Washington ? For generations, radio listeners have contended with static.

That may be about to change if backers of digital radio have their way. The technology they want to roll out within a year promises custom news and information at the touch of a button, CD-quality sound for FM broadcasts and an end to AM’s hiss, crackle and pop.

The Federal Communications Commission is to decide Thursday whether to allow radio stations to broadcast digital signals and how they should do it.

Digital radio could be the biggest update to the medium since the debut of FM in the 1940s, said Ken Mueller, radio curator at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York. Mueller said that like FM, which didn’t become popular until the 1970s, “it’s going to take quite some time to phase in.”

Industry officials say they expect the FCC to approve a digital radio standard created by iBiquity Digital Corp., a company backed by large broadcasters including ABC and Viacom.

“There have not been any other digital radio solutions proposed. This is the only solution before the commission,” said Robert Struble, iBiquity’s president and chief executive.

FCC officials would not comment.

Radio stations in cities across the country are awaiting government approval to go ahead with digital broadcasts.

The iBiquity technology allows broadcasters to use their existing airwaves, sending digital and analog radio simultaneously. Since stations won’t need a new place on the radio band and there is no cutoff date for analog service, listeners without digital radios won’t have their favorite stations go silent.

Manufacturers will start taking orders in January for digital radios, which will first show up in high-end home audio systems and car stereos costing about $100 more than traditional analog models, Struble said.