If this is true it doesn't say a lot for some commercial radio, now does it?
Possibly DAB is becoming the same as Freeview – with the BBC as the stronger player people want it.

BTW, couldn't agree more about the final paragraph

Eric

The one who admits to be in his 50's but remains as open minded as he was in his early 20's.

======================================================================

Consumers keep on buying DAB Digital Radios!

Nearly half a million DAB digital radios were sold in quarter one 2008 delivering sales growth of 28% year-on-year, according to figures from GfK, the industry’s marketing service. Cumulative sales of DAB radio sets at the end of March stood at 6.94 million.

In a tough retail quarter on the High Street, 489,000 DAB sets were sold in January, February and March. This is 7% above the DRDB’s forecast for the period.

At the MediaGuardian.co.uk Radio Reborn conference today (April 28), DRDB acting chief executive, Paul Brown, said: “DAB digital radio came under fire earlier this year following announcements of withdrawal from the medium by GCap Media and the loss of several national DAB services. However, consumer, retailer and manufacturer confidence in DAB remains high as these figures demonstrate. That confidence is supported by the radio industry which is working together to ensure the future DAB landscape remains an attractive proposition for listeners.”

The 28% growth year-on-year is a significant improvement on the annual volume growth rate in 2007 which was 16%. It reflects an acceleration in sales in certain product sectors, including DAB clock radios and new, emerging sectors such as DAB in MP3, docking systems and in-car adapters.

In total, DAB now accounts for 20% of all radio sales by volume, and 26% of all sales by value.

DAB sales value too continues to grow, up 10% year-on-year and now annually worth £172 million. In particular, DAB now accounts for 82% of portable kitchen radio sales by value. Volume sales in this sector continue to grow and are up 13% year-on-year. Clock radio is a key driver of volume growth with sales up 111% in the last year. DAB now accounts for 49% of all clock radio sales by value.

And there are encouraging signs in the in-car after-fit market with the recent release of a plug-and-go in-car adapter from PURE Digital. After several years with little growth, in the three months since the Highway was launched, DAB after-fit volume sales have grown 14% year-on-year.

With DAB now appearing in new form factors such as Wi-Fi radios, docking stations, iPod adapters and MP3 players, there are promising signs that DAB is moving towards a younger audience; one that wants the latest technology and functionality.