At NAB2007 in Las Vegas, iBiquity Digital has revealed that they've selected NDS Group to provide the industry's first conditional access solution for HD Radio.NDS Group is the same company that provides the system enabling DirecTV and Cablevision to offer pay-per-view and other opt-in services for consumers. Called RadioGuard, NDS Group's system encrypts content before it is transmitted over the airwaves, then decrypts it once the radio signal has been received and verified.
"We believe this will be key for monetizing HD Radio," said Tom Rucktenwald, director of data applications security for NDS.
Services that could be made possible through RadioGuard include pay-per-listen options for live concerts or other events, improved reading services for the blind, private channels for emergency services, and free opt-in events sponsored by advertisers. So HD Radio will not just be competing with satellite radio for listening time, but soon will be competing for subscription dollars as well.
RadioGuard-capable radio receivers are planned to be introduced to the market by the holidays.
[MediaWeek]
Who's going to pay for that shit? You can can already get censored vanilla radio for free...
Oh great, they're gonna nickel-and-dime us for mediocre concerts and content.
what? no time shifting yet? You bet its gonna be in there .. they are just keeping their mouths shut
So does that mean it competes with sat radio? Another example?
Just when I was about to purchase an HD Radio tuner now they want to charge for a subscribtion? I am putting my purchase plans on HOLD!