It's official. Internet Radio is a revolution in media. UK radio and telecoms regulator Ofcom in August  published its annual report The Communications Market 2009 in which it said one third of Britons - that's 16.9 million people - have tuned into Internet radio at some point, up from 14.5 million a year ago. What is more already a year ago nearly 10 million people in the UK were tuning into Internet radio every week.

Meanwhile, singer Robbie Williams has hired Trevor Horn - who produced Buggles' 1981 hit "Video Killed The Radio Star" - for his November 9 release, er, "Reality Killed the Video Star". It has been Radio ORLA's view that Internet Radio Killed the Video Star and DAB is getting a run for its investment from Net radio like ours.

In its latest report, Ofcom said that radio monitors had "carried out a survey of internet-delivered audio services in May 2009. It revealed that nearly a third (33%) of respondents (adults 15+) now claim to have listened to radio via the internet, (either live or listen-again services). This was up by around four percentage points from a year previously, and up 9 percentage points over the 18 months since October 2007.

Of the 16.9 million people listening online in May 2009, 15.9 million (31% of adults) said they
were listening to live radio, with 13.8 million (27%) using listen-again services (i.e. listening
to stored archived radio programmes or seven day catch-up content).

Around a million adults in May 2009 claimed to have a WiFi radio set (a stand-alone radio set
which connects wirelessly to the internet to provide access to any internet radio service),
with just over seven million claiming to have heard of WiFi radio.

Let's see how far we have come in just one year. This from Ofcom a year ago:

Sourcing from the industry monitors RAJAR the regulator said in its report that figures from just a year ago showed 9.4 million people tuned in weekly to internet radio in April-May 2008. But that was up from 8.1 million six months earlier in November 2007.

"RAJAR conducted a survey on online listening and published their results in a report entitled
Podcasting and Radio Listening Via Internet during April and May 2008. This showed that
the number of people who have listened to radio via the internet, (either live or listen-again
services) had increased to 14.5 million by May 2008, up from 12.0 million six months earlier.
And listening online was a weekly activity for 9.4 million people by May 2008, up from 8.1
million in November 2007," said Ofcom's annual report.

The report also found that WiFi radio is gaining a foothold. These are standalone Net radios linked to a router via wireless connection - and don't need a PC at all.

Ofcom said: "A number of technical developments in radio in 2008/09 could have wider repercussions for the industry as online technologies and new digital formats offer the potential for new audio services.

"WiFi radio allows users access to thousands of live radio stations from around the world
without requiring a PC and provides access to archived on-demand programmes and podcasts. Rather than tuning to radio frequencies, WiFi radio devices link to the web
addresses of radio stations or to archived programme sites, giving access to a wide range of
stations (currently an estimated 10,000) and podcasts," Ofcom said.

But Ofcom did not pay lip service to internet radio, highlighting manufacturers of the new age radios and their growing importance alongside the often more talked-about DAB platform.

"With around 40 companies now manufacturing WiFi radio devices, including Acoustic Energy, BT, Bush, Denon, Intempo, Roberts, Sagem, and Sony Ericsson, a wide range of WiFi radio models is now available. Features can include the ability to search by country or
by genre of programme, plus access to a database of podcasts and archive programming, and also the ability to download music stored on a network or PC onto the WiFi player. WiFi devices can send audio output to a hi-fi set via standard speaker wire, by wireless Bluetooth
connection or by using a broadband connection and a wireless gateway such as a WiFi router. Portable models, which allow users to access internet and analogue radio stations while on the move, are now on the market. With a battery life of about 20 hours, sets currently retail at around £150."

And most interesting of all, Ofcom claimed: "According to research carried out by Ofcom in July 2008, around 6% of people claimed to have a WiFi radio with a further 11% saying they would be interested in WiFi radio services."

George Matlock, director of Radio ORLA fm, Anglo-Polish Radio commented: "We welcome the fact that despite its wide-ranging report, Ofcom has presented the case for Internet radio which we have been arguing consistently is no longer a niche and represents the future of radio. It remains our view that DAB is a stepping stone to the day when all radio is digital - but via the Internet where you, the listener, has the consumer choice of thousands of stations, not just 40."