A new study from the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) shows that 63% of drivers expect a new car to come with DAB radio (either with or without CD) as standard.
The majority of 1,000 people surveyed for the study were mass market drivers owning cars priced between £7,000 and £15,000, with Ford and Vauxhall being the most commonly owned brands.
The DRDB gave 100 people a PURE Highway in-car DAB adaptor (which allows analogue car radios to receive DAB) before doing follow-up interviews. After experiencing DAB in-car, the percentage of drivers expecting a DAB radio to come as standard jumped to 76%, suggesting that exposure to DAB has a very positive impact, said the DRDB.
Tony Moretta, DRDB chief executive, said: “Our research shows that despite the distractions of other gadgets, people really do love radio in their cars, and they love digital radio even more.
“Many car manufacturers already recognise this and DAB support is taking off in a big way, being available as standard or an option in more than 80 models from 16 different manufacturers.
“Improving DAB take-up in cars is key to meeting the criteria for digital radio switch-over set out in the Digital Britain report. With the increasing support of car manufacturers, recent announcements in France and Germany, and growing consumer demand, I am very optimistic that we will see significant growth in this area over the coming years.”
Elsewhere, figures released by the Radio Advertising Bureau earlier this year showed that national advertisers’ radio spend was down 21.2% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2008, with total spend in Q4 down 14.5% to £129 million (see National advertisers’ radio spend down 21.2% in Q4 2008).
