So far, no date for the switch-off of the analogue signal has been set and, although awareness is increasing, digital radio still has a long way to go before it is as popular as digital TV.
Until last year, only 60,000 digital radio sets had been sold, according to reports. Then over Christmas a further 75,000 sets were sold, prompting the government to launch a review into its progress. The latest sales figures indicate that 150,000 sets have now been sold.
Speaking at a London conference on digital radio yesterday, secretary of state for culture, media and sport Tessa Jowell said: "The success of Christmas sales means that the debate has shifted. After long years of having more people broadcasting digital services than listening to them there is at last a real sense that the market is moving," according to a report in The Independent.
One of the problems the review will tackle is the lack of digital sets being manufactured. None of the major electronic brands -- including Japanese manufacturers -- have made a digital radio set.
Politicians and the industry are believed to be looking at 2015 as a possible switch-off date, five years after analogue television is due to disappear.
The report is to be conducted jointly by the BBC and industry regulator Ofcom. The BBC recently launched a number of digital radio stations including BBC 6 Music, black music station 1Xtra and comedy and drama speech-based offering BBC 7.
The BBC has also announced plans to market its digital radio portfolio across its TV, radio and online brands. Commercial rival Capital Radio Group is also set to promote its digital radio services in an eight-week campaign on its Capital Gold network.
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