Just three months after FM was switched off in Norway, a listener survey shows the new digital stations have up to one third of all radio listening. Most radio listeners still tune in to radio, and the new digital stations have shown strong growth.

These are some of the findings presented by a group of Norwegian stakeholders at Radiodays Europe 2018, the radio industry’s annual European assembly.

Listener loyalty has been recorded at 98 per cent versus last year (Jan-18 vs Jan-17), on a weekly listening basis. Listeners have stayed loyal through the switchover, even though daily listening has shown a bigger reduction than the weekly listening.

“We are happy and grateful for having most radio listeners still with us. The Norwegian broadcasters did not carry out the digital switchover to gain listeners in the short term, but to retain them in the long run,” says Ole Jørgen Torvmark, CEO of Digitalradio Norway.

With the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting, the number of national stations has increased from five to 31.

During 2017, a record–breaking 2 million DAB radio sets were sold in Norway – this is almost three times a normal year’s sales.

“We know that not all listeners have replaced all their FM radios. This means fewer listening opportunities, and explains the drop in daily listening. From our survey, however, we see that listeners, given some time, will gradually develop a new, digital listening pattern,” says Torvmark.

Categories: Articles, Digital Radio, Research