Digital radio’s popularity on the rise

It’s been five years since digital radio was introduced in Australia. That said, many Aussies still aren’t familiar with this relatively fresh form of radio, with gradual growth between 2009 and 2013 of the new medium.

Good news, however, is that digital radio listening is now the highest it’s been, with figures published in Commercial Radio Australia’s Digital Radio Report for 2014 stating that 2.8 million people now tune in to digital stations each week.

These impressive figures are a direct result of the increase of digital radios built in to motor vehicles. In fact, nearly 98,000 new cars had been sold in the past financial year with a DAB+ digital radio built in (across 16 vehicle brands). These figures are almost double that of last year.

Meanwhile, penetration of DAB+ is better than initially forecasted at 23.3%, according to a report today on music industry website The Music Network.

“The number of vehicle brands with DAB+ digital radio has doubled in Australia since 2013 when only eight manufacturers supported the service,” reports Poppy Reid.

Since digital radio’s launch in late 2009, the total number of DAB+ devices in the market – including those in cars – is 1.8 million.  Antonino Tati

Note: On an aesthetic front, digital radios are typically designed to look old-school for a bit of a ‘vintage’ touch. The irony is that there is a far broader variety of music and information available via this relatively new medium.