UK: Three-quarters of new cars have DAB as standard

The UK’s culture minister spoke at Radio’s Digital Countdown about the uptake of DAB receivers in cars. Ed Vaizey reported that 74.1% of new cars now come with DAB receivers as standard. “There’s no doubt that the future of radio is digital,” Vaizey said. “More than 30 million of us are tuning in every week, with digital listening hours increasing every year.”

Last time we heard from Vaizey, he was talking about drawing ever-closer to the targets for a total conversion to DAB and away from FM radio. The latest RAJAR data also backed the growth of digital listening in the UK. The third-quarter numbers showed that 56% of the population were weekly listeners to digital radio, with DAB accounting for about two-thirds of all digital radio listening hours.