200 million will have HD digital radio by 2015

According to a new forecast from ABI Research, HD digital radio is predicted to rapidly increase over the next few years.

The forecast estimates a global “installed base” of 200 million by 2015.

This would mean a tenfold increase in five years – a cumulative annual growth of over 60%.

Much of the increase will come from Europe, as some governments have established HD radio as national standard.

As of 2010, US consumers have purchased a total of 4 million HD radios. By comparison, European consumers (led by the UK) have purchased 13.5 million.

A separate study from Harker Research found that digital alternatives failed to make a big dent in local broadcast radio listening, as Americans continue to listen to local radio in record numbers.

Comparing listening patterns from spring 2009 to spring 2010, Harker found that the proportion of the U.S. population listening to broadcast radio grew from 91.4% to 93%.

However, average weekly listening decreased by about 1%, or 11 minutes, to 17.4 hours per week.