According to GfK’s 2016 report, in five major cities, there were 3.52 million DAB+ listeners and 553,000 equipped cars. It means DAB+ has expanded significantly. It now operates in additional cities including Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, and the Gold Coast, where services began in May 2024. This expansion has increased coverage to 66% of the population and brought the national total to 391 services.
Radio & Audio’s GfK Radio 360 results show audiences increasingly switching between broadcast and digital platforms. According to CRA report 4.7 million people listen to commercial radio on DAB devices and 3.2 million stream.
In 2025, commercial radio still continued to grow and reached 12.4 million listeners weekly, taking in account 10.2 million in-car. This shows us why broadcasters consider cars as a key area of competition, even when streaming increases.
The hardware market has grown well beyond 2016 levels. WorldDAB reports shows us over 10 million DAB+ devices sold only in Australia, including vehicle receivers. Today 79 percent of new cars include DAB/DAB+ as standard, up from just over 30 percent in 2016.
Broadcasters have offered digital-only products because listening habits expand a lot. According to CRA reports, commercial stations with DAB+ only system attracted over 2.6 million listeners in 2024. DAB+ system is also used by news and niche brands to extend their reach. For example: Sky News Australia’s launch of Sky News Radio on DAB+ in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane in 2024.
The digital delivery ecosystem has also transformed. Radio based on the app platform now aggregates over 350 Australian stations across mobile devices. Car platforms such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also help in this case. Big players like Omniscreen offer AM/FM/DAB+ stream appliances for IPTV headends and monitoring in corporate and hospitality networks.
But the industry’s current challenge is keep prominence. Australian broadcasters have warned that all new car audio systems and smart audio platforms can make radio less accessible. They are advocating for “easy access” protections to ensure broadcast and DAB+ stations remain readily available.