On Tuesday, I posted the welcome news that Ford is working with a radio app specialist, jacAPPS, to produce apps for their connected car dashboard. This potentially means in-car internet radio is a step closer with the car.
But, we shouldn't forget that broadcast radio is still the pre-eminent way of listening. Indeed, comments on Twitter pointed out that nobody's yet fully explained how everyone sitting on the M25 will technically be able to listen to internet radio (it doesn't scale for the football match, after all), and it may bankrupt the radio companies (because all that bandwidth doesn't come free).
With that in mind, it's heartening to see the Q4 2012 new car registration data from CAP/SMMT, which I've been supplied by Digital Radio UK.
In that period, 33.3% of all new cars registered in the UK had DAB Digital Radio fitted as standard. A third of all newly registered cars have DAB fitted as standard. That's a pretty major milestone.
If you put it in numbers, that's 141,282 new DAB radios on wheels - and therefore probably around a quarter of a million potential new listeners to in-car DAB in just three months. Brands like Ford, Vauxhall, VW and BMW are leading the way.
If you're wondering, these figures are rapidly growing. In Q4 2010, only 7.5% of newly-registered cars came with DAB. Now it's 33.3%, just two years later.
20% of all radio listening happens in-car; and the car is an ideal place to discover and trial new radio stations. And, while there's quite a way to go (there's a total of 28.5m cars on the road in the UK), these figures are - to me - surprisingly high and show an impressive amount of work with the motor industry.
A few notes: "cars registered" is not the same as "cars bought"; and these car radios will probably be DAB+ rather than simple DAB, since that's the standard for motor manufacturers across Europe. The Q4 2012 sales figures for DAB radio receivers are released next week.
DAB radio in-car reaches new high
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DAB radio is in more new cars than ever before - a surprising number, in fact
James Cridland is the Managing Director of Media UK, and a radio futurologist: a consultant, writer and public speaker who concentrates on the effect that new platforms and technology are having on the radio business.
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6 comments
Graham Mack posted on Friday 11th January at 10:47
FM didn’t really take off in the UK until it was in most cars. Even in the 80’s you had radios with push buttons marked “MMMML” in brand new cars. They should have concentrated on getting DAB in cars ten years ago instead of pushing those wooden kitchen radios.
Andy Bonner posted on Friday 11th January at 11:30
I don’t know about London, but I’m yet to be convinced the rest of the UK is ready for DAB.
After years of having a digital radio at home I finally got one for the car for Christmas.
It’s great to have the extra choice. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to drive listening to Jazz FM. And I wanted Five Live and Magic in quality. And LBC. But drive through Liverpool city centre and the tall buildings start to interrupt the digital signals. That’s not a problem with FM.
There are no AM broadcasts in the Mersey Tunnel so I was looking forward to hearing Five Live without interruption. Wrong. It turns out DAB is dead in, or rather, under the water.
Despite this, my digital radio listening has certainly increased. I’ve delved into the Absolute stations much more frequently and I love them – despite the incessant cross-promotion.
However, while there is undoubtedly more choice, DAB seems to be a platform to listen to London stations. It is great to have LBC and I can’t complain at its inherent bias to the capital. Other so-called national services are just as bad though. Listen to Absolute’s “UK Travel” and you’re lucky to hear anything north of Watford. My beloved Jazz FM is constantly plugging gigs at venues in the capital complete with road name – yet a reference to even a city in the north west is a very rare thing indeed.
In fact, I can’t think of a north west-based digital only station at all. Chester-based Dee on DAB will be broadcasting soon but it’s only DAB-specific output will air overnight while I’m sleeping.
Despite it all, I love my digital radio. But that’s because I’m an anorak and I’m prepared to put up with the signal dropping out.
Ask me to recommend it and I’d say don’t bother. It’s unreliable and largely irrelevant.
It’s good to see the industry investing in DAB. I just hope the increase in in-car sets means the stations and multiplex owners will think more about the listener. Otherwise internet radio may just win the day.
Michael Thomas posted on Saturday 12th January at 12:44
DAB is very much a question of horses for courses. As has already been posted above reception is a very hit and miss affair. The thing is that anyone wanting the extra choice of stations on DAB are free to go out and buy a DAB radio if they want to. No-one is proposing that they cannot or limiting this choice.
However, I take great exception to the Government trying to bludgeon us into agreeing to switching off FM. No-one, including Ed Vaizey or Digital Radio UK can answer this simple question.
“Please tell me one benefit of DAB to the many, many, many millions of contented FM radio listeners who are (a) perfectly content with the available choice of radio stations on FM; (b) perfectly happy with the audio quality and ( c) see no reason why they should be forced to waste a lot of money replacing their radios in car and home were FM to be switched off”.
The Government and Digital Radio UK are really hyping up DAB but only telling part of the truth. So I was delighted to come across this website www.ten-myths-of-dab.co.uk that exposes the hype and BS being pushed out by them.
Art Grainger posted on Saturday 12th January at 21:33
To Andy Bonner…
I’ve been to Liverpool city centre. What reception problems in Liverpool, city centre are you talking about? I didn’t experience any. Do you have a proper aerial (not one of those sticky-on-the-window types)?
Gary Jon posted on Sunday 13th January at 00:43
I have a sticky on aerial on I have been really pleased. I bought a Sony DAB radio for the car in about 2006. It is a bit fiddly to use but the sound quality is good, reception is generally better than FM and that surprised me. I have found DAB radio in the house is very directional, you turn the aerial and you loose the signal very easily but in the car it is pretty good.
Most people I know do not buy new car radios so getting the manufacturers to fit as standard is the best way to get more listeners. That being said I do not want to loose FM.
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Welcome everybody. I’ve had DAB in my car(s) over the past 10 years now. Both sets (Blaupunkt and Sony) were bought from Halfords and both the antenna and stereo were fitted by me in less than 10 minutes, fitted into the standard 2u fittings on most cars.
After experiencing rock solid reception almost everywhere I go (even in very remote places), I find listening to FM and AM a real struggle. It’s also quite surprising how well DAB signals can dig into places where FM signals are almost useless and medium wave is not very reliable either, such as the A7 trunk road between Hawick and Langholm in the Scottish Borders, where there are very steep hills either side of the road. FM on this stretch is a write-off, yet DAB gives perfect reception, even though the only transmitters capable of getting into the area are at Ashkirk and Sandale (near Carlisle).