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2023 finished on a high for Australian commercial radio. GfK Survey 8 reveals that commercial radio listening soared to a record high of 12.25 million listeners aged 10+ across the five major metro markets, underpinned by a vibrant growth in DAB+ listening and younger listeners’ continued embrace of commercial radio.
Cumulative audiences have jumped 49,000 YOY, with people listening to commercial radio for 12 hours and 53 minutes per week. Commercial radio breakfast listening increased by 35,000 to 8.7 million listeners, with 71% of listeners tuning in at breakfast.
“2023 has been a boom year for commercial radio as more listeners discovered the great content available on DAB+-only stations while remaining completely engaged with listening to their favorite commercial radio stars and stations,” said Ford Ennals, CEO of Commercial Radio & Audio.
The number of DAB+-only commercial radio station listeners was up 6% compared to the same period in 2022 and grew 14.2% over the full year 2023, to 2.8 million listeners on average over the eight 2023 GfK surveys.
DAB+ has empowered listeners to enjoy commercial radio how they want, while adding new favorites to their listening options
Ford Ennals, CRA CEO
“Since 2021, listeners of commercial radio DAB+-only stations have grown by a massive 48%. Audiences love the great new content the commercial networks are adding, and DAB+ is easier to access than ever,” Ennals said.
“The resurgence of in-car listening has continued, with 34.8% of listening happening in cars and listening up 2.3 percentage points in a year. Strong new car sales, where DAB+ station access prominence is key, has also contributed to the growth in DAB+ listening.”
Device listening
For this survey, commercial radio station listening via a DAB+ device rather than an AM/FM receiver (also called simulcasting) was 4.6 million listeners, with 37.4% of commercial radio listeners tuning in via a DAB+ device. Listening via device was 69.1% for AM/FM, 21.8% via DAB+ and 9.1% via streaming.
“DAB+ has empowered listeners to enjoy commercial radio how they want, while adding new favorites to their listening options,” Ennals said.
Notably, people aged 10-24 are tuning into commercial radio, with 87.2% of younger Australians listening for an average of 11 hours, 26 minutes a week, an increase of 31 minutes YOY. This demographic’s love of DAB+-only commercial radio stations continues to grow, with a 13.4% increase in listeners YOY to 868,000. Twenty-nine percent listen to commercial radio, including DAB+-only stations, via streaming for the survey period.
“We’re delighted that commercial radio has delivered a record-breaking set of numbers for the last metro survey of the year. For 2024, we anticipate another vibrant year of growth and new opportunities for commercial radio, our listeners and our advertisers,” Ennals said.
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