Digital Radio!  Something good happens!

But, as usual, there are the lone voices who oppose progress.  On their web site they point out with charts and graphs that digital radio limits your choice.  These folks actually equate digital radio with radio in Nazi Germany! (Look at the right sidebar.)  Of course, the real reason they oppose digital radio is that they can't afford to go digital. 

If you read into the site a little more, what they really want is a clear channel for their LPFM station so that no adjacent stations can cause any desensitation of the receivers of their listeners at the edge of their coverage area.  (The capture effect ensures that when a listener is within the coverage area of a LPFM station that the signal of the station will be demodulated.)

Look a little deeper, and you'll see that the FCC specifies that the service range of a LPFM station is 5.6 kilometers.  That's only 3.5 miles!  The FCC also specifies that LPFM stations are not protected from interference that may be received from other classes of FM stations (i.e. commercial FM stations).

So, when you get down to the bottom of it, they don't have a leg to stand on.

I'm excited about digital radio!  I think it will bring more choice, more fidelity, and more valuable services.