Houston radio in hi-def

Most are familiar with HD (high-definition) television, which will become the standard for TV over the next few years, but not everyone knows about HD radio. At the beginning of the year, Clear Channel Communications debuted HD radio for some of their local frequencies. More recently, non-profit KUHF premiered their HD frequency.

The supposed draw to HD radio is CD-quality sound and more format choices. We listened to a few of these online, and discovered that the variety doesn’t match up to satellite radio:

• KKRW (93.7 HD): Adult Alternative – Houston needs an “adult alternative” station badly, but this one doesn’t seem to cut it. A classic Van Morrison song followed by Stray Cats “Rock This Town” and UB40’s “Red Red Wine”?
• KTBZ (94.5 HD): Alternative – We give them kudos for being a little more true to the word “alternative” than the regular 94.5, but it seems like if an act isn’t on a major label, they still won’t get played on HD radio.
• KHMX (96.5 HD): New Top 40 – Think of a mix of KRBE and The Box. Very heavy on the hip-hop tracks, but it doesn’t really break any new ground in Houston.

The HD radios are still relatively expensive, so we don’t think that your average consumer will be embracing it soon. The marketing behind it emphasis that there are no subscription fees, unlike XM and Sirius, but with the formats they are giving us thus far, we’d still rather pay for our music.

Here’s a complete list of statewide HD radio stations.