Groove Salad, HD Radio, and is there anybody out there?

You know that we do a special version of Groove Salad for NPR, right? The catch is that it's for NPR member stations to use on their HD2 channels, which require a special HD radio, which hardly anyone actually owns.

Still, we've got a few NPR affiliates that carry us, and KPBS in San Diego was one of the first. Alas, apparently they switched formats and no one noticed:

KPBS-FM changed formats last week on its subchannel and nobody seemed to notice or call the station to complain, a surprising development considering how rabid KPBS listeners are about griping when the station does anything. (North County Times)

They go on to say:

KPBS plans to begin offering a second subchannel, known as HD-3, within the next few weeks. In a bit of a switcheroo, it will offer a format called "Groove Salad" that was previously on its first subchannel, known as HD-2.

Despite its godawful name, Groove Salad apparently has an audience, at least on the Internet. It features a lot of "chill" music that helps people relax and, if they're HD Radio executives, forget their woes for the moment. (Listen yourself at somafm.com.)

Meanwhile, a 24-hour classical music feed from Minneapolis that provides programming to KPBS at night replaced Groove Salad on the station's HD-2 subchannel.

Whew. We're coming back. And by the time we're back, there might be more than 50 people in San Diego with HD radio receivers!

Which reminds me: If you want Groove Salad in your car, and are willing to spend $200-300 on a HD radio receiver, call your local NPR station and ask them if they have plans to carry Groove Salad on their HD2 channel.