Retailers Get Behind HD Radio Launch

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 4/14/2006

New York — Three major CE retailers launched an advertising and promotion campaign to boost the fortunes of HD Radio at the same time that radio stations in the HD Radio Alliance launched a second wave of awareness-boosting radio ads.

The campaigns began as a new study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research showed that more than a third of Americans are very or somewhat interested in HD Radio and that more than 40 percent of satellite-radio subscribers are interested in receiving digital AM and FM broadcasts.

To get those consumers to buy, Tweeter, Crutchfield and ABC Warehouse began running HD Radio commercials, and the broadcasters have begun to prominently feature the retailers in their ads, the alliance said. On top of that, all three retailers launched in-store an on-line education campaigns, sales training, and POS materials, the alliance said.

This month, Tweeter added HD Radios to its selection in all stores nationwide accompanied by in-store signs, POP displays, sales training and an ad campaign that has already been rolled out nationwide, Tweeter told TWICE. In April, Tweeter began offering the Boston Acoustics table radio and multiple Alpine car head units with HD Radio capability in all of its stores.

For its part, Crutchfield expanded its commitment with additional models, sales training, online consumer information and advertising.

In the Detroit area, ABC Warehouse added HD Radio to stores in multiple markets, added information to its Web site, installed store listening stations and began running ads in the Detroit market, the alliance said.

The alliance, meantime, released a second wave of radio ads in the $200 million ad campaign that it began early this year.

To date, more than 700 stations are broadcasting in digital, and “hundreds” have introduced a second multicast channel to offer new music formats not offered in their markets over terrestrial radio, the alliance said.