Radio
Affiliate carriage and syndication
RAP TRENDS RADIO originates continuously. Affiliates receive the clean feed with legal-ID windows at the top of the hour, local commercial windows on a published clock, and now-playing metadata their automation can read.
Position
ATSC 3.0 audio
Broadcasting audio without owning a radio station.
Multiple HD audio services from one allocation.
ATSC 3.0 supports several simultaneous audio services on a single spectrum allocation. A music service, a talk or specialty format, and a Spanish-language service can ride the same signal. Which formats actually launch is a programming decision not yet made: the architecture supports several; we are not claiming several exist.
Digital broadcast audio, not FM.
ATSC 3.0 carries audio digitally using AC-4, the NextGen TV audio codec, at broadcast bitrates. It is not bound by the analogue constraints of FM. Final encoder settings and any exact quality comparison remain to be confirmed.
No separate FM broadcast licence.
An audio service carried on a licensed partner station's ATSC 3.0 multiplex does not require its own FM broadcast licence — the audio rides the partner's television spectrum under their FCC television licence.
Design allocation · not on air
One multiplex. Several audio services.
Current model: 1.50 Mbps per audio service. This is a service allocation, not an AC-4 codec bitrate or a measured quality comparison.
- Multiplex capacity
- 25.00 Mbps
- RAP TRENDS TV
- 14.00 Mbps
- 1 audio service
- 1.50 Mbps
- Other active services
- 1.00 Mbps
14.00 TV + 1 × 1.50 audio + 1.00 other = 16.50 Mbps / 25.00 Mbps capacity
Headroom: 8.50 Mbps.
TV and data keep their current allocations. The event service remains dark unless selected. Additional audio services are scenarios only; their formats and final encoder profiles have not been agreed.
Capabilities
What we can deliver today
- Clean 24/7 feed with legal-ID and local commercial windows on a published hour clock
- Hourly syndicated drops as an alternative to full-time carriage
- Now-playing metadata and cue tones compatible with standard automation
- Explicit audio never rides the affiliate feed in any daypart
- Syndicated formats available individually for licence
- Monthly local-insertion reporting through the affiliate portal
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Secure IP delivery, continuous plus hourly drops |
| Owned IP stream | AAC 128k; HLS and Icecast on the digital stream |
| ATSC 3.0 audio | AC-4; final encoder profile unconfirmed |
| Metadata | Now-playing, cue tones, automation-compatible markers |
| Feed variant | Clean only for affiliates; explicit on owned digital |
| Local avails | 12 per hour on full-time carriage |
| Territory | US for affiliate carriage; worldwide on owned stream |
Open items
Pre-launch diligence
No affiliate agreement
No station or group has agreed to carry the feed. The affiliate list is prospects and early conversations only.
Delivery vendor not selected
Affiliate delivery is in provisioning with no vendor contracted and no automation integration tested.
Partner station required
The audio rides someone else's licensed television spectrum. There is no ATSC 3.0 audio carriage without a partner station agreement, and none exists.
Music performance licensing
Performance rights are owed on the audio service regardless of transmission path. ATSC 3.0 changes the licence needed to transmit; it changes nothing about the licences needed to play music. Affiliates carry their own ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and GMR coverage. Confirm the feed sits inside your licences before carriage.
Encoder profile unconfirmed
Confirm any exact quality comparison with FM against the final AC-4 encoder profile before including it in sales material. No specific kbps-versus-FM comparison is claimed here.
Reporting never run live
Hourly and monthly reports exist in the portal but have not been produced for a real affiliate.
Status
Endpoints on this track
RAP TRENDS RADIO — internet stream
liveHLS + Icecast, AAC 128k, now-playing metadata
Territory: WORLDWIDE
Owned origin
Radio affiliate clean feed
provisioningSecure IP delivery, automation-compatible metadata, cue tones
Territory: US
Delivery vendor not selected
Contact