The DRDB (Digital Radio Development Bureau) produces a monthly news bulletin designed to keep all those in the DAB digital radio chain informed and updated on the latest developments in the industry.
Record Breaking Sales of DAB Digital Radios
Sales of DAB digital radios jumped by 222% in 2003 as consumers discovered new radio stations and interference-free listening.
The Digital Radio Development Bureau today released figures showing digital radio sales of 133,300 in December 2003, with the majority coming in the kitchen portable radio sector. The figures were compiled by GfK, independent auditors of the home electronics market.
At the end of 2003, cumulative penetration of DAB digital radio was 435,000 units, an increase of 222% in one year.
300,000 digital radios were sold in 2003 and, at an average price point of £100, this translates to £30 million worth of sales.
Awareness Up
Awareness of DAB digital radio jumped by 30% in quarter four 2003 following promotional campaigns from the BBC and commercial radio. Awareness currently stands at 43% of the population, that’s 25 million people.
Product News - Five New Products
DAB digital radio looks set to continue the Christmas boom well into 2004.
Five new DAB products have launched so far this year.
The first micro hi-fi systems incorporating DAB are now available, and the lowest ever entry point radio is now on the market. Here’s a taster of what’s happening in DAB:
Hitachi AX-M68D micro hi-fi system. Includes three components - CD, FM/DAB tuner and amp, plus speakers. A blue top light and a shiny silver effect give it a cool look. Exclusively available from Dixons and Currys at a launch price of £299.99.
Ministry of Sound’s MC018 micro hi-fi system is part of its Space range and comes in a white cube effect. This one delivers FM and DAB, along with a CD player. Priced around £249.
Another new product from Ministry of Sound is a unique white triangular boombox - also part of the Space range. The MOSCR023 comes with FM and DAB, as well as a CD player. Priced around £149.99.
Two new products from Acoustic Solutions, the people who brought you a range of critically received budget DAB hi-fi tuners. This time they’ve moved into the portable market with the Portal 1 and Portal 2.
Both radios were designed by IDEO London with a very different retro style. The Portal 1 is DAB only, while the Portal 2 also receives FM signals. At £69.99, the Portal 1 (pictured) is the lowest ever entry price for a DAB radio. The Portal 2 is priced at £79.99.
So five new products in three weeks.....but there’s alot more to come. Check www.digitalradionow.com regularly for details of all the new DAB kit.
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Coming Soon
Philips is to launch a portable DAB digital radio this month. The DA1000 is the first DAB product from the consumer electronics major and features FM reception as well as DAB. Two rechargeable AA batteries deliver up to ten hours of listening. Price around £149.
Intempo Digital is to extend its DAB range with the introduction of the KT-01 and KTB-01. Expected in the first half of 2004, these radios build on the success of Intempo’s launch product, the PG-01. The new products are stereo, battery and mains operated, with alarm, clock and sleep features. They receive both FM and DAB (Band III) stations and....the KT-01 is pink.
Lotus Elise
The new Lotus Elise 111R, the latest addition to the Lotus stable, offers the Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB53 digital radio with CD-R/W and MP3 player as an upgrade as part of its Touring Pack of options.
Retailer News
DIXONS
Dixons, the UK’s leading High Street electrical retailer, sold more digital radios than ever before in the run up to Christmas, according to sales figures released this week. In December digital sets outsold conventional analogue tuners for the first time ever, confirming that the future of radio in the UK will be digital.
Improvements to the range, better availability of stock, new portable models and investment in new transmitters have all contributed to the growth of the market for digital radio, according to Dixons.
"It’s an important landmark, and yet another strong signal that the digital age is here," said John Mewett, Dixons’ marketing director. "With great products available and plenty of exclusive content, this is a perfect time to upgrade to digital."
COMET
More than 50% of all Comet portable radio sales in 2003 were DAB products, and in quarter four, DAB sales accounted for 77% of sales by value.
JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP
The John Lewis Partnership achieved its best ever radio sales in December via DAB digital radio.
HALFORDS
The Woodstock DAB52 in-car digital radio will remain at a special pre-Christmas price at all Halfords stores. The best-selling in-car DAB radio in Europe is available for just £299, including aerial and fitting from Halfords.
Technology News
Frontier Silicon
Frontier Silicon – the UK’s leading fabless manufacturer of semiconductors for digital TV/radio and consumer multimedia products – announced it has shipped over half a million units of its digital audio broadcast (DAB) chips worldwide, making the company’s Chorus chip the clear market leader in DAB devices.
Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon said, “Shipping half a million products is an important milestone which we reached in December 2003 – just 18 months since we started shipping products. But what is particularly pleasing is the fact that nine out of the 10 radios recently reviewed in a group test by a leading hi-fi magazine contained our chips and modules, and the winning portable and personal radios from Bush and Pure Digital were also based on Frontier’s components.”
Sethill believes that the combination of Frontier Silicon’s products enabling mass market digital radios and new content from the BBC, Digital One and other radio broadcasters, has helped catalyse the significant growth in digital radio over the last 12 months – so much so that many consumer product commentators put digital radio as one of the hottest items in Christmas shopping lists last December.
Anthony Sethill said, “We are very excited about our prospects for continued growth. The combination of our good market position and recent funding from Apax Partners and Alta Berkeley – two of the world’s leading technology private equity investment groups – makes us one of the leading UK high-growth technology businesses in this sector, and allows us to further strengthen our leading role in the development of the digital radio market.”
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RadioScape
Hitachi is the first of the major Japanese brands to adopt the RadioScape DAB module concept, which has been used to bring the world’s first microsystem with DAB, the AXM68D, to the UK market.
The RadioScape RS200 module makes DAB radios as easy to make as FM ones by fully integrating Band III DAB, FM and RDS into a single module that only requires buttons, power, output, case, display and antenna to be added.
"The RS200 is based on Texas Instruments’ advanced baseband technology in the form of the DRE200, which is one of the world’s best selling receiver chips for the Eureka 147 DAB standard," said Peter Johnson, Product Marketing Manager at Hitachi. "This gives us great confidence that there will not be any supply chain delays as TI can supply any number of these DSP chips. RadioScape’s RS200 has become the gold standard for DAB receivers as it provides outstanding sensitivity at nearly the theoretical optimum of -100dB and superb audio quality-- as well as being exceptionally easy to implement into a design."
Ian Dickens, Chief Executive at the DRDB, added, "To see the first micro-system with DAB enter the UK market is great news. That it bears the known and respected brand of Hitachi is a bonus. In 2004, we expect other major Japanese brands to launch a range of new, innovative DAB products, sensibly priced, with consumer appeal into this booming audio market."
Nigel Oakley, RadioScape’s VP of Marketing, concluded, "Hitachi is the first internationally known brand to produce a DAB radio based on our innovative module concept. Having mass market consumer priced DAB receivers from a well known brand readily available across the UK removes a major constraint and thus will dramatically change the perception of DAB, facilitating its widespread adoption."
The RadioScape RS200 module includes DAB, FM and RDS and is priced at under $40 in volume quantities, enabling digital radio manufacturers to quickly and easily bring feature rich products to market at very competitive prices. RadioScape’s unique Software Defined Radio approach to DAB enables custom features to be added as software to the module to provide product differentiation.
Coverage extended
BBC
The BBC has switched on a new transmitter in Scotland bringing its DAB multiplex to 130,000 potential listeners across Inverness Invergordan, Cromarty and Dingwall.
DIGITAL ONE
The national commercial multiplex operator has increased power at 14 key transmitter sites around the UK. This will improve reception for listeners living close to the fringe coverage in these areas.
NEW MULTIPLEXES
Two new multiplexes launched at the end of January bringing DAB digital radio services to both Swansea and the Sussex Coast.
With a DAB digital radio, listeners in the Swansea region can now tune in to local favourites Swansea Sound and 96.4FM The Wave. New to the region and unique to DAB are Kiss, a fresh, rhythm driven station; and Smash Hits, a chart show for pop fans. The Swansea multiplex is operated by The Wireless Group.
And on the Sussex Coast, DAB listeners can enjoy Capital Gold, Kiss, Xfm, and local favourites Southern FM and Juice 107.2, along with Gaydar, radio for the gay and lesbian community. BBC Southern Counties radio is also available on the new Sussex Coast multiplex. The Sussex Coast multiplex is operated by Capital Radio Group.
STATIONS
There are now 362 services broadcasting on DAB; 149 different brands; and for the first time the number of services available only with a DAB radio (190) is higher than those services that are straightforward simulcasts (172).
France Embraces Digital Radio
Digital radio is the way forward for increased diversity of listening in France. That’s the message delivered by Dominic Baudis, President of the French Regulatory Authority, the CSA, at a conference in Paris this week.
Mr Baudis was speaking at Le Radio, a major international conference designed to present the international digital radio picture to French speaking broadcasters around the world.
In his welcoming address, Mr Baudis told delegates that the CSA wished to maintain and increase the diversity of radio stations in France and the only way to achieve this was through digital radio.
A legal framework for digital radio broadcasting, which will be flexible enough to include the possibility of several platforms, including terrestrial DAB Digital Radio, DRM™· (Digital Radio Mondiale), and satellite broadcasting, goes to the French Parliament for discussion next week (February 12). Drawn up by the "Direction du Development Des Medias" government committee, approval is expected within the next few months.
Once the framework is in place, Mr Baudis said he would launch a call for tender and begin the deployment of digital radio in France.
Says WorldDAB President, Annika Nyberg: "France is a key market for digital radio technologies, and the World DAB Forum has already forged links with Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM™), which we believe can exist compatibly with DAB. It is encouraging to hear Mr Baudis acknowledge that digital is the way forward for radio. We look forward to an increased momentum for digital broadcasting in France over the next 12 months."
While digital radio, in the form of DAB, is growing across much of Europe, Canada, and the Far East, France has remained "digitally neutral", with several technologies and platforms vying for supremacy.
DAB Digital Radio is more developed than some other platforms in that it already has a full range of products available, a commitment from major Japanese manufacturing brands, the support of leading retailers, and a fast growing base of listeners.
Analogue Switch-off
Ralph Bernard, Chairman of GWR Group plc, owner of national commercial radio station Classic FM, has called for the Government to set a switch-off date for analogue radio in the UK.
Read Mr Bernard’s speech to a forum of City analysts here: http://www.gwrgroup.com/news.cfm?nid=155
ENDS
February 5, 2004
The Digital Radio Development Bureau is funded and supported by BBC, Digital One, Emap Digital Radio, CE Digital, MXR, Capital Digital and Now-Digital. The DRDB's task is to ensure digital radio's wide accessibility and swift adoption in the UK with consistent and effective marketing.
Visit the DRDB's consumer web site www.digitalradionow.com, or our Business to Business site, www.drdb.org.
If you have any news you would like included in the next DRDB news bulletin, please email mandy@drdb.org
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Mandy Green
Press and Publicity Manager
DRDB
The Radiocentre
77 Shaftesbury Avenue
London W1D 5DU
020 7306 2636
07973 184995