New Platforms Drive Up UK Radio Listening

It’s true. Since RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) has been keeping records, overall UK radio listening has never been higher. OK, so RAJAR has only been keeping score since 1992. But, that was the stone age! Mobile phones were the size of elephants.

The good folks at RAJAR took great pains to explain how new platforms – those mobile phones, set-top boxes, DAB, internet – are attracting listeners to radio. A quick glance at the national figures for Q4 2006 shows market share up-ticks (year on year) for BBC1, BBC3, Five Live, KISS, XFM and Kerrang! – not to forget at least five new commercial stations. And in London audience share gaining stations include, from the commercial side, Heart 106.2, Choice FM, LBC 97.3, new entry Club Asia and Magic 105.4. BBC3 increased its market share in London and oft written-off BBC London. Each and every one plays solidly in some part of the digital arena.

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UK Radio Relieved That Summer is Over
Summer radio surveys are always the pits. Programmers know that listeners are distracted by, well, summer. And managers don’t want to waste the marketing budgets when nobody is around.

RAJAR Shows RAJAR Works
Upgrade and improve were the key words used by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) Managing Director Sally de la Bedoyere when announcing the long awaited new contract for UK radio measurement. Times are tough enough in the UK commercial radio industry without inflicting new trauma. RAJARs delicately prescribed measurement homeopathy provides a regimen for well-being, mental and physical.

“Staggering” Increase in UK DAB Listening
Radio listeners are making the digital switch in 2005 according to a special RAJAR survey. Total hours listening increased to all digital platforms – DAB, DTV and internet – increased from a comparable 2004 survey. The number of hours listening to DAB jumped 165%.

UK Radio Audience: What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?
The BBC surges with Radio 2 reaching its largest audience ever, commercial audience shares lower.

“It’s great to see radio listening at a record high,” said BBC Audio and Music director Jenny Abramsky in a statement following the release of the RAJAR quarterly results. “It proves that radio still plays an incredibly important part in people’s lives and that, despite the range of new media available, listeners continue to value the close relationship they have with radio.”

“It's easy to see why radio is bigger than ever,” wrote Daily Telegraph columnist Gillian Reynolds. “There's always something good there and now there are more ways to listen.”

BBC Radio 2 is still (and forever?) the single most listened to radio channel in the UK, slightly down to a 15.8% market share from 16.0% one year on. Radio 4, #2, dropped market share to 11.1% from 11.8% year on year, blame placed by some eager to over-analyze on The Archers’ story-line and changes in presenter line-up. Radio 1, #3, increased to 9.7% from 9.2% one year on, but lower than the two previous quarters. Five Live, buoyed by a successful breakfast show, increased to 4.4% from 4.2%.

Old trustworthy Classic FM slipped a scant tenth of a share to 4.2% from 4.3% one year on for 5th place. Most of the other significant audience movement came from the bottom of the pack, where the digital stations live…so far.

With one in six UK households owning at least one DAB receiver, listening to a radio channel via the mobile phone up to 11% of mobile phone users, via the internet up to 22% and via the TV set-top up to 39% broadcasters digital dilemma is finished. Access to digital platforms – now available to 55% of the UK population – clearly drives the media market.

No view of RAJAR’s quarterly elucidation is complete without pontification on breakfast shows and a full round on Capital Radio. In the national survey – and reporting only national channels – Five Live’ breakfast show (as with the station throughout the day) has made a positive turn and Radio 1 (Chris Moyles) increased body-count significantly. Radio 2 (Terry Wogan) and BBC4 were, ah, flat in the morning. TalkSport was up slightly.

London breakfast ratings showed that big stations with big marketing get big increases. Heart 106.2 (Jamie Theakston/Harriet Scott) is tops among the London-only stations, followed by Capital Radio (Johnny Vaughan) and Magic 105.4 – each increasing their reach. The BBC1 breakfast show apparently suffered losses in London, but RAJAR doesn't publically release BBC network breakfast show listening in London. Further down the list audience increases were harder to find – except for Choice FM and LBC News.

UK stock traders and ad buyers continue to whip on Capital Radio and parent company GCap. Homer screams

Nothing is quite enough or right or something. Stock trader whinging can be excused as the hubris of the attention-span challenged. Ad buyers delight in weakness in a stations rate negotiating position – particularly after years of begging to get spots on Capital. To paraphrase an old saying: “They who know not and know not that they know not….”.

Altogether the BBC is maintaining its lead over commercial radio channels. In the national survey results the total BBC market share is 54.4%, down from 55.1% one year on, and the market share for all commercial radio is 43.2%, up from 42.8% one year on. The gap is now 11.2%, lower than the 12.3% gap in Q4 2005 or the 12.8% gap in Q1 2006. Without the unexpected audience increases from BBC local stations – including BBC London – that lead might have fallen further.

Measuring audiences;
includes electronic measurement systems and device descriptions, mobile media, RAJAR (UK) debate, with comments.