HD Radio: Why Marketing Matters

http://navigatethefuture.blogspot.com/2007/08/hd-radio-why-marketing-matters.html

I was impressed with the British Invasion in the 1960's. "Those Brits are real good", I thought to myself as the whole string of music successes starting with the Beatles came across the 'pond' to invade America.

Now, they're showing up America once again, but this time it's in the area of HD radio - or "Digital Radio" as they package it.

In a survey just released by Britain's ratings service RAJAR, more than 25% of the British population listen to digital radio, defined as Digital Audio Broadcasting, Digital Television and the Internet.

At first glance, this is rather impressive. However, when combining those three digital radio sources in the U.S., the percentage of the American populous that listens to some form of digital radio is closer to 50%:

• Internet radio - 60 million
• HD Radio - 500,000
• Digital TV - 90 million homes

What is intriguing is the marketing of digital radios (comparable to the U.S. HD concept).