Rajar Q4 2016: Digital

Almost 6 in 10 adults (aged 15+) currently listen to radio via a digital platform, according to the latest Rajar results for the final quarter of 2016.

In an average week, digital listening accounts for 474 million hours – with DAB holding a 73% share of digital listening hours, digital TV 11% and online 16%.

In total, 31 million adults claim to own a DAB Radio, up 6% year on year – although the figure is down by 1 million on Q3 2016.

The most popular digital-only station is BBC 6 Music which recorded a weekly reach of 2.33 million listeners, followed by BBC Radio 4 Extra with a weekly reach of 2.18million listeners. Absolute 80s re-established its position as the most popular commercial digital-only stations with 1.53 million listeners, with Kisstory taking the second spot with a weekly reach of 1.4m listeners.

National commercial digital listening hours continue to grow increasing by 21% year-on-year to account for almost three quarters (73%) of all national commercial listening, following the launch of the second national DAB commercial network broadcasting 19 national commercial stations in March 2016.

In terms of online social interaction, 42% of 15-24 year old social media users claim to receive updates about their favourite radio station or presenter, with the figure slightly lower for the general adult population at 31%.

Drive time

Q4 2016 saw the highest-ever recorded proportion of in-car radio listening, accounting for 23.3% of all radio listening, growth supported by the increase of in-car digital radio with 87% of new cars now fitted with DAB as standard (Q4 2016 CAP/SMMT). In this quarter, in-car digital listening hours grew by 40% year-on-year to 62.3 million hours from 44.5 million hours in Q4 2015.