Demand for digital radio on the rise

Commercial Radio Australia has cited the findings of a recently comissioned study as proof of growing demand for local digital radio services.

The industry body’s CEO, Joan Warner, said in a statement that there was huge demand for more information about new music.

Digital radio - with its ability to provide consumers with easily accessible information such as track details, artist images, CD covers and music news – was ideally suited to fill this gap, she said.

Citing research undertaken nation-wide by Colmar Brunton Media Solutions, Warner said more than 77 per cent of consumers had been frustrated by not knowing the title or artist of a song played on the radio.

Eighty two percent of women and 83 percent of people aged 18-34 were most likely to have been troubled by not being able to identify a popular song’s title or artist.

Seventy five percent of people surveyed and 84 per cent of 18-24-year-olds saying they would be very or quite interested in purchasing a digital radio priced within their budget, up from 68 percent and 80 percent respectively in 2004.

“The uptake of MP3 players doesn’t seem to have dampened consumer enthusiasm for the concept of digital radio,” Warner said.

“Digital radio technology is going to be a revolution for music lovers, particularly for younger people who have grown up in the digital media age.”

The commercial radio industry was planning to launch digital radio over the next two to three years following the Federal Government’s announcement last October of a broad policy framework for its introduction, Warner said.

The survey also found that digital radio had many additional features which made it more appealing than traditional radio.

Amongst these, the tuning by station name, enhanced sound quality, the ability to pause and rewind radio, images, digital only programs and radio via mobile phone were flagged.

The survey was completed by 8220 people Australia wide in February as part of Colmar Brunton’s online Omnibus study.

More information on digital radio is available at: www.digitalradioaustralia.com.au

In related news, ICT Minister Helen Coonan has announced that digital radio services are to be launched in Australia by 2009.

The announcement follows the October announcement that the Minister would develop the necessary legislative framework for digital radio ASAP.

New licence categories will be defined and new legislation will be required to implement the six-year moratorium on the issue of new commercial digital radio licences in the Broadcasting Services Band.

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