Journal Broadcast Group Selects Harris Corporation’s HD Radio Transmitters for Six Midwest Stations

Journal Broadcast Group, a leading Midwest radio broadcaster, has purchased six new Harris Corporation HD Radio™ transmitters for radio stations serving major markets in Oklahoma and Kansas. Harris is the Journal Broadcast Group’s exclusive provider for HD Radio™ broadcasting, with 11 transmitters now installed in four other markets.

Under this latest purchase, Harris will provide its FlexStar® family of HD Radio™ products (HDI-100 Importer, HDE-100 Exporter and HDx exciter) for the five FM stations, plus a Harris® Dexstar® exciter to enable HD Radio™ broadcasting on the AM station.

“Harris has an excellent reputation and I have confidence in their technology,” said Andy Laird, vice president and chief technology officer for Journal Broadcast Group. “When we decided to replace our older transmission equipment and upgrade these stations to digital, they were a natural fit. Harris also has an excellent and long-established training program, and that was important to us.”

The five FM stations being outfitted with the new transmission equipment include three in Wichita, Kansas — KFDI-FM, KFXJ-FM and KICT-FM — as well as KVOO-FM and KXBL-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The three Wichita stations have received new Harris® HT\HD+™ tube transmitters, a high-power tube solution designed for HD Radio™ broadcasters in need of a reliable, affordable platform for high-power broadcasting. Installation of the new Harris equipment will be performed by Journal Broadcast’s engineering staff and is expected to be completed in October.

To support HD Radio™ broadcasting, all five FM stations will use their new transmitters in conjunction with the Harris® FlexStar® HDx exciter, an award-winning Tri-Mode exciter platform for HD Radio™, analog FM, or simultaneous FM+HD broadcasting.

“The FlexStar® exciter, with its automatic channel equalization feature, makes for superior transmission quality,” said Laird. “Our experience with that exciter has demonstrated tremendous results, including ease of making transmission within the FCC mask and ease of reception.” Laird added that while they have no immediate plans to multicast, all five stations are “multicast ready” using the Harris® transmitters and FlexStar® technology.

“Harris is very pleased that Journal Broadcast Group has purchased another round of HD Radio™ transmitters, which continues our exclusive relationship for HD Radio™ transmission equipment,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications. “Harris has a long-standing relationship with Journal Broadcast Group for radio and TV transmission, comprehensive service and support, and training in our Quincy school.”

Harris Broadcast Communications provides products, systems and services that deliver interoperable workflow solutions that span the entire broadcast delivery chain. The Harris ONE approach brings together highly integrated and cost-effective products that are ideal for emerging media business models and for customers upgrading media operations to digital and high-definition services.