One of the many advantages of electric cars is most of them either come standard or available with HD Radio.
If you haven’t tried out HD Radio yet you’re in for a treat.
Most major U.S. cities have a dozen or more HD Radio channels in addition to what’s available on traditional AM and FM. As an example, the NPR affiliate operates three HD Radio channels in addition to its flagship news station here in Jacksonville, FL.
WJCT Public Media’s latest HD Radio channel is called The Independent (89.9 HD4), which has a format that can’t be found on Jacksonville’s traditional FM dial.
The Independent team is featuring local Northeast Florida bands in its playlist of new music at 20 minutes after every hour, like Jacksonville-based hip-hop artists L.O.V.E Culture and alternative-band Faze Wave.
WJCT also has a 24-hour classical HD Radio channel (89.9 HD2) and a 60s, 70s and 80s channel called Anthology (89.9 HD3) that has a much larger playlist than any other offering in Jacksonville.
WJCT Arts and Culture Editor Matt Shaw says HD Radio is allowing him and Station Manager David Luckin to go deep in a way that isn’t possible with just one traditional FM channel.
“I think we have like just a really well rounded selection of music where you can find anything and I think music listening culture today is much more genre agnostic. People don’t say ‘oh I like rock,’ or ‘I like pop.’ People aren’t siloed in that way anymore and people like to listen to everything,” said Shaw.
Like many, Shaw has his HD Radio on when he’s driving. “If I’m not listening to the news (WJCT News 89.9 HD1), you know, I’ve read the news already in the morning, and I’m trying to keep my news diet down and I want to listen to music all day, I’ll pop into Anthology (89.9 HD3) and hear something that I haven’t heard in a long time, or The Independent (89.9 HD4) and discover something new and then I do like sometimes to have a mellow drive with classical (89.9 HD2).”
Luckin has been the host of a long-running Jacksonville show called the Electro Lounge, which airs at night on The Independent, but his musical taste extends well beyond “downtempo” and “chillout.” He also programs Anthology.
“I’m really proud of that station because we have mixed up music from the 60s, 70s and 80s. And it’s really a wonderful thing to stir up all those really great memories from whatever decade you’re from. There’s about 3,000 songs in rotation and I invite everyone to listen to Anthology just for the smile on their face and to sing along. Lot’s of great memories. No news, no politics, just great music.”
Anthology still mixes actual vinyl into its rotation.
“If we’re playing Springsteen, we’re playing the 12-inch mix of “Dancing in the Dark.” We’re trying to give you what you don’t normally hear.”
For those of you that don’t have HD Radios, WJCT and many other HD Radio channels also stream their music in apps and online.
Better yet, HD Radio just sounds better than traditional FM, plus in many cars it displays the artist name, title and album art just like Apple Car Play or satellite radio.
A quick way to find a full list of the HD Radio channels in your city is to go to HDRadio.com.
If you’ve enjoyed this EV Rider story and video, I hope you’ll give it a like and subscribe to my YouTube channel so I can bring you more adventures and stories about EV motoring.