Last week RAJAR announced that 90% of the UK adult (15+) population – 47.3 million people – tuned in to their selected radio stations in the first quarter of 2013, up by approximately 608,000 on Q1 2012, though the total number of hours listened to radio (1.03 billion) was down marginally, -3% year on year.
Daniel Todaro of Field Marketing agency Gekko comments:
Highly impressive figures last week to see listeners are going to digital in record numbers. DAB sets continue to fly off the shelves and we’re not too far away from seeing over 50% of the UK own a DAB set. It seems a far cry now from the negativity that initially surrounded a potential digital radio switch-over.
However, the move towards that switch-over remains a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s lots that can be done to build upon the great foundations laid by the accomplished Digital Radio UK ATL campaign that’s been capturing the nation’s imagination for the past few months; one that’s already been shortlisted for an Arqiva Award.
Change is still a difficult thing to accomplish, but the success of the Digital TV switch-over should give plenty of cause for confidence and optimism that the public can embrace change if handled with sensitivity and correctly guided at a pace they’re comfortable.
A next step for Digital Radio UK would be to support the ATL investment with experiential activity in order to create a real seamless, multichannel experience to drive that educative and awareness-raising process.
Particularly with a summer devoid of the types of events we saw in 2012, there’s vast opportunity for brands to fill that void with exciting and engaging shopping centre activity to really surprise and delight consumers who may previously have viewed digital radio with trepidation.
By pairing up with the stations proving popular, such as the Absolute Radio Network’s burgeoning brands, a clear message of the great entertainment on offer can really be driven home.
With BMW also now fitting DAB as standard in their cars, we’re well on our way towards a fully digital future.
gekkofm 