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HD Radio Progress Report

The conference hosted by media analyst Victor Miller of Bear Sterns on Friday included Bob Struble, CEO, iBiquity Digital and Peter Ferrara President & CEO, HD Strategic Alliance. Other than the usual updates, including how many stations are broadcasting in digital and are multicasting, we got an update on the critical component to HD Radio's success-the automakers' incorporation of the units into new vehicles. So far, only BMW is officially in the game. Said Ferrara: "I think there are going to be some very exciting OEM announcements coming in 2007. We'll be concentrating a fair amount of our marketing in helping them bring those products to market." Added Struble: "The auto guys are really skittish about advanced release of plans, so that's why we've got to be a little circumspect. But the latest count is we've got nine source programs. This is where radios have been ordered and are planned to be put into cars. There are nine different manufacturers with 51 different models that we are aware of being sourced. Those will roll out over the next couple of years. As it stands now, this is looking like a very typical consumer electronic product introduction into autos, which is you see it in the high end first; you see them as options and then as momentum builds it goes down markets to the more mass market vehicles and becomes more standard." He added, "There's a ton of energy on accelerating and cultivating that. Peter and I have made multiple trips to Detroit and elsewhere with the prominent radio industry CEOs, explaining the commitment, talking about the Alliance, putting packages on the table. I know for sure that effort will continue, if not accelerate as we move into '07." Also, no new word on selling HD Radio gear at the big box retailers like Wal-Mart. Discussions are ongoing, though.

RBR observation: Things are looking better now for HD. If HD Radio gets into American autos within the next few years, accelerating the OEM rollout, HD will start becoming a household word. Quick thoughts: 1) The more we get folks listening to HD multicasts, the less they will listen to the main signal-that's OK, as long as the multicasts start making money-in a non-traditional way. 2) As the conference attendees mentioned, some multicast channels may have sponsorship hours; some may be brokered out or branded ("The Starbucks Channel" or "Circuit City Channel") to start pulling ROI. 3) Would it make sense to begin "HD multicast networks," where these new formats with their sharply-targeted demos would be present in multiple markets (ie "Techno/dub" network)? They wouldn't necessarily have to be the same exact music, DJs, etc. in each market's multicast, but could still be networked to offer the opportunity to sponsors/advertisers nationwide. It would have to be worked through the Alliance, but it seems do-able. We'll be looking into this as an option in our February print issue.

Source: Radio and Televison Broadcasting Report (RBR)

Posted 12/19/06

iPod, schmipod, radio listening remains strong

Despite the various new media to receive music and news, only a little more than one in four Americans (27%) said they are now listening to the radio less than they did five years ago. According to a survey commissioned by American Media Services, about half (51%) said their radio listening hasn't changed during the past five years, and 21% said they are now listening more. When asked to look ahead five years, only 11% said they expect to be listening to the radio less than they do now. Nearly three out of four (74%) said they expect to listen about the same, and 13% said they expect to listen more. "Radio plays a vital role in American life. Reports of radio's death seem greatly exaggerated," said Ed Seeger, American Media Services CEO, who commissioned the survey.

The survey found that Americans rate radio as their primary source to learn about new music. When asked which ways they learn about new music, 63% said by listening to the radio. In comparison, 43% said it can be through talking with friends, 41% cited watching television, 24% cited reviews in newspapers or magazines, and 16% cited the internet. Men are more likely than women, incidentally, to listen to the radio over the internet. Forty% of men, compared with 32% of women, said they have listened to the radio over the internet, but the gender gap is likely to close in the future. 42% of men and 41% of women (a statistically insignificant difference) described themselves as likely to listen to radio over the internet in the future.

Posted 9/30/06

Satellite lags terrestrial radio in number of unique songs played

Clear Channel unveiled new statistics from The Media Audit that busts the myth that satellite radio offers listeners more diversity of playlists and programming than terrestrial radio. Some examples: Triple A: From January 1st through August 22nd-- Clear Channel's KBCO-FM (Denver) -- has aired 3,959 different song titles, 82 more than XM Café (X045). Adult Contemporary: Year-to-date, CC Radio's top-rated station in the nation's largest market -- Adult Contemporary WLTW (New York -- has aired 1,308 different titles, 441 more than XM's 'The Blend.' And in market #58 (Dayton, Ohio), Adult Contemporary WLQT has aired 2,458 different titles - 1,591 more than XM's 'The Blend'. Hit Music Stations: Year-to-date, CC's top-rated Hit station -- KIIS (Los Angeles) -- has aired 485 different titles, 69 more than XM's nationwide 'HitList'. Top rated Des Moines, Iowa Hit station KKDM has aired 582 different song titles - a full 166! more than XM's 'HitList'. CC also found it interesting that The Media Audit found only an estimated 76,000 listeners for both satellite radio services in New York - the largest city in America, with a population of 14 million. That's about the listenership for a single CC Radio station in Asheville, NC, market rank 161.

Posted 9/30/06

Digital media use grows by triple digits among AAA listeners

When it comes to how people listen to music, FM Radio is still king, but the use new digital technologies has grown at a break-neck pace over the past two years. SBR Creative Media, consultant to leading Triple A stations nationwide, has released the results of its second national music and radio listener web study. One key question the survey tracked over the two year period is "which ONE way do you listen to music the most?" "FM Radio" is still by far and away the way respondents listen to music most with 59% of the responses (down from 64% in 2004). But respondents who said "iPod/MP3 Player" (10%) was up 425% from two years ago. Meanwhile, "CDs Purchased" (meaning traditional, packaged CDs) took the biggest hit, down 32% from 2004 as the way respondents listen to music most often. The survey also sought to explore how the new technologies are impacting both radio listening and music sales. Streaming of radio stations and internet-only audio channels was another growth area over the past two year with 55% of respondents saying they've listened to local, out-of-town, or internet-only radio stations in the past month. Monthly streamers of local radio stations increased 27% while monthly streamers of internet-only channels increased 36% between the 2004 and 2006 surveys. The SBR study also asked how likely listeners would be to try various streaming side channels of programming offered by the radio stations they listen to. Over 60% of the total (streamers and non streamers alike) said they would be "very likely" to try New Releases, Acoustic/Unplugged, In-studio Performances, and Live Concert Songs side channels. On Satellite radio, the number of respondents who said they subscribe to XM or Sirius reached 10% of the total in 2006, up from 2% in 2004. But likelihood of subscribing to satellite service among non-subscribers has declined from 12% to 8% who said they are "very" or "somewhat" likely to do so in the next six months. A new topic in the 2006 SBR study that didn't even exist two years ago is Podcasting. 15% of the survey respondents said they have listened to a Podcast on their computer or iPod in the past month. Interestingly, that's twice the number of people as even owned iPods in 2004.

Posted 9/30/06
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