Commercial Radio Australia has released new figures showing that the number of DAB+ digital radios in Australia increased by more than 930,000 last year, boosting average weekly audiences for digital-only radio stations to over two million.
According to the data, more than 4.21 million people, or 30 per cent 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 in 2017.
The commercial radio industry’s digital-only radio stations, which offer alternative formats including chillout music, country, specialist rock, 80s and retail services, reached 1.35 million listeners each week, a 30 percent jump over the previous year.
CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner said of the growth figures: “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”.
The total number of DAB+ radios in Australia, including those in cars, rose to 4.73 million at the end of 2018, a 24 per cent increase from 3.80 million at the end of 2017.
65 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Australia were factory-fitted with DAB+ radio in 2018.
The latest data, compiled from GfK radio surveys, GfK sales reporting and new vehicle sales data provided by Glass’s Automotive Business Intelligence, shows DAB+ grew strongly last year.
Commercial digital-only stations gained 315,000 listeners, the number of DAB+ portable and home receivers in market totalled 2.56 million at the end of 2018, and the number of vehicles with DAB+ reached 2.17 million.
