A report out today from BBM Analytics shows growing adoption of HDTV, portable media players, and podcasting among Canadian consumers over the past year.

A highlight of particular interest to PodcastingNews’ readers: Approximately twenty percent of the population listens to a podcast on a monthly basis. This is good news for podcast creators, as well as for businesses interested in promoting their wares via new media.

BBM Analytics, a Canadian company which tracks media consumption and consumer behavior, has compiled an annual “Media Technology Adoption Report” since 1997. The report reviews trends in “the penetration of various audio/video media technologies, both emerging and declining, in the context of the consumer adoption cycle.”

For its 2008 report, BBM asked 12,000 Canadians about their use of different technologies, and their adoption of new ones, including personal video recorders, video on demand, satellite radio, MP3 players, high definition TV screens.

Highlights from the 2008 Media Adoption Report:

• The fastest growing segments were HDTV screens and receivers as well as MP3 and portable video players.
• Podcasting also grew, with 1 in 5 Anglophones listening to a podcast on a monthly basis.
• HDTV screen adoption amongst both Anglophones and Francophones has tripled since 2004, up to 37 and 28 per cent, respectively, in 2008.
• Nearly 6 in 10 Anglophones and Francophones subscribe to a digital TV service. 82 per cent of Anglophones and 73 per cent of Francophones have access to the Internet in their homes.
• Close to 75 per cent of Anglophones and over 65 per cent of Francophones are using broadband.
• Radio streaming and music downloading off the Internet among Anglophones saw a slight drop over the last two years, both registering an incidence rate of 16 per cent.
• Among Francophones, radio streaming and music downloading off the Internet saw no growth over the last two years.
• The popularity of online video rose significantly, with 42 per cent of Anglophones and 37 per cent of Francophone’s now watching video on the Web.

More detailed explanations of each of the highlighted findings will be forthcoming from BBM in the coming weeks.