Commercial radio listening in Australia has reached a record high, with 12.25 million listeners aged 10 and above across the five major metro markets in 2023, according to GfK Survey 8.

This represents a year-on-year (YOY) increase of 49,000, with listeners tuning in to commercial radio for an average of 12 hours and 53 minutes per week.

The breakfast slot saw a significant increase, with 35,000 more listeners tuning in, bringing the total to 8.7 million, indicating 71% of listeners are tuning in at breakfast.

The number of listeners to DAB+ only commercial radio stations also saw a significant increase, up 6% compared to the same period in 2022 and growing 14.2% over the full year 2023, to 2.8 million listeners on average over the eight 2023 GfK surveys. In-car listening has seen a resurgence, accounting for 34.8% of all listening, an increase of 2.3 percentage points in a year.

Listening via a DAB+ device rather than an AM/FM receiver (also known as simulcasting) was 4.6 million listeners, with 37.4% of commercial radio listeners tuning-in via a DAB+ device.

The breakdown of listening via device was 69.1% for AM/FM, 21.8% was via DAB+, and 9.1% via streaming.

Younger Australians (aged 10-24) have also been tuning in, with 87.2% listening to commercial radio for an average of 11 hours, 26 minutes a week, an increase of 31 minutes YOY.

There was a 13.4% growth in listeners YOY to 868,000 for DAB+ only commercial radio stations among the 10-24 age group. 29% of this demographic listen to commercial radio, including DAB+ only stations, via streaming for the survey period.

"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 favourite commercial radio stars and stations," Ford Ennals, CEO of Commercial Radio & Audio, said. "Since 2021, listeners of commercial radio DAB+ only stations have grown by a massive 48%. Audiences are loving the great new content being added by the commercial networks, and DAB+ is easier to access than ever."

Ennals also noted the resurgence of in-car listening, attributing it to strong new car sales where DAB+ station access prominence is key.

"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," he added.