BBC Radio Surges in Ratings! Wait! Wasn’t That the Headline Last Year?

Michael Hedges February 4, 2006

Radio listening estimates released last week by the UK’s Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) for the fourth quarter 2005 gave yet another boost to BBC Radio. Commercial radio has mixed results and mixed reaction.

BBC Radio’s total market share in the national survey stands now at 55.1%, with commercial radio at 42.8%, the widest gap in three years. BBC national networks gained a full point and BBC local stations gained 0.1%. National commercial channels gained 0.1%. It was the share total of local commercial stations that dumped 1.5%, year on year.

Perennial leader BBC Radio 2 has a 16% market share, off 0.4% from Q4 2004, but still slightly more than 4% better than number 2, BBC Radio 4. Radio 2 breakfast host Terry Wogan added 300,000 listeners since the Q3 2005 data release propelling the channel to a weekly reach of 13.25 million.

Radio 4 increased its share to 11.8% from 11.5%, year on year.

But it was Radio 1 that stunned the competition for younger audiences by jumping to 9.2%, up from 8.4% a year earlier. Breakfast show host Chris Moyles added 160,000 listeners for a morning total of 6.66 million.

All was not perfect for the BBC. Five Live and Radio 3 were off 0.1%, 4.2% and 1.2% respectively. The remaining BBC channels on DAB were either up – World Service, 6Music and BBC7 – or flat. Hopefully the budget cuts still allowed for a brief office party.

Digital radio’s continuing and growing impact on UK listeners and broadcasters was also highlighted at RAJAR’s quarterly press conference. Nearly half (49.8%) of UK adults 15 years and older claim to listen to radio via DAB, digital TV or the internet. The national share of digital listening on any platform rose to 11%. More than 3 million people reported listening to radio on their mobile telephones. December DAB receiver sales in the UK nearly passed 500,000 units, according to the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB).

Some commercial broadcasters likely threw office parties, any excuse for a stiff drink. The new results, eagerly anticipated as ad rate setters for the new year, shed light brightly on national networks. Heart’s national network – now two years old – managed at 2.4% share, 0.6% higher than Q4 2004, although that particular quarter was the low point of eight quarters. Virgin Radio, TalkSport and LBC each gained 0.2%. TalkSport – now relieved of former owner Kelvin McKinzie – showed its highest market share in its ten-year history. 

Classic FM dropped to 4.3% from 4.4% one year on. Had Five Live kept its average share could have been bumped into 5th place among the national channels. But Five Live is tumbling. Classic FM remains 4th and Five Live 5th.

In the London results the difficulty for local commercial radio is slightly less vague. For reasons fathomable only to greater wisdom RAJAR does not publish data on listening to national channels, BBC or commercial, in “local” markets. To wit: just how much did Chris Moyles and Terry Wogan impact local London commercial stations? The Press Gazette (UK) reported that Radio 4 is “still the most listened to station in London.” VOILA!

We can know this: the top three commercial London stations – Heart FM, Capital FM and Magic – continue to see-saw for position. Heart is #1 again this quarter, up to 6.0% from 5.2% one year on, but down from Q3 2005. Capital FM is #2, down to 5.9% one year on, but up – looks like recovery – from the previous quarter. Magic 105.4 is #3, dropping to 4.9% from 6.1% one year on, the biggest share drop of any London local station.

Both Capital FM’s Johnny Vaughn and Heart FM’s Jaime Theakston added audience to their respective breakfast shows.

Capital FM’s quarterly market share increase had an immediate effect on owner GCap’s financial outlook. Dow Jones reported that UBS – that great big bank located very close to world headquarters – upgraded the stock to “neutral” from “reduce.” UBS also took note of GCap’s “stabilization.”  But when that stock price goes up not everything is pretty. The Guardian reported Friday that Ulster TV – owners of UK national channel TalkSport – dropped out of the bidding for the 9 local stations GCap wants to unload.

Virgin London is up both year on year and quarter to quarter with a 3.6% share for #4. LBC 97.3 is up to 2.5% from 2.1% year on year but down from 2.9% in Q3 2005. They’re up, they’re down, they’re all around. One might think something’s amiss. So far, nobody has blamed RAJAR.

The BBC production staff union plans strikes February 15th and 23rd, protesting budgets cuts and staff shuffling. Moyles program is said to be one of the targets. One tactic available to commercial broadcasters might be to join the pickets, hoping for a very long strike. Nine out of the 15 London local radio channels failed to gain audience share. A list of Polish radio programmers offered last week to French national networks is extended to all in need.

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