There will be a global market of 145 million DAB radios by 2012, according to a new report from Eureca Research.
Eureca says that during the 2006-2012 forecast period, DAB will transition itself from being an audio only platform to a fully interactive multimedia and mobile TV platform, capable of delivering a wide range of revenue generating services such as subscription radio, music downloads, live TV services, visual radio content, pay podcast services and travel information, amongst other services.
The installed database of DAB receivers in the UK now exceeds 3.5 million and receiver sales are increasing rapidly in several other European countries.
In a global survey of 50 countries, Eureca Research found that commercial broadcasters in western Europe are putting digital radio back on their agendas following the publication of the GE-06 plan.
Regulators in several European countries expect to issue licenses in 2006 and 2007. Eureca Research also found increasing interest in eastern Europe with several public broadcasters expected to launch commercial services in the next twelve months and others starting their first trials.
Eureca Research says that the primary challenge is to re-start growth in key European countries where DAB has stalled, in particular France and Germany. Other big challenges include the introduction of a new codec (but without adversely affecting growth in established markets) and increasing DAB penetration in vehicles.
In addition, Eureca Research notes that the availability of DRM, HD Radio and the Japanese ISDB-TBS standard mean that broadcasters around the world will have a choice of technical standards other than DAB in the future.
Although DRM can be viewed as a complementary technology to DAB in some scenarios, the fact that it is being adapted to operate on FM frequencies up to 120 MHz means that it must increasingly be viewed as an alternative to DAB.
Gareth Owen, research director at Eureca Research, said: “DAB’s progress in the last three years has been quite impressive, but the adoption of the Eureka-147 DAB standard for mobile TV services in large countries such as China, India and possibly Russia, in addition to several other European and Asian countries, over the next three years could boost its commercial prospects significantly, and guarantee its future as a dominant global broadcasting standard for radio, mobile TV and multimedia content.”
Research released by the Digital Radio Development Bureau in August said that almost 14% of the UK adult population has a DAB digital radio in the home and 23% of owners have more than one (see Repeat Purchasing Of DAB Radios On The Increase).
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