HD2: FULL SPEED AHEAD! Susan Visakowitz – Billboard The HD Digital Radio Alliance’s nationwide HD2 rollout is firing on all engines.
More than six months ahead of schedule, HD2 multicasts are being introduced in 22 additional local markets, including Phoenix (No. 15), Minneapolis (No. 16), San Diego (No. 17) and St. Louis (No. 19). This brings the number of HD2 markets to 50, with 42 of the nation’s top 50 markets represented.
In total, 450 new radio channels have now been created through the Alliance’s HD2 initiative, up from only 264 as of late February, about a month after the first wave of the HD rollout began.
Some of the original formats being offered among this new batch of HD2 side-channels are Eclectic Chill-Out, Christian Contemporary, Café Jazz & Blues, Mash-Up and Outlaw Country.
“One of the most exciting things about HD Radio is the ability to offer innovative new content customized for each individual local market,” said Peter Ferrara, president and CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, in a prepared release. “Unlike any other audio entertainment source, radio is all about serving the local community and these new HD2 channels will do just that.”
Earlier this month, the Alliance announced that three major specialty retailers were adding HD digital radio receivers to their shelves, as well as rolling out in-store and online education to assist customers, comprehensive staff training, in-store and point-of-purchase marketing and Spanish-language versions of marketing and advertising. |