MUMBAI: Listeners are increasingly opting for digital radio and conventional radio listenership base is on the decline, says a study from Radio Joint Audience Research for the UK.

Although only 15 per cent of all radio listening audience is now via digital platform, the medium is up from 12.8 per cent in July. The current 15 per cent equates to about 28.4 million listeners a week.

About 28 per cent of listeners in the 15-24 age group listen to the radio via their mobile. On a year-on-year basis, this has increased by 29 per cent and five-fold since Rajar first began monitoring radio listening by mobile since 2002.Radio podcasts on MP3 players are also increasing in popularity with listenership of about 2.8 million people, a rise from 1.97 million year-on-year.

With new mobile devices being launched from majors like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Virgin, these numbers are expected to rise further in the coming days. Moreover, Rajar says that since digital radio offers more choices in the increasing hectic lifestyles, it has a bullish future ahead.

However, the research points out that overall listening had fallen. It is observed that 44.9 million listeners tuned in between July and September, down 7,60,000 on the previous quarter.

Of the 153 million hours per week spent listening to the radio in the same period, almost nine per cent were via a digital radio, three per cent via a digital television (Sky, Freeview or cable) and 1.6 per cent via the internet.