United Kingdom - Current situation - History
05.02.2013
Digital radio listening is now one third (33%) of radio listening, up 14% year on year. Over 25 million people (25.2 million) now listen to digital radio, up 2.1 million year on year. DAB listening now accounts for 21.1% of all listening, up 9% year on year. Online listening now represents 4.9% of all listening, up 43% year on year. BBC 6 Music reach has now increased to 1.9 million making it the leading digital-only station.
Digital radio has reached an important milestone and now represents one third (33%) of digital listening in Q4 2012, up 14% from 29.1% last year (RAJAR Q4 2012). This coincides with the latest data from CAP/SMMT which shows that one third of all new cars (33.3%) now has digital radio fitted as standard. In total 25.2 million people now listen to radio via a digital platform each week, up 9% year on year from 23.1 million in Q4 2011. Weekly digital reach is now 48.2% of UK adults, or 53.6% of radio listeners. DAB maintains its strong growth as the dominant digital platform representing 21.1% of all radio listening hours, up from 19.4% in Q4 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 219 million, up 9% year on year, representing 65.2% of all digital listening hours. 42% of the population now has a DAB digital radio set, up from 40.3% in Q4 2011. This equates to 22 million adults now having a DAB digital radio, up 6% year on year. Radio listening online and via apps on mobile devices grew by 43% to 4.9% of listening hours in a quarter which saw the successful launch of industry radio apps including Radioplayer and the BBC Radio iPlayer. Listening to radio on a mobile phone was up 28% year on year.
Digital-only stations continued to show strong listening growth. BBC 6 Music grew 31% in reach and overtook Radio 4 Extra to be the number 1 digital-only station with almost 1.9 million listeners. BBC digital stations Radio 4 Extra (+ 7.8%), I Xtra (+2.7%) and Radio Five live (+ 37.5%) all grew, as did leading commercial digital stations Absolute 80s (+7.2%), Planet Rock (+8.0%), Jazz FM (+18.8%) and Absolute Radio 90s (+25.2%). The largest commercial digital station was Smash Hits with almost 1 million listeners, while Smooth 70s delivered another strong performance with over 700,000 listeners. Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, says: “I am delighted with these results. Digital radio continues to transform the way people listen to the radio and one third of all listening to digital platforms represents an important milestone. With a third of all new cars now having digital radio as standard, improvements to national and local DAB coverage and the positive impact of the D Love industry campaign, we are making good progress in the lead-up to a Government decision later this year.”
The Digital Economy Act 2010 gave the Secretary of State the flexibility to set a date for digital radio switchover. The Government-Industry Digital Radio Action Plan, published in July 2010, sets out a detailed timetable and tasks to build momentum and prepare for the switchover to digital radio. Switchover will be consumer-led and specific criteria will have to be met before Government decides when it will take place.
Before a date can be set, two criteria need to be met: 50% of listening must be to digital platforms and digital coverage for national services must be comparable to FM and local DAB reaches 90% of the population and major roads.
A Memorandum of Understanding signed by Government, the BBC and commercial operators in 2012 establishes an agreement in principle to fund the build-out of local DAB to FM equivalences over the next five years, with a commitment to consider further funding if necessary. It confirms also the Government’s commitment to a decision on radio switchover in 2013.
17.10.2012
Digital radio platform listening stands at 31.5% of radio listening hours (RAJAR Q2 2012) – up from 26.9% the year before. DAB maintains strong growth as the dominant digital platform representing 69% of all digital listening. DAB digital radio listening hours have reached 208 million, up 13% year on year. 21.8 million adults have access to a DAB digital radio (up 8% year on year) and according to GfK digital radio sales increased by +12% in the same quarter (Q2 2012) . Digital listening in cars has grown and now shows a weekly reach of 5 million people, compared with 4 million in Q2 2011.
The Digital Economy Act 2010 gave the Secretary of State the flexibility to set a date for digital radio switchover. The Government-Industry Digital Radio Action Plan, published in July 2010, sets out a detailed timetable and tasks to build momentum and prepare for the switchover to digital radio. Switchover will be consumer-led and specific criteria will have to be met before Government decides when it will take place.
Before a date can be set, two criteria need to be met: 50% of listening must be to digital platforms and digital coverage for national services must be comparable to FM and local DAB reaches 90% of the population and major roads.
A Memorandum of Understanding signed by Government, the BBC and commercial operators in 2012 establishes an agreement in principle to fund the build-out of local DAB to FM equivalences over the next five years, with a commitment to consider further funding if necessary. It confirms also the Government’s commitment to a decision on radio switchover in 2013.
30.01.2012
The Government-Industry Digital Radio Action Plan, published in July 2010, sets out a detailed timetable and tasks to build momentum and prepare for the switchover to digital radio. Switchover will be consumer-led and specific criteria will have to be met before Government decides when it will take place.
The Digital Economy Act 2010 gave the Secretary of State the flexibility to set a date for digital radio switchover.
Before a date can be set, two criteria need to be met:
- 50% of listening must be to digital platforms.
- Digital coverage for national services must be comparable to FM and local DAB reaches 90% of the population and major roads.
The Act also says that, in deciding whether or not to set a date, the Secretary of State must consider information supplied by Ofcom and the BBC; consultation must be held with radio licence holders, listeners’ representatives and others. Everyone who has a stake in UK radio: listeners, the BBC, commercial operators and the regulator will have an input into when switchover takes place.
Digital listening hours for Q3, 2011 reached 304 million hours, up 16%, from 262 million hours in Q3, 2010. DAB radio maintains its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 63.9% of all digital hours.
Access to a DAB receiver is up 12% on Q3, 2010 with almost two in five of the population (39.4%), or 20.5 million adults (aged 15+) claiming to live in a household which has a DAB set (c.f. 18.3 million in Q3, 2010).