Digital Radio Listening Shows Double-Digit Growth

This just in from DRUK, the guys who pay for the banner above this article (keep clickingit’s mostly green) that enables you to check what digital radio stations are available in your area. The below is as dry as Muesli with no milk but radio geeks and broadcasty tytpes who care about minority stations getting true reach, will find the following Statistics Pie gripping. This is published just a fortnight away from the Digital Radio UK Drive to Digital conference at the BBC’s Broadcasting House that I get to go along to and ask cheeky questions of the minister.
– DAB records its highest ever share of radio listening, up to 20.4% from 18% in Q3 2011
– Weekly DAB reach is at an all time high of 15.3 million adults, up 10% from 13.9 million adults in Q3 2011
– 31.3% of radio listening hours are now to digital platforms, flat over the Olympics quarter but up 6% year on year
– Online/apps listening is 4.2%, up from 3.7% in Q3 2011 but down from 4.6% quarter on quarter, with workplace listening hours down by 17% in the quarter
– Radio 4 Extra is the number one digital-only station, and Radio 4 has the highest digital audience with over five million digital listeners each week
– Many digital-only stations record highest ever reach, with strong performances from spoken word and genre music stations
DAB maintains its strong growth as the dominant digital platform representing 20.4% of all radio listening hours, up from 18% in Q3 2011. On a weekly basis, DAB now reaches 15.3 million UK adults, up 10% from 13.9 million in Q3 2011. DAB listening hours have reached a record 209 million, up 8% year on year, representing 65.2% of all digital listening hours.
42% of the population now has a DAB digital radio set, up from 39.4% in Q3 2011. This equates to 22 million adults now having a DAB digital radio, up 7% year on year. Latest Q3 GfK digital radio sales data released today shows that digital radio sales were up 10.6% in the quarter to September 2012.
Listening to digital radio platforms now accounts for 31.3% of radio listening hours, up from 26.9% the year before, an increase of 7.6%, in what was a unique listening quarter due to the Olympic Games. Weekly digital reach is now 46% of UK adults, or 51% of radio listeners. In total 23.9 million people now listen to radio via a digital platform each week, up 5% year on year from 22.8 million in Q3 2011.
Listening to online/apps now shows a 4.2% share compared to 3.7% in Q3 2011, but down from 4.6% in Q2 2012. Notably, there was a 17% drop in online listening hours at work in the quarter, possibly due to the Olympics effect.
There were strong performances from spoken word and music genre stations, including Radio 4 Extra, BBC 6 Music and Smooth 70s. Radio 4 Extra is the number one digital-only station and Radio 4 is now the number one digital station by reach, with over 5.1 million listeners each week listening via a digital platform. New station Smooth 70s records its debut listening figure of 750,000 listeners.
Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, says:‘It is pleasing to see that DAB has reached record levels of hours, share and reach in this atypical Olympics quarter. Digital stations are showing strong growth in reach, with spoken word and music genre stations performing particularly well.’