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WRAL-FM Demonstrates Digital, a New Kind of Radio Wave |
At the 15th Annual North Carolina International Auto Expo on February 20 – 23, 2003, WRAL-FM rolled out a new HD Radio receiver to give listeners a first-hand listen at digital radio. WRAL-FM showcased a demonstration of the Visteon HD Radio receiver at their booth at the Auto Expo in the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center. The Raleigh radio station became the first on the East Coast to launch high-definition radio, which produces CD-quality sound.
The demonstration made history as one of the first of its kind in the nation. The after market product will be available to consumers for use in their car later this year; the Visteon HD Radio factory has installed a prototype receiver for release in automobiles in 2004.
“We’ve got a very clear, strong signal and that will continue, but not until we get some digital receivers in the marketplace will the actual consumer or listeners be able to tell the difference,” said WRAL-FM VP & General Manager Ardie Gregory.
Dave Salemi, VP Marketing, iBiquity Digital Corporation, presented an HD Radio certificate to Gregory to mark the historic occasion. The presentation took place on Sunday afternoon, February 23, at the WRAL-FM booth at the show.
“I think it’s going to be something that’s going to be noticeable, like the difference between us playing a cassette in our car years ago and now a CD,” said CBC President & CEO Jim Goodmon.
WRAL-FM and parent company, Capitol Broadcasting Company, are no strangers to being a leader in new technology. CBC started as WRAL-AM Radio in 1937 and was one of the first local stations to convert to and FM signal, a phenomenon nay-sayers said would never last. WRAL-TV obtained the first experimental High Definition Television license in the country and was the first local station to convert its news operations to digital.
