SYDNEY, Australia � Digital radio is continuing to grow in popularity in Australia, gaining 168,000 listeners and now reaching over 3.5 million listeners in the five regional capital cities, according to the latest digital radio report by GfK.
Commercial Radio Australia�said the numbers were helped by solid growth in in-car listening, with another 91,900 new vehicles sold with DAB+ installed in the first quarter of 2016.�
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�Over 30% of new cars sold in the 12 months ending March were fitted with DAB+ digital radio, and the good news is we are now seeing digital radio available in more mass market cars and not just in the luxury end of the market,� said Joan Warner, CEO of CRA.
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The total number of vehicles sold to date in Australia with DAB+ radio has now reached 553,000.�
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Warner said she expected listeners would continue to upgrade from analog to DAB+ digital radio because of the better audio quality, the ease of use and the fact digital radio was now being integrated into more Hi-Fi and home theatre systems.�
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The GfK report showed that 26.3% of Australians had listened to radio via a DAB+ digital radio in the first three radio survey periods of the year. �Of these, 2.62 million had tuned into DAB+ simulcasts of AM and FM stations and 1.42 million had listened to digital-only stations.
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Digital radio was most popular in Melbourne, where 1.17 million people or 27.5% of the population tuned in, followed by Sydney with 1.11 million listeners, or 25.8% of the population.
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GfK releases Digital Radio reports four times each year. The latest report is based on average results recorded across GfK�s three most recent radio ratings surveys � Surveys 1-3, 2016. The report can be foundhere.
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