RAJAR Q1 09: Digital
Listening to the radio via DAB showed a large increase in Q1 2009, growing from a total of 116 million hours in Q4 2008 to 130 million hours in Q1 2009, according to the latest RAJAR data.
The figures have slowly risen from 111 million to 116 million hours over the past year before this leap to 130 million.
The rise in hours is likely due to the increased sales of DAB units around Christmas. DAB ownership increased to 32.1% of the UK population in Q1, up 19% year on year and an increase on the 29.7% recorded in Q4 2008.
DAB also recorded an increase in weekly reach, with nearly a fifth of the total radio listening population using DAB in the first quarter.
The data also shows that 12.7% of all radio listening is now via DAB, up from 11.4% in Q4 2008.
Listening to the radio via any digital platform was up 1.8 percentage points period on period, to 20.1% of the population.
Total hours of digital listening rose from 186 million in the fourth quarter of last year to 26 million in Q1.
| AM/FM | All Digital | – DAB | – DTV | – Internet | – Digital Unspecified | |
| Platform Shares (%) | ||||||
| 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 |
| Q1 2009 | 67.5 | 20.1 | 12.7 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.8 |
| Digital Listening Weekly Reach (%) | ||||||
| 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 |
| Q1 2009 | n/a | 33.8 | 19.9 | 11.1 | 6.8 | 7.4 |
| Digital Listening Total Hours (m) | ||||||
| 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 |
| Q1 2009 | n/a | 206 | 130.0 | 35.0 | 23.0 | 18.0 |
After dipping slightly last quarter, the percentage of adults listening to the radio via a mobile phone was on the rise again, hitting 13% for the first time.
Looking at a demographic breakdown, 30.6% of 15-24 year olds listen to the radio via a mobile, with this figure shrinking to 9.6% for those people aged 25 and above.