HUGE PROMO EFFORT FAILS TO BOOST HD RADIO AWARENESS: New research from Arbitron and Edison Media Research indicates that despite immense industry promotion, American consumers aren’t really any more aware of HD radio now than they were a year ago. The 2008 edition of “The Infinite Dial,” an annual study from Arbitron and Edison which examines digital trends for the radio industry reports 24% of Americans 12 and over have “heard or read anything recently about HD radio,” compared to 26% a year ago. In addition, two-thirds of respondents said they’re “Not very interested” or “Not at all interested” in the platform. Many broadcasters have pinned their hopes on digitally-delivered, over-the-air broadcasting to compete with satellite radio, as well as other new technologies such as iPods. But according to this study, the $250 million in ad time broadcasters donated to the effort in the past 12 months have failed to “move the needle.”

INTERNET RADIO AUDIENCE CONTINUES STEADY GROWTH: The same “The Infinite Dial” study shows the number of Americans listening to Internet radio on a regular basis continues to grow. Approximately 33 million Americans 12 and older, or 13% of the 12+ population, report being regular Internet radio listeners (defined as listening at least once within the last week); approximately 54 million have listened in the last month. The charts that accompany this story are from the Arbitron/Edison Media study, with confidence interval added for each year of the study (first chart), and a best fit real-world trend line superimposed (second chart). Initially, the graph may appear to convey staggered growth; and with the measured level of listening actually falling from 2006 to 2007, this past year’s growth might appear to be less than impressive. But statisticians will note that of the 9 study results, comparing the Arbitron/Edison finding to the “best fit” real-world trend line, 5 findings fall within the 67% confidence level range, 3 findings fall within the 95% confidence level range, and 1 finding (for 2006) falls just outside the 95% confidence level range — which is almost precisely what statistics would predict would happen, based on the 1,800-person sample size. A summary of the study is available here. A .pdf with charts from yesterday’s presentation is here.

RAIN EXCLUSIVE: RONNING LIPSET HIRES FORMER XM, YAHOO!MUSIC SALES PROS: Internet radio ad sales rep firm Ronning Lipset Radio today announced that it has expanded its sales force with strategic hires from XM Satellite Radio and Yahoo! Music. Dana Detlefson joins the company as Director of Sales, Southwest Region. Previously, she spent three years at XM Satellite Radio, most recently as Senior Account Manager. Angie May Cook has been named Director of Sales, Midwest Region. She joins Ronning Lipset from Yahoo! Music, where she was a Music Sales Specialist in charge of creating and selling sponsorships and custom music promotions to Fortune 100 advertisers. She was previously Director of Integrated Solutions at Emmis Communications.

JPMORGAN LIKES CBS/AOL RADIO PACKAGE: JPMorgan today released a research brief on CBS Internet radio in which they express strong enthusiasm for the company’s partnership with AOL Radio. The report suggests CBS may have generated $30 million in Internet radio revenue last year, roughly 1.7% of CBS Radio’s total revenue. Analyst John Blackledge and his team predict that — with Internet audiences growing and terrestrial revenues stagnating — CBS Internet radio could grow to account for almost 4% of CBS Radio revenues over the next 6 years. The team believes that the combination CBS Radio/AOL Radio “platform will be top notch and will be enhanced by the measurement capability (vs. current terrestrial radio measurement) of Internet radio and a new Internet radio player… Ultimately, the platform and Internet radio players enhance the user experience and attract and maintain audience levels, while the measurability of the medium is useful for the advertising community, which should lead to better monetization of the medium over time.” The research brief is available here.

LAST.FM SAYS FREE ON-DEMAND STREAMING GOOD FOR MUSIC SALES: Last.fm is claiming that its free, full-track music streams have led to a 119% uptick in CD and music download sales through its Amazon.com partnership. Last.fm says even those who were Last.fm members before the official launch have been buying two-thirds more music than before (when the service offered mainly 30-second previews of music, not full tracks). “In just over two months, it’s become clear that people will buy CDs and downloads if they get access to the kind of service we offer,” cofounder Martin Stiksel said.

SONGWRITERS GROUP CREATES “BILL OF RIGHTS” TO GET PAID FOR DIGITAL MUSIC: ASCAP has created a “bill of rights” for songwriters and composers which the organizations says is to ensure that musicians get paid for music distributed on the Web. ASCAP, which is the oldest organization representing songwriters and artists in the U.S., unveiled the manifesto today in Los Angeles at its annual conference. Read more from Portfolio.com here. The “Songwriters’ Bill of Rights,” also in Portfolio, is here.

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