Why HD Radio May Not Make It

Despite the constant stream of upbeat reports from the HD Alliance and iBiquity Digital, there are plenty of reasons to doubt whether HD Radio will have a significant impact on radio. Sales of HD radios have been anemic. Only one in four people are even aware of HD Radio--this after millions of dollars promoting the medium. And awareness is not growing. A well reasoned explanation of why HD is failing can be found at Radio Business Report. Read it here.

Here are the key points:

1) The name is wrong. Brands and Logos create expectations. Why on earth pick a name that was already taken? Why unnecessarily create the impression of a brand extension, one of the toughest marketing stunts to pull off even in the best of circumstances?

2) HD Radio is not listener/consumer-driven. HD Radio has neither compelling content nor is it convenient to use or understand.

3) Connecting the sub-programming to an existing brand on the dial makes no sense to the audience. We spend decades building a brand we willingly dilute with HD-2.

4) Too many people are underwhelmed when they hear HD.

5) The commercials don't work. 

Unfortunately, the majority of these problems cannot be fixed. We are stuck with a system and name that cannot be changed, so even if content is improved there's little reason to expect that listeners will embrace HD. As we wrote some time ago, radio would be better served to invest in streaming and other Internet initiatives rather that waste any more resources in HD Radio.

Comments

[paul vincent zecchino]

Listeners don't want HD. BigRadio does, to jam competitors off the air and listeners into submission.

Their favorite stations jammed by HD, listeners turned off the radio.

BigRadio's stocks plummetted lower than sewer pickles.

Nice job, BigRadio. Kudos to sellout engineers who pimped this self-serving scheme to a wary public:

"I have balls" screamed one. Wow! Great sales pitch! A real closer, that.

"We're going digital - get over it", blats another.

My fave, "HD, our inevitable digital future".

I'm sold! How 'bout you?

Inevitable. Isn't that how they saw the New York arrival - of the Titanic?

If only HD didn't jam, many would welcome it. But it does. HD jams.

Dr. Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
15 April, 2008

[bobyoung]

HD radio is the biggest lead balloon to not launch this century, the 8 track machine was a smashing success compared to it. Why it is not already dead and buried is a mystery until you look at all the machinations iBiquity and the iBlock Alliance have done with the rubber stamp FCC who gave them a monopoly. I guess this proves that even with all the money in the world behind you you can't foist off a piece of junk radio model onto the public, especially when they are so many other better and easier choices to choose from that don't need roof top antennas to lock onto an HD signal more than ten miles away from the transmitter (if you are lucky).

[PocketRadio]

Consumer interest in the HD Radio farce remains flat:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com