The rise and rise of DAB+ digital radio in Australia
It’s been a steady climb for DAB+ digital radios in Australia with new figures revealing usage has reached a new high.
According to Commercial Radio Australia, numbers have increased by more than 930,000 last year. That’s helped boost average weekly audiences for digital-only radio stations to over two million.
The DAB+ update also reveals more than 4.21 million people, or 30% of the population aged 10 and over, listened to DAB+ digital radio each week in the five metro capital cities in 2018 – up from 3.62 million the previous year.
A further breakdown of the figures shows digital-only radio stations reached 1.35 million listeners each week – a 30 per cent increase of 2017.
Naturally, CRA is happy with the growth. Chief executive Joan Warner the figures would open the way for further commercialization.
“Digital radio represents one of the growth areas for commercial radio. More listeners are discovering the new stations and more media agencies are including DAB+ as part of their advertising buy.”
Consumers need to upgrade their AM/FM radios to DAB+ radios to tune in to the digital-only stations or listen via streaming. The total number of DAB+ radios in Australia, including those in cars, rose to 4.73 million at the end of 2018, a 24% increase from 3.80 million at the end of 2017.
65% of all new vehicles sold in Australia were factory-fitted with DAB+ radio in 2018.
The latest data was compiled from GfK radio surveys, GfK sales reporting and new vehicle sales data provided by Glass’s Automotive Business Intelligence. Those figures show strong growth for DAB+ last year:
In a nutshell:
• Weekly listeners to DAB+ radio rose 16% to 4.21 million
• Commercial digital-only stations gained 315,000 listeners
• More than 930,000 DAB+ portable and home receivers in market totalled 2.56 million at the end of 2018, and the number of vehicles with DAB+ reacher 2.17 million
DAB+ technology offers superior sound quality and up to 30 extra commercial and public radio stations.
These include Triple M Aussie, which launched on Australia Day with an all-Australian music format, the Christmas pop-up station Elf Radio, as well as Coles Radio, Triple M Classic Rock, The 80s iHeartRadio, NTS News Talk Sport, Koffee, Easy Hits, Kinderling Kids Radio and KIX Country Music.