DAB+ Sells
The Australian is reporting that more than 100,000 digital radios have been sold Down Under in the six months since DAB+ launched there.
The figure, twice as many as expected, was revealed by Frontier Silicon the company which supplies the chips and software for the majority of receivers in the market. Chief Executive of Frontier Silicon, Anthony Sethill, says they expect a further 250,000 sales this year meaning Australia will have 400,000 units in the market by Christmas.
Joan Warner of Commercial Radio Australia said they will “have official figures in March as well as some information on listening and independent research on consumer awareness and attitudes to digital radio”.
Another country rolling out DAB+, Malta, is also reporting very successful take up. Findings published by the Malta Broadcasting Authority show that in just two years digital radio listenership has increased to 10.1%.
Meanwhile in the UK digital radio listening has dipped very slightly. RAJAR figures released last week show a quarterly drop of just 0.2%. Considering Bauer took their two most popular digital stations (The Hits and Smash Hits) off Freeview and Sky, such a small drop is actually a positive sign of the strength of digital.
However most media have jumped on this screaming it’s the beginning of the end. We must remember two things though. First, this is well within the statistical margin of error and secondly, like the economy, we should wait for the results of two consecutive quarters before claiming a “recession” of digital listening.
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