Spotlight : We’re now dialed in with local HD radio
The era of HD (high definition) radio has arrived in Spokane.
Two Clear Channel stations, KCDA-FM (103.1) and KQNT-AM (Newstalk 590), began broadcasting in HD last week.
HD radio does for sound what HDTV does for picture quality: It makes things crystal clear. What may prove more significant, in the long run, is that it allows a station to run multiple programming streams.
So now KCDA-FM consists of two different stations:
“The original one at 103.1-1, which plays the usual format of “Familiar New Music and Less Talk.”
“And a second stream at 103.1-2, called the Cosmos Lounge. It consists of “adult rhythmic” music, with artists such as Donna Summer, Bobby Brown, Prince and Barry White.
The only catch: You have to own an HD radio to hear it. Conversion kits, which transform a regular radio to HD, can be had for about $100. HD radios cost about $160 on up.
(Of course, you can still listen to the regular KCDA-FM and KQNT-AM on your old radio – it just won’t be in high-def.)
Clear Channel plans to add HD to all of its stations by the end of the year. The next one will be KKZX-FM (Classic Rock, 98.9) which should go HD by the end of the month. It will have a second stream with an all-blues format.
These secondary streams will all be commercial-free, interruption-free and mostly announcer-free, said Kosta Panidis, vice president and general manager of Clear Channel in Spokane.
How clear is it?
I borrowed an HD radio for a few hours and can report that the sound is indeed clearer, with no hint of static or hiss. The improvement is especially obvious on the AM side. It simply doesn’t sound like muddy AM radio anymore. It sounds like FM.
Is it a big enough improvement to make HD radio catch on? That’s the only thing still not clear.
More Civic benefits
The Spokane Civic Theatre has raised a little more than one-third of the $30,000 it needs to send its production of “Assassins” to the national finals of the American Association of Community Theatres in Charlotte, N.C., next month.
Here’s a reminder of two more benefits:
“”Lonely Planet,” a performance reading, tonight at 7:30 in the Firth J. Chew Studio Theatre, 1020 N. Howard (Dean Avenue entrance). Tickets are $20, available by calling (509) 325-2507 or at the door.
“A Musical Revue, featuring Civic favorites performing show tunes, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Unity Church, 2900 S. Bernard. Tickets are $20, available by calling (509) 838-6518.
Allegro at Hutton House
Allegro Baroque & Beyond will hold a pair of history-themed concerts on May 20 at 2 and 4:40 p.m.
It’s called “An Afternoon with Liza Lehmann and May Arkwright Hutton,” although neither of those luminaries will be in attendance, for the good reason that they are long dead. Lehmann was an English composer who died in 1918 and Hutton was the Spokane suffragette whose home the concert will take place in.
Featured artists will include soprano Maria Jette, baritone Randel Wagner, pianist Yi-chun Chen and oboist-artistic director David Dutton.
The Hutton House is at 2206 E. 17th Ave. For tickets, call Allegro at (509) 455-6865.
The Diamonds connection
The ‘50s vocal group the Diamonds, who are coming to the Northern Quest Casino May 26-27, has a Gonzaga University connection in its current version.
Joe Finetti, who fronts the Diamonds these days, began his career as a music student at Gonzaga. This lineup contains none of the original Diamonds. Finetti joined in 2003.
The Diamonds had Top 10 hits in the late 1950s with “Little Darlin’,” “Silhouettes” and “The Stroll.”
Call Northern Quest at (509) 340-6700 for tickets.
Here comes ‘Cinderella’
The Spokane Children’s Theatre opens Rodgers and Hammerstein’s tuneful version of “Cinderella” today at the Lair Auditorium at Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St.
There will be two performances today, at 1 and 4 p.m. Then the show continues on various dates through June 3.
For a complete performance schedule, call (509) 328-4886 or go to www.spokanechildrenstheatre.org. Tickets are available through TicketsWest outlets (509-325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com) or at the door.