DIGITAL RADIO REACHES TIPPING POINT

1st August 2013 Adam Rayner

This is fresh this morning and just in from our chums at Digital Radio UK, the mamas and papas of D Love, my Soul Brother From Another Mother. For it is now TIME, since we are going to see a fat 50% of all radio listrened to on digital receivers, the government are going to set a date when all the FM radios we own will turn into doorstops..or rather receive only USA style odd frequencies rather than even ones, on pirate radio waves
. Digital listening has now reached 36.8%, up 16% year on year
. 52.5% of the population now tunes in via a digital platform each week
. 45.7% of the population now has a DAB set at home, or 24 million adults
. Analogue listening at home below 50% for the first time
. Analogue listening below 50% for the first time among 15-24s
. DAB now 24% of all listening, up 18% year on year
. Listening to Online/apps now 6% (up 31% year on year), overtaking DTV listening
It was announced today that digital radio listening has reached a tipping point and now accounts for 36.8% of radio listening hours, up 16% year on year (RAJAR Q2 2013). In total, 28 million people now listen to radio via a digital platform each week, up from 24 million in Q2 2012. 52.5% of UK adults, or 57.8% of radio listeners, listen on a digital platform every week. This latest data shows a definite and sustained shift to digital listening. Significantly, the share of analogue listening in the UK is now at its lowest ever, at 58.6% of listening hours, including in-car listening. At home, listening to analogue is now under 50% of all listening for the first time, at 48.4%.
For the first time among 15-24s, total analogue listening is now below 50%, at 48.7% of listening hours, while digital listening stands at 47.9%. This growth is supported by continued DAB coverage improvements and the D Love industry communications campaign.
DAB maintains its strong growth as the dominant digital platform representing a record 24% of all radio listening hours. DAB now reaches 18.4 million UK adults each week, up from 15 million in Q2 2012. DAB listening hours have reached a record 246 million, up 18% year on year, representing two thirds of all digital listening hours. 45.7% of the population now has a DAB digital radio set, up from 41.7% in Q2 2012, which equates to 24 million adults with a DAB digital radio.
Radio listening share via online/apps has now overtaken DTV for the first time. Share of radio listening online and via apps on mobile devices grew by 31% year on year to a record 6% of total listening hours, from audiences listening to Radioplayer, BBC Radio iPlayer and individual station apps. Share of DTV listening now stands at 5.3%, up 13% year on year.
This new data also shows that 10.8% of listening in car is now digital, compared with 8.8% a year ago. This coincides with new June 2013 CAP/SMMT data which shows that 39.4% of new cars now have radio as standard.
DCMS confirmed yesterday in the ‘Connectivity, Content and Consumers’ strategy paper that it is committed to making an in-principle decision on a radio switchover at the end of this year. Government has set a criterion for digital to account for 50% of listening to set a date for a future radio switchover. Based on the current rate of growth, digital listening is projected to be 40% by end of 2013, and 50% by the second half of 2015. There has been strong growth in digital listening to stations see top 20 below. Digital-only station BBC 6 Music remains the leading digitalonly station with a year on year increase in listeners of 30%, to 1.8 million. BBC 6 Music has now overtaken BBC Radio 3 in listening hours with 15% more listening hours than the classical music station. BBC digital-only stations Radio 4 Extra (1.6 million), BBC Radio 1 Xtra (1.1 million) and Radio 5 live Sports Extra (950,000) all grew strongly.
Top 20 Digital Radio Stations by REACH

Absolute 80s is now the leading commercial digital-only radio station with a record 1.2 million listeners, a growth of 36% year on year, and Absolute Radio showed strong growth across its decade stations (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s). Bauer’s recent acquisition Planet Rock’s listening figures are now combined with sister station Kerrang! and showed 1.1 million digital listeners. Jazz FM achieved new record numbers with listeners growing 32% to 758k year on year. Smooth 70s bounced back strongly with a 7% quarter on quarter on growth to a total of 730k listeners.
Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, says: ‘With nearly 37% share of listening, and with over 57% of radio listeners listening on a digital platform, we have reached a tipping point in the radio industry’s unstoppable momentum to digital. It’s clear that the future for radio in the UK is digital and we look forward to the certainty that the Government in-principle decision on a radio switchover will provide at the end of this year.’
Steve Parkinson, Managing Director, Bauer Media London Radio, says: ‘As a supporter of digital radio, we are delighted to see the UK’s digital listening share increase to 36.8%. With Bauer’s digital brands such as Planet Rock, Kiss and heat continuing to flourish, today’s results show impressive growth in consumers listening to our stations across multiple platforms. 7.3 million Bauer radio listeners access our radio services digitally and 43% of our hours come from a digital platform our highest ever digital figures. This is further evidence that our strategy of being ‘˜always on’ in all the right places continues to succeed.’
Donnach O’Driscoll, CEO of Absolute Radio, says: “Digital listening has never been higher and advances in technology allow for radio to be consumed in more ways than ever today. The rise in digital listening in the UK shows how listeners are embracing new platforms with DAB at the forefront. The future of radio is digital and we urge the Government to continue to support this.”
Helen Boaden, Director of BBC Radio, said: ‘The continued growth in listening on digital platforms shows that radio is successfully adapting to rapidly evolving technological advances and it’s particularlyexciting to see the number of younger listeners coming to radio through mobile devices.”
Mark Lee, CEO of Real and Smooth Ltd, says: ‘We are delighted that Smooth UK’s digital listening hasincreased by 8% year on year and pleased to see the impressive growth overall in digital listening.’
Paul Eaton, Director of Radio at Arqiva, says: ‘We are pleased with this increase in digital listening share to 36.8% with record DAB listening, and are delighted that the current and planned improvements in DAB coverage are benefiting listeners.’
UK Radio Listening by HOURS: