NCE Stations And Acknowledgements On RDS (and HD Text) To Reduce Friction

As an avid listener to radio, I can report that linear audio advertisements are incredible friction for me.

Stations licensed as “Non-Commercial Educational” (NCE) stations in the US can’t run commercials, but they can run underwriting acknowledgments, which is basically the on-air “thank you” to business donors connected with a message that contains no promotional language.

As much as I hate to admit it, linear audio underwriting announcements are also friction to me (although much less than outright commercials). Visual, though? I don’t see that as friction.

Radio, in 100% of new cars, has a visual element.

I feel that some NCE radio stations can reduce, and maybe even in some cases, eliminate, these points of audio friction with visual text messages acknowledging underwriters. And heck, images too. I’m talking about doing it through RDS (sometimes called RBDS) and HD Radio text.

According to 47 CFR 73.503(d), “No promotional announcement on behalf of for profit entities shall be broadcast at any time in exchange for the receipt, in whole or in part, of consideration to the licensee, its principals, or employees. However, acknowledgements of contributions can be made. The scheduling of any announcements and acknowledgements may not interrupt regular programming…”

It’s clear that text messages on NCE radio must be non-promotional and follow the same content rules as the linear audio. The phrase that catches my eye and makes me nervous is this one: "announcements and acknowledgements may not interrupt regular programming.”

In a 1981 report, Congress stated that interruptions must be "at the beginning and end of programs,… between identifiable segments of a longer program" or during "station breaks" where programming was "not unduly disrupted." The FCC officially adopted this definition the following year.

For argument’s sake, NCE-TV stations have the same limitation. And it’s clear that an NCE-TV station can’t run an underwriting acknowledgement in a picture-in-picture as Antiques Roadshow runs (outside of a break). So, wouldn’t an NCE radio station be prohibited from running a visual acknowledgement during programming?

At face value, without added context, it’s a grey area at best. But let’s look at historical definitions. (They go back many, many decades, before RDS and HD Radio).

"Interrupting regular programming" means stopping, suspending, or unduly disrupting the normal broadcast. RDS, according to 47 CFR 73.295(a), is not an SCA, so it’s a broadcast service which enhances the main program broadcast service. HD metadata is embedded in the broadcast signal along with audio. So this makes it seem like the same standards as TV may apply: no visual acknowledgements during the program.

47 CFR § 73.310(a) defines an “FM broadcast station” as “a station employing frequency modulation in the FM broadcast band and licensed primarily for the transmission of *radiotelephone emissions* intended to be received by the general public.”

I think that’s the key! “Radiotelephone emissions” means *audio-only*!!

This makes radio text *only* a parallel stream. While there is zero mention of visual displays, data streams, or text, it appears that the stream that cannot be interrupted is the audio stream.

So I think visual acknowledgements via RDS or HD Radio text/images are legit, even if it occurs during programming, and has the potential to make NCE radio even better!

[I’m not a lawyer, just a questionable radio metadata freak]