HD Radio Multicast Listenership Continues to Grow

Apr 7, 2014 12:04 PM, By Doug Irwin, CPBE DRB AMD

Columbia, MD – Apr 3, 2014 – iBiquity Digital Corporation announced that more than 4.7 million people listened to an HD2, HD3 or HD4 channel in an average week, according to the latest Fall 2013 Nielsen Audio Nationwide audience estimates. This represents a 293 percent increase in Average Quarter Hour (AQH) audience from the Fall 2011 survey. Also, during that same period, cumulative audience, or “Cume” (the total number of unique listeners) grew over 256 percent. (Note that these numbers include listeners to analog translators that are fed by an HD multicast source.)

At the end of first quarter of 2014, almost 19 million HD Radio receivers were available in the U.S., with some 16.5 million of those in automobiles. Additionally, the last 6 years have shown continual growth for both stations upgrading to HD Radio technology, as well as for existing digital stations adding multicast channels. There are currently more than 1,500 HD2/HD3/HD4 multicasts on the air.

During NAB 2014, you can see demonstrations of HD radio at booth C151 in the Central Hall.