Hear 2.0

Another bullseye Mark.

I look at this latest effort in context with the previous "are you def yet" idea and give them props for at least creating some spots that more clearly articulate what HD Radio is.

Baby steps - I guess heh?

The baby's got to start running.

I think a lot of what you say demonstrates the disconnect between radio people and electronics people. If you put radio manufacturers in charge of this campaign, or electronics retailers, they know how to market radios.

I think you're right, George.

If it's radios you want to sell, let the radio sellers sell them.

But who's selling them? Where's Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, Target, Sears, Office Depot? In my market (based on what's on the web page), I have the choices of Radio Shack (geek central) or mailorder/online. The lack of participation by the major big box retailers doesn't lead to a lot of confidence that I wouldn't be buying some flash-in-the-pan soon-to-be-orphaned techno-gadget.

And my market's 9 HD2 choices (including "Oldies," "Dance," "Blues," "Gold," "Country") don't include anything that isn't already available on someone's main channel. Maybe if I could sample, but I'm not ready to spend $200+ just to experiment.

I also note that the "Find a Station" pages at hdradio.com have no links to the HD stations' web pages.

Gee, IF they had provided links (and ASSUMING the linked stations are smart enough to stream their HD2 programs), I might have a way to sample them before investing in a receiver. Talk about missed opportunity!

Well, certainly the availability of retail options is only going to get wider from here on out.

As for the options within any given market, you're right. It may - or may not - appeal. But even that selection is ever-changing.

Old Grouch: The way it's working in most major markets is the HD channels are alternatives. If they're rock, they're offering deep cuts. If they're country, they're offering alternative country or classic. They are trying to offer formats or approaches to those formats not on the main channels.

And in all cases I know of, the HD channels are being streamed on the internet.

All great points Mark,but there is really only one point that matters...one you've mentioned MANY TIMES!

There just is NO consumer generated demand for this product, period.

Not will there be....

I swear, I'll be "gumming" my creamed corn in a retirement home, waiting my the next round of the shuffleboard tourney before we ever see this product make a signifcant impact in the consumer's mind...

And I'm NOT that old! :)

There's no consumer demand because they don't know what it is.

I also believe there's no consumer demand because, for the most part, they're satisfied (as Mark's research has pointed out) with the free choices they already have.

I read an analyst's report a couple days ago about satellite radio, and for the first time, he downgraded satellite stock specifically because of improvements at terrestrial radio. That's an amazing statement about the quality of existing radio.

George- I understand what you're talking about, but does the average listener? (Nobody's explaining it!)

Re: Streams, I looked at 4 random HD station websites for my market.
One has NO streams (but a ton of local stuff for iPod download).
One has main channel only (and no mention of HD whatever).
One (Clear Channel) has HD stream and info hidden behind a 1/4" x 2" button. The info page includes this interesting sentence: "Now you can stream our new stations to experience the quality programming, commercial free." (!)
Last one I checked has main, HD2, and HD3 all front-and-center.

Just FWIW!

I keep saying - give away the radios, and you might get folks hooked. The idea is to get people to listen to the content, which they can only do if they have the equipment.

Giving away the radios gives folks the opportunity to sample - which could create positive buzz and hype around the HD2 stations and drive others to buy them, etc...

What HD lacks right now is any kind of momentum to get consumers to sample in the first place. It's up to the radio industry to create that momentum -and the way to do that is to give away the radios.

--*Rob

It's really not up to the radio industry. They're only partial investors in the technology. iBiquity has more at risk. The electronics industry has a lot to gain if a new product takes off. As Mark says, there's a lot of money committed to it, but is the future of radio at risk? Is it really?

The problem lies not in the details of the marketing campaign, but in the deficiency of the value proposition for listeners.

Satellite has succeeded (sort of) not because they spent $200M on promotion (they did) or executed the rollout perfectly (they didn't) but because the service itself offered listeners a better value proposition: a cable system sized banquet of radio channels (including dozens of neglected music formats), little or no advertising, 100% coverage of areas that were underserved by terrestrial radio, and a truly national service.

So the cost of the new hardware and the subscription was compensated by a strong, unambiguous value proposition: more content, desired content, uninterrupted content, national coverage. It all adds up to being worth the $12.95 a month for many millions of people.

What about online radio? Now you have tens of thousands of channels: a mind-boggling array of niche and specialty content in addition to deep choice of mainstream formats. In many cases, you have fewer or zero commercials. You have on-demand access and deep archives. You have asynchronous subscription delivery, aka podcasting. And you have ubiquitous wired access, with wide-area wireless Internet rolling out starting last year on the 3G cellular nets. And now the hardware cost is rolled into your smart cell phone, which is being upgraded every 2-3 years on average anyway.

One more benefit that's not user-centric but should get the attention of broadcasters: online provides a more flexible, more powerful platform for delivering advertising. Ask Google.

Face it, folks...when you add it up, HD Radio as a platform will never be competitive with satellite or Internet radio on a value for value basis for the end user.

All you can hope is that AM and FM will decline slowly enough that radio stations and producers can adapt to new media delivery methods while they continue to operate their old franchises. HD radio is not a new method: it's good old single channel point to multipoint local broadcasting in digital drag. It can barely provide time-shifting of favorite shows, much less the other listener/viewer value enhancements that are driving the Internet media explosion.

HD will fail to get a meaningful level of uptake, and it will waste more time and money in the process. Incumbents are stubborn that way. Broadcasters who access the situation correctly already have better places to put their development energy. I'm really sorry for the folks at iBiquity. They've worked long and hard, but the bar has been raised beyond the ability of conventional broadcasting to compensate. HD radio is just too little and too late.

Rob - I also used to think a radio give-away was the way to go - and it WOULD be - if HD actually performed as promised.

But right now, it doesn't.

Russ Oasis just posted an open letter to the industry on HD Radio. It's a typical Oasis rant. But as usual makes a few good points.

A year after this article was written, the Dallas stations are still saying "broadcasting in HD" without mentioning you need a new radio, and bragging on how well they are PROMOTING HD radio. When RCA was introducing color TV on the RCA-owned NBC network the emphasis was on CONTENT -- Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color..watch the Rose Bowl in color, Bonanza in Color, "following program is presented in Living Color on NBC" and the obvious dissatisfaction of those without color sets seeing a grey peacock.