJMY ("MY-99.5") all use it so listeners can find out what they're listening to by looking at a radio's digital display. Often it comes up before the song even begins.

In addition, KUBL (FM-93.3), KBEE (FM-98.7), KENZ ("FM-101.9"), KBER (FM-101.1), KOSY (FM-106.5), KSOP (FM-104.3) and KVFX (FM-94.5) utilize RBDS to display their call letters and/or nickname on a receiver.

KSL (FM-102.7) also uses it to display program titles.

"It's actually been around for a long time," Dehnel said via e-mail, "but until recently only high-end radios were able to see it. It is broadcast via a subcarrier on an FM station frequency. Recently, car radio manufacturers have started including it in OEM radios."

Dehnel said few stations are taking full advantage of RBDS, which can also send messages, like EAS Alert text or Amber Alert information. "There are even event codes we can send that will turn radios on or force-tune them to a station for an event, say a tornado warning."

He said the listener must program the radio as to what codes to respond to. For example, whenever there's a traffic report on KSL-FM, the station can send the header code for that in RBDS. "If a radio is programmed to do so, it will immediately switch to the report, even if it's playing a CD or listening to some other station," Dehnel said.

One listener recently contacted KSL and accused the station of broadcasting with too much power and taking over his radio. He was going to complain to the FCC until KSL explained that what it was doing is perfectly legal and in fact it's encouraged by the FCC — especially for emergency alerts.

KSL also offered to help him turn off the feature if he desired.

Stations can also send text, such as DJ names, when nothing else is on the air. Stations could even send out the names of advertisers.

Dehnel believes more and more stations will make better use of RBDS in the future,

AM station legacy analog signals are not capable of broadcasting this data, he said, but the new AM HD signals are. So, If you tune in KSL in HD at AM-1160, you'll see its call letters and a "NewsRadio" promo pop up. It's not sending traffic reports there yet, but may someday.