Guide
Understanding RDS/RBDS
RDS and RBDS are the small data codes riding along with every FM signal. They tell a radio what station it is, what to call itself, what kind of content is playing, and where to find it again if the signal gets weak. This guide breaks down what that data actually does and what happens when it's set up wrong.
From TWiRT episode 804
This guide comes from my appearance on This Week in Radio Tech, episode 804, where Kirk Harnack and I went through RDS and RBDS data in detail. We covered what each field does, the mistakes that quietly break things downstream, and why getting this data right matters more than most stations realize. Watch the full episode below, or grab the slide deck if you'd rather read through it at your own pace.
View the full episode page on This Week in Radio TechGet the slides
The full presentation is below as a free download, in both PDF and PowerPoint format. It covers the basics of what RDS/RBDS is, walks through each major field (PS, PTY, PI, RT+, PTYN, and more), and gets into what goes wrong when these codes are set up incorrectly, including the knock on effects for AF lists, translators, and RadioDNS lookups.