ZURICH, Switzerland �The Digital Migration (DigiMig) working group presented the results of a new research project on digital radio listening today at Swiss Radio Day. It examines the extent of digital listening among the radio audience in Switzerland.
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The conference heard the findings of the research project’s pilot study. Analog FM radio transmission is to make way for DAB+ digital radio in Switzerland from 2020 onwards. TheDigitale Radionutzung�(Digital Radio Consumption) research that was presented today is running in parallel with the switchover: over the next few years, market researchers will conduct a survey on digital radio consumption twice per year.
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According to the research, 45 percent of all radio listening in Switzerland is now digital; in other words, 45 out of every 100 minutes of radio programming reaches listeners via digital channels. DAB+ accounts for just over half of this. Further findings from the pilot study include:
- The two means of digital reception � DAB+ and the internet � are almost equally popular.
- Digital radio listening is lowest in Italian-speaking Switzerland. The figures for German and French-speaking Switzerland are equal.
- Young people listen to more digital radio than older age groups, mainly as a result of much higher internet radio listening among the young.
- More than a quarter of radio listening at home and at work is now via DAB+.
- Analog channels dominate in-car listening.
“Digital radio consumption” refers to radio listening by means of a DAB+ receiver, Internet radio, and via a computer, tablet, smartphone or TV set. GfK Switzerland conducted the study on behalf of the DigiMig working group. The market researchers surveyed around 2,400 individuals from the various language regions of Switzerland, by telephone or by online response. �
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