Terrestrial radio today competes with more diverse alternative forms of media delivery than ever before. This is causing erosion of radio listening market share. All of these new forms of delivery have at least one thing in common: Program Associated Data, or PAD. This is a means to visually display information about the media content on the receiver, such as station ID, slogans, talent, and program names including artist and title. This will increase perceived value of the medium, and identify and possibly promote sales of that content. To compete in this challenging and ever increasingly complex, demanding environment, terrestrial radio must provide compelling competitive features to their media to maintain favorable market share.

Terrestrial radio can use program associated data as one very important tool towards offering new features to its content. It can be used in several forms. Analog FM transmission is capable of PAD through RDS transmission and RDS capable receivers. Many OEM automotive receivers already receive RDS, so automotive receiver penetration is definitely increasing, with the added benefit that the user is usually not required to do anything to the receiver to see this program associated data, unlike satellite radio on the same receiver. The most popular portable media player, the Apple iPod® now has an FM receiver available that is RDS capable, and the Microsoft Zune™ includes an FM RDS receiver. Several mobile phones with FM receivers from SonyEricsson and Nokia also display RDS. Digital AM and FM transmission with iBiquity HD-Radio is also PAD compatible. Other uses of PAD for terrestrial radio include Now Playing information for Internet streaming web sites, large format in-studio signs and displays, automatic emergency display mode when EAS is transmitted, audio signal processor control based on program content, and commercial insertion and control for Internet streaming.