ABSTRACT
According to the National Radio Systems Committee, a successful digital radio technology is one that provides “a significant improvement over the analog systems currently in use.” 1 To understand the chosen U.S. digital radio system’s troubles with regard to achieving this goal requires an overview of its fundamental deficiencies. The system’s invasive spectral occupancy, lack of meaningful bandwidth capacity, and wholly proprietary nature conspire to keep it from reaching a threshold of transformative potential for radio broadcasting.
