New Haven Independent

That stands for “high definition.” Few people buy HD digital radios now; they’re expensive and hard to find. Few stations broadcast in the HD format. But that’s expected to change, fast, with HD radios replacing the radios we now use the way CD players made turntables extinct. HD radios make music played on FM sound like CDs; the technology will eventually allow listeners to download songs they like and have weather and traffic reports appear on screens whenever they want them.

And unlike with satellite radio, it doesn’t cost money to subscribe to HD radio. You just pay up front for the radio.

When stations invest in the technology allowing them to broadcast in the HD format, they’ll also be able splice extra stations onto their signal — allowing them to run, say, three different formats simultaneously.

Chain-owned WPLR and WKCI already broadcast in the format for the few people who have HD. (Click here for a list of other Connecticut HD-broadcasting stations, outside Greater New Haven.) YBC hopes to make the HD leap sometime in a year and a half or so, said Wayne S. Schmidt (pictured), director of operations.

An Unconventional Formula

Unlike those bigger stations, YBC is a not-for-profit. It trains people to work in radio while it also serves a largely African-American local audience. The “Y” stands for Yale, but the station is independent of the university. A board of students and community members runs it. It has a commercial license; it contracts with Cox Communications to sell ads. It has some 100 volunteers and a small paid staff, including program director Juan Castillo (shown in the studio Wednesday in the photo at the top of this story), whose show, “The Workforce,” airs weekdays from 3 to 10 p.m.

YBC in recent years upgraded to modern studios at 142 Temple St. And it has returned to its local, community roots. Outside of the syndicated morning drive-time “Tom Joyner Show,” all the programming is New Haven-produced. The FM station, at 94.3, includes weekday urban contemporary music, the long-running public-serve “Electric Drum” on Saturdays, and Sunday gospel.

YBC also purchased the old WNHC at 1300 on the AM dial, which it has rechristened WYBC-AM. Unlike the FM station, it sells no commercials, has a weaker signal, and runs mostly Yale-produced shows.

Despite its not-for-profit mission and largely volunteer staff, the FM station has proved its commercial mettle in recent years. The latest ratings book shows the station continuing to hold down the number-two FM position in Greater New Haven, just after WPLR, according to Schmidt.

Juan Castillo was among the community members picketing the station 18 years ago to return to its local focus. He has been an on-air mainstay ever since. He sees a message in that experience for young people in town: “Sometimes you have to open your mouth” to produce progress.