News

Am Funkturm Stockelsdorf the new digital transmitter will be switched on 2 November.

Digital radio listening is reaching a "tipping point" to overtake analogue audiences, according to the body in charge of digital radio switchover. "We are now counting down to the moment when the majority of all radio listening will be to digital," Digital Radio UK chief, Ford Ennals, said.

A few interesting facts from the recent figures are: DAB Digital Radio is growing faster than the internet (14% increase in hours rather than 9%), DAB Digital Radio is listened-to four times as long as radio over the internet (286m hours vs 65m for internet).

A total of 41.9% of all radio listening is now via digital platforms, up from 37.8% in the same quarter in 2014, the lion’s share on digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio.

Ford Ennals, chief executive of Digital Radio UK, said: “The shift to digital listening is accelerating across the UK. We are now counting down to the moment when the majority of all radio listening will be to digital.”

Nick Hucker, senior global marketing director at Pure, says: “We’ve taken the world’s best-selling radio and made it even better. With our expertise in digital radio, we’ve produced a range that not only demonstrates multi-award winning audio but is intuitive and easy to use. The new digital and FM portable radios have been engineered to out-perform everything else in its price brackets.”

Digital listening grew to a new record platform share of nearly 42% (41.9%) – the strongest growth for two years, according to Rajar Q3 2015 data released today. Listening on all digital platforms grew year on year led by a 14% increase in DAB listening (to 286m hours from 250m hours in Q3 2014) .

The design has something of a 1950s Americana vibe about it, which makes it stand out against some of the more traditional vintage designs you tend to see on DAB radios.

A report just published by German media regulators (Die Medienanstalten) recommends the adoption of DAB+ for digitisation of community and local radio (in addition to national and regional radio). The report recommends different use cases of multiplex use even in local areas. Read the full report at http://www.die-medienanstalten.de/fileadmin/Download/Positionen/Gemeinsame_Positionen/20151020_Digitalradio_lokal_regional.pdf

The expansion of the national DAB+ is progressing. By the end of 2016, the number of transmitter sites for the national digital radio multiplex will expand from 61 to 110.