Digital switchover and 15-24 listening are greatest concerns for radio

The opening themes from the ASI European Radio Symposium centred around digital switchover and 15-24 listening.

IPSOS added further background to the survey of radio leaders first presented at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Radio’ seminar a few months ago.

The presentation questioned whether existing take-up of DAB listening would enable the 2013 target of 50% to be achieved. Only recently it has been announced that a standard for digital sets in cars would not come in until 2014, with only 130,000 car radios currently digital in the UK.

The phrase ‘it won’t happen’ was never uttered but delegates were left in no doubt that the deadline looks a massive challenge based on current evidence. “A stretching and ambitious target,” according to the BBC Audio and Music Group’s controller of production, Graham Ellis.

IPSOS research – conducted in the spring – had also described the switch-off as a moment of unity for all radio broadcasters. After a tough couple of weeks in which two companies resigning from The RadioCentre cited this as one of the issues, there is some danger of a gulf developing between the larger and smaller groups over switchover.

That said, it was noted that a change of government could mean a change of target too.

Ellis also let the audience in on a BBC forecast that did not come true. Apparently the BBC expected its share in radio by the year 2000 to have dipped to 30%. “We were dazzled by the possibility of new technology,” he said in explanation. Of course it was actually over 50%. New technology is advancing, however, and the first all-radio player is imminent, although Ellis reported it won’t include catch-up radio in its initial offering.

So to youth listening, and a further survey presented by the BBC’s Margo Swadley, head of research at BBC Audio and Music. This looked at all audio listening and the presentation emphasized firstly that 15-24 radio listening was still holding up – at 62% share of all audio in this survey – but that this was a decline of three hours per week on ten years ago.

Eighty eight percent of all audio listening by this age group is music and 63% still found radio the best choice for sourcing new music but – unlike other age groups – this was only marginally ahead of watching music TV and word of mouth at 54%, with social network and online coming up on the rails at 36%.

Time shifted radio was insignificant in this survey and podcasting was not showing previous levels of increase.

The ten year comparisons showed the 25-34 year old age group’s radio listening to be flat but 35-44s had significant growth.

The survey, managed by Brand Drivers, interviewed 1907 adults 15 plus.