DAB enjoys rise in listening hours
Q4 RAJAR figures reveal that listening via DAB was up from 114 million hours to 116 million period on period.
DAB radio also increased its share of listening on digital platforms, from an 11.3% share in Q3 to an 11.4% share in Q4 2008.
In what was a good quarter for digital radio, DAB’s weekly reach rose 1.1 percentage points period on period to 18.9%, while ownership of DAB sets was up one percentage point period on period, to 29.7%.
Listening to the radio via any digital platform was up period on period, by 0.8 percentage points to 32.2% of the population.
Total digital listening hours were down on Q3, however, falling from 188 million to 186 million.
| AM/FM | All Digital | – DAB | – DTV | – Internet | – Digital Unspecified | |
| Platform Shares (%) | ||||||
| Q4 2007 | 74.0 | 16.6 | 9.9 | 3.1 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| Q1 2008 | 72.7 | 17.8 | 10.8 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 1.7 |
| Q2 2008 | 69.5 | 17.9 | 11.0 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| Q3 2008 | 68.4 | 18.7 | 11.3 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Q4 2008 | 68.6 | 18.3 | 11.4 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.7 |
| Digital Listening Weekly Reach (%) | ||||||
| Q4 2007 | n/a | 29.9 | 16.8 | 10.3 | 5.7 | 7.1 |
| Q1 2008 | n/a | 31.4 | 17.9 | 10.5 | 6.2 | 7.0 |
| Q2 2008 | n/a | 31.0 | 17.5 | 10.6 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Q3 2008 | n/a | 31.4 | 17.8 | 10.7 | 6.2 | 7.5 |
| Q4 2008 | n/a | 32.2 | 18.9 | 10.9 | 6.0 | 6.9 |
| Digital Listening Total Hours (m) | ||||||
| Q4 2007 | n/a | 169 | 101.0 | 32.0 | 19.0 | 17.0 |
| Q1 2008 | n/a | 184 | 111.0 | 34.0 | 21.0 | 18.0 |
| Q2 2008 | n/a | 182 | 111.0 | 33.0 | 20.0 | 18.0 |
| Q3 2008 | n/a | 188 | 114.0 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 19.0 |
| Q4 2008 | n/a | 186 | 116.0 | 33.0 | 20.0 | 17.0 |
The percentage of adults listening to the radio via a mobile phone, meanwhile, has fallen for the first time.
Listening via a mobile has fallen from 12.7% of adults in Q3 2008 to 12.3% in Q4. This figure is up from the Q4 2007 figure of 9.4%, however.
Looking at 15-24 year olds, this figure is much larger, at 31.1%. However, only 8.7% of people aged 25 or over listen via a mobile.
RAJAR: 020 7292 9040 www.rajar.co.uk