In the United Kingdom, digital listening share has increased by 6 percent to 37.8 percent, according to Rajar Q3 data, driven by the strength of digital stations and in-car digital listening.
Digital-only BBC Radio 6 Music grew by 15 percent to 1.994 million listeners, increasing its lead over BBC Radio 3, which recorded 1.912 million listeners. All of the BBC’s digital-only stations recorded audiences of over 1 million.
Absolute Radio 80s, the commercial digital-only station, also saw 1.432 million listeners, an 18 percent growth rate. The overall Absolute Radio Network of stations saw growth of 20 percent in digital listeners.
Another driver of growth has been the 53 percent increase in listening in-car. About 13.8 percent of in-car hours are now listened to on digital and 7.3 million people now listen in their car each week.
Currently, more than half of the U.K. population listens to digital platforms weekly.
DAB remains the most popular platform, with 250 million hours, and ownership of DAB digital radios continues to grow; 48.7 percent now have access to a DAB digital radio. Online/apps listening hours are up 12 percent year on year to 6.4 percent, while listening on digital TVs declined to 5 percent, said the report.