Strong Christmas Sales For Digital Radios

One million DAB digital radios were bought in the fourth quarter of 2007, with more than 550,000 sold in December alone, a 22% rise on December 2006.

According to the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB), best sellers were portable kitchen radios, MP3/DAB personals, DAB hi-fi systems and, with a particularly strong result, DAB clock radios.

At one point in December, John Lewis reported selling six DAB digital radios a minute compared to five iPods a minute, said the DRDB.

The DRDB said that figures from GfK put cumulative sales of DAB sets at 6.45 million at the end of 2007, up from 4.4 million in 2006. This is in line with the DRDB’s forecast figure of two million set sales in 2007 (see UK DAB Household Penetration To Reach 58.5% By 2011)

Paul Brown, DRDB acting chief executive, said: “Sales of DAB sets over Christmas are very encouraging. As the radio industry goes through a period of re-evaluation of its digital strategy, it is important that we not lose sight of the consumer.

“Both GfK and RAJAR figures tell us that DAB is quickly becoming a valued medium among listeners.”

According to the DRDB’s own research, based on more than 14,000 DAB owners, 27% of owners have more than one DAB radio at home; and overall satisfaction levels have risen from 85% to 88%, while 63% of DAB owners listen to more radio than they did before they bought.

The DRDB forecasts sales of 2.6 million in 2008, bringing the cumulative total to 9.1 million sets and household penetration to 30%.

It added that the positive figures for DAB are significant as the DCMS’s Digital Radio Working Group prepares to meet for the first time next week.

RAJAR figures for Q4 2007 are released on Thursday 31 January and NewsLine will be bringing you in-depth analysis of all the major stories.

DRDB: 020 7306 2630 www.drdb.org