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United Kingdom - Automotive - History

15.04.2020

Despite a decline in the number of car sales in the UK, 2019 was a record year for DAB in new vehicles in the UK, with 2.38 million new cars and commercial vehicles hitting the road fitted with DAB digital radio as standard. DAB in new car registrations rose to a record 95% of all new cars in Q4 2019, while DAB in new commercial vehicles increased to a record of over 64%. This means that for the full year of 2019 there were 2.15 million new cars and 232,600 new commercial vehicles fitted with DAB as standard.

In Q1 2019, digital listening in car increased by 20 million hours or 24% year on year to reach a new record share of 41.5% of all in car listening.  Of those 20 million hours, 19 million hours were via DAB digital radio.

 

Service Following

Arqiva, Global Radio, Bauer and Digital Radio UK have pioneered the launch of service following in the UK. Service following is part of the Digital Radio Tick Mark minimum specifications and is present for Global Radio on all ensembles carrying Global's services – Capital, Heart, XFM, Gold and Classic FM, and for Bauer on all ensembles carrying Hits Radio. This offers drivers an uninterrupted listening experience as they move out of one ensemble carrying these services and into another. DRUK and broadcasters have specified a test route for anyone wishing to test service following on receivers and for  more information on this or the Tick Mark, contact Yvette Dore, Communications Director, Digital Radio UK at yvette.dore@digitalradiouk.com

AA Member Research: digital radio satisfaction high in car

  • The AA fielded a piece of online research into digital radio in cars and received a creditable 29,000 responses.
  • The survey found that 91% of drivers listen to broadcast radio in their car, 22% of all drivers have digital radio in their car and 86% of drivers were highly satisfied with their digital radio.
  • Most drivers without digital radio were not considering buying an adapter but were either waiting to buy a new car or for the switch-off of the FM services.
  • There is clear price resistance to buying car adapters. 53% of drivers without digital radio would consider buying a car adapter, but only if the price was under £100. 4% would pay over £100 and 43% would not buy an adapter.
  • 51% of drivers were aware of radio switchover. Internal research conducted by broadcasters indicates that most people think radio switchover will happen in the next 5-10 years.
  • The research confirms the high level of consumer satisfaction with digital radio in cars and highlights the importance of having more affordable adapters available.
22.01.2020

Despite a decline in the number of car sales in the UK, 2019 was a record year for DAB in new vehicles in the UK, with 2.38 million new cars and commercial vehicles hitting the road fitted with DAB digital radio as standard. DAB in new car registrations rose to a record 95% of all new cars in Q4 2019, while DAB in new commercial vehicles increased to a record of over 64%. This means that for the full year of 2019 there were 2.15 million new cars and 232,600 new commercial vehicles fitted with DAB as standard.

In Q1 2019, digital listening in car increased by 20 million hours or 24% year on year to reach a new record share of 41.5% of all in car listening.  Of those 20 million hours, 19 million hours were via DAB digital radio.

 

Service Following

Arqiva, Global Radio, Bauer and Digital Radio UK have pioneered the launch of service following in the UK. Service following is part of the Digital Radio Tick Mark minimum specifications and is present for Global Radio on all ensembles carrying Global's services – Capital, Heart, XFM, Gold and Classic FM, and for Bauer on all ensembles carrying Hits Radio. This offers drivers an uninterrupted listening experience as they move out of one ensemble carrying these services and into another. DRUK and broadcasters have specified a test route for anyone wishing to test service following on receivers and for  more information on this or the Tick Mark, contact Sam Bonham, Technology Development Manager, Digital Radio UK sam.bonham@digitalradiouk.com.

AA Member Research: digital radio satisfaction high in car

  • The AA fielded a piece of online research into digital radio in cars and received a creditable 29,000 responses.
  • The survey found that 91% of drivers listen to broadcast radio in their car, 22% of all drivers have digital radio in their car and 86% of drivers were highly satisfied with their digital radio.
  • Most drivers without digital radio were not considering buying an adapter but were either waiting to buy a new car or for the switch-off of the FM services.
  • There is clear price resistance to buying car adapters. 53% of drivers without digital radio would consider buying a car adapter, but only if the price was under £100. 4% would pay over £100 and 43% would not buy an adapter.
  • 51% of drivers were aware of radio switchover. Internal research conducted by broadcasters indicates that most people think radio switchover will happen in the next 5-10 years.
  • The research confirms the high level of consumer satisfaction with digital radio in cars and highlights the importance of having more affordable adapters available.
16.05.2019
  • The CAP/SMMT data for Q4 2018 shows that 93.1% of new cars came with DAB as standard in Q4, up from 91.4% in Q3 and 88.8% in Q4 2017. 
  • 56.3% of commercial vehicles came with DAB as standard in Q4 2018, up from 54.5% in Q3 and 40% in Q4 2017.

In Q1 2019, digital listening in car increased by 20 million hours or 24% year on year to reach a new record share of 41.5% of all in car listening.  Of those 20 million hours, 19 million hours were via DAB digital radio.

With over 35 million cars on the road, the challenge (and opportunity) remains in the aftermarket. Digital Radio UK is working with the industry to support the growing aftermarket with consistent media and in-store promotional campaigns. As of March 2018, over 11 million cars on the road in the UK are able to receive digital radio.  All new cars in the UK fitted with DAB are also DAB+ compatible which is important given the growing number of stations broadcasting on DAB+ in the UK, including 5 national stations – Fun Kids, Magic Chilled, JazzFM, Union Jack and Forces BFBS, a number of local commercial stations, plus around 100 ultra-local community and commercial stations on small-scale DAB.

Service Following

Arqiva, Global Radio, Bauer and Digital Radio UK have pioneered the launch of service following in the UK. Service following is part of the Digital Radio Tick Mark minimum specifications and is present for Global Radio on all ensembles carrying Global's services – Capital, Heart, XFM, Gold and Classic FM, and for Bauer on all ensembles carrying Hits Radio. This offers drivers an uninterrupted listening experience as they move out of one ensemble carrying these services and into another. DRUK and broadcasters have specified a test route for anyone wishing to test service following on receivers and for  more information on this or the Tick Mark, contact Sam Bonham, Technology Development Manager, Digital Radio UK sam.bonham@digitalradiouk.com.

AA Member Research: digital radio satisfaction high in car

  • The AA fielded a piece of online research into digital radio in cars and received a creditable 29,000 responses.
  • The survey found that 91% of drivers listen to broadcast radio in their car, 22% of all drivers have digital radio in their car and 86% of drivers were highly satisfied with their digital radio.
  • Most drivers without digital radio were not considering buying an adapter but were either waiting to buy a new car or for the switch-off of the FM services.
  • There is clear price resistance to buying car adapters. 53% of drivers without digital radio would consider buying a car adapter, but only if the price was under £100. 4% would pay over £100 and 43% would not buy an adapter.
  • 51% of drivers were aware of radio switchover. Internal research conducted by broadcasters indicates that most people think radio switchover will happen in the next 5-10 years.
  • The research confirms the high level of consumer satisfaction with digital radio in cars and highlights the importance of having more affordable adapters available.