RAJAR figures reveal digital radio audience has grown 22%
RAJAR announced their fourth quarter figures for 2010. They reveal dramatic growth the digital audience. Their press statement is published here.
This figure is up year on year by more than three quarters of a million listeners or 1.7% (c.f. 46 million in Q4, 2009).
Radio listening via digital platforms
Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach* has increased by 22.1% year on year, with 20.9 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver each week (up from 17.1 million in Q4, 2009).
This increase is reflected in the digital listening hours for Q4, 2010 which are up 26.9% from 206 million hours in Q4, 2009 to 262 million hours this quarter.
As ever, DAB radio continues to maintain its position as the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 63.2% of all digital hours, however listening via DTV (digital television) and internet, have both continued to rise substantially year on year, (hours up by 36.6% and 54.9% respectively) albeit from a smaller base, with share of internet listening breaking through the 3% barrier for the first time.
Ø DAB hours are 166 million (136m in Q4, 2009 – up 22%)
Ø DTV hours are 45 million (33m in Q4, 2009 – up 36.6%)
Ø Internet hours are 32 million (21m in Q4, 2009 – up 54.9%)
The significant rise in reach and hours is also reflected in the share of radio listening via a digital platform, which has increased by almost 20% (from 20.9% in Q4 2009 to 25%, in Q4 2010) and now accounts for one quarter of all radio listening.
Access to a DAB receiver
RAJAR’s latest research shows access to a DAB receiver is up 7.9% year on year. Over one third of the population, or 18.5 million adults (aged 15+) in Q4, 2010, now claim to live in a household which has a DAB set. (c.f. 17.1 million in Q4, 2009).
Radio listening via mobile phone
Radio listening via mobile phone has increased by 4.1% quarter on quarter with 13.3% of adults aged 15+ in Q4, 2010 saying they have listened to radio via their mobile phone (c.f. 12.8% in Q3, 2010). In the 15-24 year demographic listening remains stable with 30.7% claiming to have listened to the radio in this way: 14.9% say they listen at least once a week, while 3.6% say they listen every day, up from 2.3% in Q3, 2010. In the 25+ demographic 10% of adults say they have listened to the radio via their mobile phone. (In Q1, 2010 RAJAR introduced a number of changes to the self-completion questionnaire which impacted on questions regarding mobile phone listening: therefore caution should be used when comparing with similar data from previous years.)
Detailed data and individual radio station data, for both BBC and Commercial Radio stations, is available on the RAJAR web site at www.rajar.co.uk