D Love Will Be Cooing With D Light

This week there were three significant digital radio announcements:
1) Cars
The new CAP/SMMT data was announced this week which shows that nearly 40% of new cars now have digital radio as standard in June 2013 (39.4%). This compares with 25.2% in June 2012, and 12.1% in June 2011. For Q2 the total is 38.3%. The percentage of cars with digital radio as standard now exceeds the proportion of new cars where digital radio is unavailable. This latest data follows recent announcements by Audi, Volvo and Lexus that their new cars are moving to 100% digital across the range. We project that the majority of new cars will have digital radio as standard by the end of the year.
2) Government Decision
At a House of Commons summer reception to mark the completion of the three-year Digital Radio Action Plan, Minister Ed Vaizey confirmed Government’s commitment to make an in-principle decision about radio switchover by the end of this year. He highlighted the success of the Go Digital radio switchover consumer pilot which shows that listeners prefer digital radio to analogue. At the reception BBC Director of Radio Helen Boaden re-stated the BBC’s support for digital radio. The reception was covered by media, with the Evening Standard writing a major piece: ‘Radio can’t be left behind as an analogue island in a digital world.’
3) Wales DAB coverage expansion
At a digital radio reception at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff hosted by Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Local Government and Government Business, a plan was announced to expand local DAB coverage in Wales to a further 400,000 homes (28% of homes) in the South, Mid and West and North West areas of Wales. This will enable almost 80% of households in Wales to receive the National stations for Wales including BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, Real Radio Wales and Nation Radio Wales. The coverage expansion comes in 3 phases with the first phase at the end of July, the second phase at the end of August and the third phase in the second half of 2014: Here’s the BBC coverage link
Coverage Expansion
To follow on from recent local DAB launches in Northampton, Wrexham and Chester and the West Yorkshire Boost launch on 28 June, which expanded local DAB radio stations to another 500,000 people for the first time, the next major DAB event will be the launch of Digital One in Northern Ireland on 26 July. This will launch 10 national commercial radio stations in Northern Ireland on DAB for the first time and expand DAB coverage for four stations.
In the months of August and September there will be media events for the launch of new local DAB multiplexes in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire and Surrey.
Communications Campaign
The new phase of the D Love industry campaign, to encourage digital radio advocates to ‘share the love’ will launch on the 24th of July with a new BBC TV trail, followed on the 27th of July with commercial radio ads and BBC Radio trails.
This will be amplified with on-air station activity and stations will be running a ‘nominate your mate’ promotion where listeners can contact the station via social media, or call to suggest a friend that they think should get digital radio.
I can tell you that I am working behind the scenes to secure an interview with D Love himself, for he is my Soul Brother From Another Mother Fo Sure