British Radio: Digital Listenership Passes 50 Percent

The proportion of audiences who listen to national radio stations via digital radio has passed 50 per cent for the first time, in what the industry is hailing as a breakthrough moment for the medium.

Ford Ennals

The Telegraph reports quarterly figures show that 50.6 per cent of all audience hours for national BBC and commercial stations came via the digital platform, with Radio 4 Extra setting a new audience record of 2.2 million listeners per week. When local radio stations are factored in, digital’s share is 42 per cent.

Digital radio initially failed to take hold in Britain, but in recent years it has grown in popularity, on the back of BBC stations such as 6 Music, and the decision to move test match cricket onto 5 Live Sports Extra, which also posted a record audience of 1.73 million weekly listeners. 54 per cent of households now own a DAB radio, up from 22 per cent eight years ago.

Ford Ennals, chief executive of Digital Radio UK, said: “The shift to digital listening is accelerating across the UK. We are now counting down to the moment when the majority of all radio listening will be to digital.”

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