And out of a dozen people I know with DAB in their cars, none of them listens to it. Half of them don’t know they even have it, or understand what it is. And after showing them how to get their favourite AM stations in better fidelity on the car radio, they revert to AM within a few days. But many of them use apps to listen to music through the car audio system.
Same in taxis I’ve travelled in. They listen to muffled AM instead of using the built in DAB radio. Or an FM music station.
DAB is a platform that has had 12 years to be successful. Not one regional broadcaster (apart from Mandurah, WA and Queensland’s Gold Coast) is showing any interest whatsoever. That alone tells you something.
I know a few who do listen to DAB+ in the car, but almost exclusive to listen the AM/FM stations anyway. Most don’t even know that they’re on AM/FM instead of DAB+. They just say it’s easier to see the list of stations and don’t know what all the extra stations are (most don’t even recognize all the AM/FM stations they don’t listen to).
SCA have just poached a much stronger brekkie duo than 2Day’s current one.
It’s an absolute no brainer to hurry up, pay out The Morning Crew and shift Mike E & Emma to 2Day Breakfast. And revert back to the previous format.
Chopping & changing… yes. But taking advantage of strong talent? That’s something ARN have successfully done with KIIS and now this could easily be SCA’s turn with 2Day.
The ratings figures speak for themselves, there are over 2 million listeners of the DAB only stations in the capital markets, and it is growing all the time. Like in many parts of Europe, DAB has been a resounding success in Australia.
No doubt they’ll start appearing on 2Day on Friday’s introing songs and pointing to their show. Then the survey break fill-in before the inevitable…Erin will depart to “focus on her role with Sky”, and/or Hughsey will “focus on stand-up”. They’ll probably keep Ed on standby as a fill in for Carrie & Tommy and Hit breakfast shows, and maybe a Listnr show/podcast.
In Sydney last year 657,000 people listened in total to DAB+ AND internet only stations. In other words via web sites and streaming. That’s from a potential audience of 4,793,000. In other words 13.7% listen via DAB or the internet. After 12 and a half years. Not a resounding success at all.
If you want your private life private, don’t put it all over social media. If you didn’t tell everyone you were hurling, they wouldn’t have brought it up.
“First of all, if I was pregnant, do you think I’d be telling you via a cryptic Instagram story?
Ummm…yeah. It’s the exact MO of an influencer.
And don’t tell me when it does happen she won’t sign up for a big magazine spread to show off the bump to ring in the sponsored content on her socials.
I listen to DAB all the time. Either at home or in the car (Hyundai i30). I dont listen to FM or AM. Just DAB and it is fantastic. Although I probably am a radio nerd.
Last I checked, they didn’t even bother to re-broadcast DAB+ in the Tunnels across Sydney, I hope that’s changed now, but I won’t be overly surprised if it hasn’t.
I used to like listening to Dance Hits while working from home but I found the playlist too repetitive. I tuned out eventually as it was the same limited playlist on high rotation. Months later, I wonder if it’s still playing the same stuff?
Dab+ is rebroadcasted into the Sydney Northconnex, our work trucks have dab+ tuners in them. I only listen to dab+ in them because the fm radio is very poor, sound quality and reception.
Actually in previous surveys Sydney notched nearly a million listeners for DAB only stations, as did Melbourne, so the numbers fluctuate from survey to survey. Overall 2 million+ listeners is positive for the industry.
Also, 12 years is not a long time in the scheme of things. How long has FM and AM radio being going for?
It is the same with Free to air TV. There are more than 20 stations and even though the ratings of the multi-channels are a fraction of the main channels, the multi-channels have loyal audiences and are making money for the networks, so it has also been a success in that industry too.
Considering there are tens of thousands of internet radio stations available to listen to on the web or smartphone, 2 million listeners across the 5 metro capitals for DAB only stations, is definitely a success.
Likewise, although I sometimes have Smooth, WS or 2DayFM on.
A lot of people on this forum don’t realise how fortunate we are to have the choice in formats that DAB provides. It has been a boon for the entire radio industry.
Compare it to NZ that stuck with FM, their industry is a duopoly, it’s stuck in the past with boring playlists and no competition, no new entrants and no government youth stations like JJJ or Double J.