RAJAR Q4 2011: Digital

Digital radio put in a strong performance once again last quarter. Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach has increased by 10% year on year, with 23.1 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver (DAB, DTV, internet) each week (up from 20.9 million in Q4 2010 and 22.8 million in Q3 2011).

This increase is reflected in the digital listening hours for Q4, which are up 15% from 26.2 million hours in Q4 2010 to 30 million hours in Q4 2011.

As ever, DAB radio maintains its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 66.7% of all digital hours. However, listening via DTV (digital television) and the internet have both continued to rise year on year (hours up by 1.8% and 10.2% respectively) albeit from a smaller base.

The share of radio listening via a digital platform now stands at 29.1% of all radio listening, increasing from 25% in Q4 2010 (and 28.2% in Q3 2011). DAB listening increased its share from 15.8% in Q4 2010 to 19.4% in Q4 2011, while the share of DTV listening increased from 4.3% in Q4 2010 to reach 4.5% last quarter. Internet listening currently stands at 3.4% for Q4 2011 – up 3.1% YoY.

Access to a DAB receiver is also up (13% YoY) with 40% of the population, or 20.9 million adults (aged 15+) claiming to live in a household which has a DAB set.

RAJAR data also reveals that 15.1% of adults aged 15+ listened to the radio via a mobile phone in Q4, up 14.1% YoY. In the 25+ demographic, 11.9% say they have listened to the radio via their mobile phone, up from 10% in Q4 2010.

In the 15-24 demographic nearly a third (or 32.2% of those surveyed) now claim to have listened to the radio in this way with 16% stating they listen at least once a week and 2.8% stating they listen every day.

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