Radio with HDTV audio band? (1 Viewer)

As I discussed elsewhere, I thought about getting the Sony S-Air so we could listen to the TV news while preparing dinner, but $120 for that limited purpose seems overdoing it (and reviews of the required transmitter were negative). We don't need the cable channels, just the broadcast bands.

In the old days I would have purchased a radio with the TV audio bands, but since hi-def, they don't work any more.

Does anyone know of an inexpensive product that will serve the purpose?

Thanks,

Len

My guess (without any research) is no. Remember that in analog TV the audio (FM) was on a seperate carrier than the video (AM) so it was easy to build a receiver that just received the audio portion of the TV channel. Now, the video and audio are combined into one bitstream (or RF carrier) so the receiver has to decode the entire package (video & audio) to pick-off either. In my case, I just bought the cheapest 720P LCD TV I could find for the kitchen (to just watch the news!). You are still looking at a couple hundred dollars though......


EDIT: I just remembered that there are a few battery operated digital TVs at the link below that are mainly designed for emerency situations (like hurricanes in my area). They do not cost too much. http://stormprepare.com/Battery_TV.htm

I just got the Viore PLC7V95 7-Inch Handheld LCD TV with Built-in Tuner for about a hundred bucks from Amazon. That won't take up much space in the kitchen... and if the sound isn't good enough, I can probably find a pair of speakers in the PC graveyard in the basement.

Len