IBOCcrock wrote:
Cool website traffic analysis for "hdradio.com", "sirius.com", and
"xmradio.com":
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/hdr....com?metric=uv
How does Compete estimate site traffic and Internet rank?
"Compete triangulates multiple data sources, including ISP, Panel &
Toolbar to estimate U.S. traffic. Compete has developed a unique
methodology created by experts in the fields of mathematics,
statistics and the data sciences to aggregate, transform, enhance and
normalize data in order to estimate U.S. Internet traffic. Based on
the daily web usage of more than two million members (and growing!)
of the Compete community, Compete calculates and estimates total
traffic and rank for nearly every site on the web. We use rigorous
statistics to make sure our estimates balance demographic and
connection factors that match the entire U.S. Internet population.
Currently, we're calculating the number of people in the U.S. that
visit any given Web site each month (international usage calculations
are in development). Compete online metrics are leveraged by some of
the largest companies in the U.S. and often cited in publications
like USA Today, Wall Street Journal and The New York Times."
Also, try comparing "hdradio.com" to "pandora.com", "last.fm",
"apple.com", "sprint.com", "cingular.com", "xbox.com", and
"playstation.com".
HD Radio is such a loser !
There is an article from Inside Radio (Below) circulating throughout
groups
invested in HD radio, including our favorite 3 letter abbreviation, that
suggests one of the reasons for HD's languishing popularity is that
there are few, if any, HD radios on shelves, coupled with a lack of
training in HD by sales reps, and general retail apathy.
Which is a disengenous shift of responsibility.
Actually, if there were consumer interest, you wouldn't be able to
swing a dead hooker in a Best Buy without hitting an HD radio.
Consumer interest drives sales. Not supply. And as well researched as
the big box retailers are, if there were consumer interest, they would
be stocking these things by the rail car load, because there would be
money in it. But if there is no consumer demand for these products, no
retailer is going to give up valuable shelf space for them.
That's not to say that this is yet a dead issue. With the enormous
investment in IBOC stations are making to install this noise, they're
not going to give up.
But this campaign is being compared to XM's initial campaign. Where
the emphasis is on CONTENT. Not audio quality, as much of the HD
campaign is emphasizing.
So, there will have to be a shift in marketing emphasis if Radio is
to make HD work better than the AM Stereo attempt in the 80's.
Radio is often its own worst enemy. But where direct dollars are
spent, Radio is rarely too stupid.
**********************************
-- Readers chime in. Trying to buy an HD Radio at retail has not been
easy. Inside Radio reported Tuesday on our experience with a weekend
shopping spree in New York, and our attempt to find and buy an HD
Radio receiver.
While we love the technology and the sound quality, retailers appear
to be the weak link in moving HD Radio forward with the consumer. We
asked readers to let us know about their shopping experiences ... and
they did.
Sarasota FL: “At Sound Advice, the local high-end store, the salesman
and I agreed on a model and he had it installed. Only upon tuning
around after installation did we learn that this particular head unit
(a sheepish Kenwood phone rep let us know) ‘was not multi-cast
ready’. We could tune in HD1...but no side channels. A bust!”
Connecticut: “Went to Best Buy -- Brookstone -- Sharper Image --
Circuit City. Zero units in stock. ‘Yeah, we get some calls for them.
Hear we’re gonna stock some soon.’ That’s the response from store
clerks. I see nothing on TV or in the daily newspapers (about HD). Or
on billboards. No ads for HD paid for by the radio industry to create
awareness or a need for HD Radio sets. Ads saying you can have HD in
your car, den, walkman, poolside, kitchen, bedroom, etc. Where’s the
Industry push?”
Chicago: “I tried to buy an HD receiver for my home stereo system
last weekend at Best Buy. There weren’t any HD receivers there, and
the salesperson tried to sell me an XMHD receiver. I ended up
explaining to him what HD was. I checked the car radio section and
they had only one.”
St. Louis: “My experience was in a local Best Buy, and the clerk
escorted me to the HDTV display, confidently telling me that there
was no such thing as HD radio, and that it was an Interent urban
legend! If our retail partners don’t see fit to properly train their
sales force, perhaps we should put our efforts into encouraging
online purchases. While not able to offer “instant gratification”, we
can at least offer our listeners a higher expectation of dealing with
competent and well-trained representatives. I bought mine online and
got free shipping!”
Kansas City: “Whenever I’m passing through a Best Buy or a Circuit
City, I’ll stop and check to see how much store employees know about
HD. I often get blank stares. At one Circuit City, I tried listening
to standard radios and reception on all of them was poor. The
employee [said] they don’t get good reception in the building.
Anybody tried a master antenna? How can you sell anything, much less
an HD Radio, if you can’t get a good signal into your demo radios?”
****************************
Again, if there were consumer demand for these radios, there would
be a deluge of them. Because there would be money in it. But there
isn't. So there isn't.
Something will have to change.
On another note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp8RCneVcrQ