Interest in HD Radio

I have already commented ad nauseum on this kind of research. We have our own (as yet unpublished) research which asks better questions and paints a somewhat different picture.

An Arbitron/Edison Media Research study finds that more than one-third of respondents are interested in HD Radio. When read a description of HD Radio, 8% said they were “very” interested, and another 27% said they were “somewhat” interested. Thirty-five percent of Americans are willing to pay $50 for an HD Radio. More than one third said they would be likely to purchase a new HD Radio if the cost was $50. Nine percent of all consumers would be likely to pay $200 or more for an HD Radio receiver; and 5% said they would be likely to purchase at a price of $300. More than four in ten satellite radio subscribers are either “very” interested or “somewhat” interested in HD Radio. Ten percent of satellite radio subscribers said they were “very” interested in HD Radio, and 33% said they were “somewhat” interested in HD Radio.

Suffice it to say, the equation is considerably more complicated than who’s “interested” and who isn’t. Or what people are “willing to pay” and what they’re not. And as far as the satellite radio conclusions go, how about asking those folks if they’d like to ditch their satellite radios in order to replace them with HD?

What, you didn’t ask that?