Digital Radio Sales Surge To Record Levels
The number of DAB digital radio receivers in UK homes more than tripled during 2003 as consumers discovered an increasing number of new stations and the potential for interference-free listening.
The latest figures from the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) show that more than 300,000 digital radios were sold in the UK last year, taking the total number of DAB receivers to almost half a million.
Demand surged in the run up to Christmas and retailers reported record breaking sales of more than 130,000 digital radios in December alone. Dixons claims that DAB receivers outsold analogue sets for the first time and Comet said that digital radios accounted for almost 80% of sales by value.
Chris Langley, managing director of the Dixons Group, said: “DAB is a rapidly growing category and one for which the Dixons Group has seen strong and consistent demand. DAB is capturing the public interest by offering an improved form of a well loved medium.”
Awareness of DAB digital radio also increased by around a third in the last three months of the year to more than 25 million people. This was largely due to an ongoing strategic marketing campaign from the BBC, which has been keen to promote is recently launched raft of digital stations.
The growth in sales and awareness of digital radio was aided by manufacturers doubling the number of different products available to consumers. More than 30 new products were launched last year and prices dropped to a low of around £65.
The cost of digital radio receivers looks set to drop further during the coming months with a number of leading consumer technology manufacturers from Japan, Europe and Korea planning to enter the market. The DRDB predicts that by December 2004 there will be more than 1 million digital radios in UK homes.
Patrick Yau, analyst at Bridgewell Securities, said: “Attractively priced consumer products are now gaining traction, with new features and functions set to reach the market by the end of the year, further stimulating consumer interest.”
The news will provide a welcome boost to the radio industry, which is calling on the Government to announce a definitive switch-off date for the analogue signal as part of a wider initiative to boost the uptake of digital radio in the UK.
Earlier this year, GWR chairman Ralph Bernard said he had written to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Ofcom chief executive Stephen Carter to demand a target date that would enable the entire country to be converted to digital (see Radio Industry Calls For Analogue Switch-Off Date).
DRDB: 020 7306 2630 www.drdb.org
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