The needle of HD Radio awareness isn’t moving much as the recession continues to starve marketing budgets.

So says programming consultant Alan Burns in this year’s version of “What Women Want,” a study of more than 2,000 women who listen to Hot AC and CHR stations.

HD Radio awareness for 2012 is flat compared to last year at about a quarter of all respondents.

Among the 25% who’ve heard of HD Radio, about half know they need to buy a new radio to hear the different digital channels. That’s up from last year. So too, is that 30% know you don’t need to pay a monthly fee to listen, according to the findings. However two-thirds think you do and or they don’t know the answer, according to Burns.

The programming consultant believes including “HD” in a station’s legal ID may be confusing listeners into believing they’re listening to a digital station when they’re really listening on an analog station. That’s because when asked if they had ever listened to HD Radio, 3.8% of respondents said “yes.” However when asked if they had ever listened to an HD Radio station or channel, 10.3% said “yes.”

Burns isn’t suggesting dropping the “HD” from the legal ID, but he believes it would be a good idea to occasionally explain on the air that there are other programs on HD channels and you need to buy a new radio to hear them.

Some 2,000 women age 15–54 took part in this year’s study.