The latest U.K. audience research confirms steady growth in listening via digital platforms.
According to the First Quarter (Q1) 2008 figures released by Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd. (RAJAR), DAB receiver ownership in the United Kingdom rose by 40 percent year-on-year.
In Q1 2007, 19.5 percent of those aged over 15 claimed they owned a DAB set; for Q1 2008, the ownership figure increased to 27.3 percent.
RAJAR also reported that a total 17.8 percent of all radio listening is via digital platforms, of which 10.8 percent is via DAB, 3.2 percent via digital television and 2.1 percent via the Internet.
Some 31 percent of the population, specifically those aged over 15, listen to radio via a digital platform every week. Digital listening hours for Q1 2008 increased by 9 percent to 184 million hours per week. The most substantial listening increase was for DAB, up 10 percent to more than 110 million hours quarter on quarter.
There was also a slight increase in both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter radio listening via all platforms. Since Q1 2007, radio listening increased one percentage point to 90 percent of the U.K. population, or 45.4 million listeners. Since Q3 2007, it has risen by 445,000, an increase of 1.5 percent.
The BBC continues to outpace the commercial sector, scoring 56.8 percent of listenership compared to 41.1 percent for commercial stations.