• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 8, 2008

Still working to raise public awareness of HD digital radio, the HD Radio Alliance is poised to launch a year-long ad campaign touting the new medium with $230 million worth of radio ad inventory donated by alliance members. The Alliance counts virtually all the nation's big radio broadcasters as members, including Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel/ABC, Emmis, Entercom and Beasley.

With roughly 10 new spots per quarter, the creative work is being handled by GSD&M Idea City, a property of Omnicom Group. Some of the first ads feature the voice of cartoon character SpongeBob as an old analog radio set, leaving lovelorn messages bemoaning its abandonment for the newer, snazzier HD set. The ads promote manufacturers like Sony, Apple, and JVC and retail outlets that sell HD radios, like Radio Shack, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart.

HD radio boasts a variety of advantages over analog: The sound is CD-quality, and stations can multi-cast several channels on a single frequency. This makes it possible to introduce less popular niche content in new markets--for example, country music in New York or reggaeton in Omaha.

HD iBiquity, the company that controls HD digital radio technology, has struck a deal with Ford Motor Company to install digital AM/FM sets in various Ford models beginning in 2009. Models in the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands will have HD radios as standard or optional equipment. This broadens the penetration of HD radio sets in Ford cars, where HD radio sets were previously a dealer-installed option.