The needle of HD Radio awareness isn’t moving much as the recession continues to starve marketing budgets.
So says programming consultant Alan Burnsin this year’s version of “What Women Want,” a study of more than 2,000 women who listen to Hot AC and CHR stations.
HD Radio awareness for 2012 is flat compared to last year at about a quarter of all respondents.
Among the 25% who’ve heard of HD Radio, about half know they need to buy a new radio to hear the different digital channels. That’s up from last year. So too, is that 30% know you don’t need to pay a monthly fee to listen, according to the findings. However two-thirds think you do and or they don’t know the answer, according to Burns.
The programming consultant believes including “HD” in a station’s legal ID may be confusing listeners into believing they’re listening to a digital station when they’re really listening on an analog station. That’s because when asked if they had ever listened to HD Radio, 3.8% of respondents said “yes.” However when asked if they had ever listened to an HD Radio station or channel, 10.3% said “yes.”
Burns isn’t suggesting dropping the “HD” from the legal ID, but he believes it would be a good idea to occasionally explain on the air that there are other programs on HD channels and you need to buy a new radio to hear them.
Some 2,000 women age 15–54 took part in this year’s study.
