UK DAB Household Penetration To Reach 58.5% By 2011

Household penetration of DAB digital radio in the UK is set to reach 58.5% by the end of 2011, according to new research by the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB).

The DRDB’s new five-year forecast puts household penetration at 21% by the end of 2007, and 30% by the end of 2008, rising to 40% in 2009, 50% in 2010, and 58.5% by the end of 2011.

DAB digital radio set sales are expected to realise 17% growth in 2007, with more than two million units sold at a value of £170 million, says the DRDB.

It adds that there are indications from many sources such as RAJAR, Ofcom, the BBC and RadioCentre, that the traditional face of radio listening is changing.

This is impacting significantly on the overall radio set sales market (analogue and DAB) with certain form factors, such as boomboxes, audio systems and personals, in decline, while others, such as MP3 players and docking stations (with radio included) are on the rise.

Ian Dickens, DRDB chief executive: “Already we are starting to see DAB digital radio appear in some of these new form factors, and while it is important to continue to see successful growth in traditional radio products, DAB’s longer-term future lies in the penetration of these new products, along with in-car and mobile phones. Over the coming months, the DRDB will be changing its shape and focus to ensure that radio moves swiftly down this road.”

The latest RAJAR data, for Q2 2007, showed that DAB is rapidly moving from a fringe listening platform of under a million listeners in 2003, to a mass market proposition with 6.1 million listeners in 2007.

The same report showed that over 20% of adults live in a DAB household and 74 million hours a week are spent listening to DAB digital radio. Eight new national DAB services from 4 Digital Group are expected to launch in 2008, along with a dozen new local and regional multiplexes.

In June, the DRDB revealed that more than five million DAB digital radios had been sold in the UK, equating to almost 10 million listeners tuning in to DAB around Britain (see DAB Radio Sales Reach Record Five Million).

The bureau is also currently looking for a new chief executive, after the announcement that Dickens will step down later this year (see DRDB Chief Exec To Stand Down).

DRDB: 020 7306 2630 www.drdb.org