Hi-def radio gets cool reception from consumers

Digital high-definition radio is hitting some key milestones in terms of pricing and features, but building enough momentum to spur broad consumer adoption remains a tall order.
Prices on some radio models have tumbled below $100. More automakers are offering HD radio as a factory or dealer-installed option. And the rollout of a feature enabling consumers to "tag" a song they like for purchase at Apple's iTunes store provides a level of interactivity that traditional analog radio can't match.
But four years after the first HD radio receivers hit the U.S. market and two years after RadioShack became the first retailer to start rolling them out nationwide, sales are still miniscule compared with the broader terrestrial radio market. In addition, consumer awareness continues to lag and such competitive options as satellite and Internet radio are complicating efforts to make the digital radio standard a mass-market phenomenon.
To date, nearly 1,750 AM/FM stations (out of a total of about 13,000 stations) covering 83% of the United States are broadcasting digitally, while about 800 offer original formats and content on HD side channels, according to iBiquity Digital, the developer and licensor of HD radio technology. U.S. HD radio sales totaled about 300,000 units in 2007, with about 1 mln units expected to be sold this year, iBiquity says.
But that's still only a tiny fraction of estimated annual radio sales of about 70 mln. And according to a consumer survey conducted in January by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, only 24% of respondents said they had "heard/read anything recently about HD radio," down slightly from 26% a year earlier.
About 60 HD receivers are now available in the States, including table-top units and car radios from such leading consumer and audiophile brands as Panasonic, Yamaha, Denon, Polk and Harman Kardon. Among the manufacturers breaking through the $100 price point is North Sioux City, S.D.-based Radiosophy, which specializes in HD radio receivers. The company's portable HD100 radio, which includes a clock radio and an input jack for an MP3 player, costs $49.95 after a $50 rebate.