RAJAR Q2 2011: Digital

Digital radio put in a strong performance once again, posting increases in weekly reach, hours, share and DAB set ownership.

Listening to radio via a digital platform, in terms of weekly reach, has increased by 10.7% YoY, with 22.1 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver each week (up from 20 million in Q2 2010).

This is reflected in the number of hours people are tuning in to digital radio, which are up 14.3% from 253 million hours in Q2 2010 to 289 million hours this quarter.

DAB radio continues to retain its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 63.8% of all digital hours. However, listening via digital television and the internet has also continued to rise over the year, up 23.7% and 15.4% respectively.

DAB hours are now 185 million; DTV 52 million; and internet 34 million.

The share of radio listening via a digital platform accounts for more than one quater of all radio listening, up from 24.6% this time last year to 26.9% in Q2 2011. However, this is still a long way from the government’s current target of 50% by 2013 to ensure a digital switchover by 2015.

Access to a DAB receiver is up 11.1% YoY and is almost three times the level of five years ago, according to RAJAR. In Q2, almost two in five people (38.9%) – 20.2 million adults – claimed to live in a household with a DAB set.

More and more people are also tuning in via a mobile phone – with mobile listening up 16.1% YoY. 45% of adults aged 15+ say they listened via their mobile handset in Q2.

In the 25+ demographic, 11.4% listened to the radio via their mobile, up 9.2% YoY; while nearly a third (31%) of 15-24 year olds tune in.

MediaTel has PowerPoint presentations available to download, featuring pre-prepared market breakdown graphs for the RAJAR data release – click here.