BIA Financial Network recently came out with a report showing the level of HD Radio adoption throughout terrestrial radio. And the pace at which these companies are switching over to HD is pretty surprising (at least to me).

By far the highest number of HD Radio stations on the air is Clear Channel, with some 375 stations now in HD. The runner up is CBS Radio, with 84 HD Radio stations.

In terms of percentage, almost 90% of Bonneville stations are on the air with HD Radio. Greater Media has 70% of its stations in HD, Emmis has 65%, and CBS Radio is at 60% of HD Radio.

Multicasting is where stations have sub-channels, and again Clear Channel leads the pack with 274 stations broadcast HD2 or HD3 channels.

Clear Channel (an NAB member) isn't just concentrating on the broadcast side, they're also focusing on the content side. Last year Clear Channel unveiled their Format Lab initiative. Format Lab, which employs over 200 programmers, offers HD Radio stations content that they can then rebroadcast. The content offering looks surprisingly similar to satellite radio's, with Urban, Christian, Spanish, Comedy, Country, and Gay-themed programming.

Nah, that's not competition.

[BIA Financial]

View a chart showing the adoption of HD Radio across the top 25 Radio Groups, after the jump...