Columbia, Md. - iBiquity Digital, the developer of HD Radio technology, said on Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized the use of two HD Radio services -- multicasting and datacasting -- and allowed AM HD Radio stations to begin nighttime broadcasting. HD Radio allows broadcasters to send digital signals alongside their existing analog transmissions. Multicasting allows stations to transmit multiple digital programming signals -- for differing musical genres, for instance -- while datacasting enables stations to send song information, traffic data and other content to displays on consumers' radios.  

Orlando, Fla. - The HD Digital Radio Alliance, a trade group of broadcasters promoting the adoption of iBiquity Digital's HD Radio digital broadcasting format, announced on Monday that 17 new markets plan to offer HD2 multicasting channels. The new markets -- which include Omaha, Neb., Toledo, Ohio and Syracuse, N.Y. -- bring to 85 the total number of markets to have launched multicast channels that take advantage of HD Radio stations' ability to transmit multiple digital channels alongside their traditional analog signals.