Audience Demanding More, Gets Less, Turns Off

Michael Hedges August 4, 2014 Follow on Twitter

Audience acquisition means everything to a broadcaster. There’s content to be created, talent to be managed, marketing to be devised, promotions to be organized, distribution to be acquired. Hitting all the posts is difficult, costly and absolutely essential. Then there’s the market leader effect. When top brands falter, the entire category feels pain.

Total radio reach in the UK dropped 0.6% year on year, according to the Q2 2014 RAJAR listening estimates, to 48.052 million. The reach figure has steadily risen, more or less, as long as surveys have been taken, generally bobbing up in the winter quarters and down in summer. Reach levels depend on population size as much as anything and the availability of radio channels. More people along with more channels and the reach figure is pushed up. There are, obviously, limits to both.

Also falling to a “historic” low point is listening to analogue platforms. The AM/MW and FM share of total UK listening hours dropped to 56.6% from 58.6% one year on. Digital radio supporters – multiplex operators, receiver manufacturers and chip makers – would have been delirious had the digital weekly reach not also dropped to 51.4% from 52.5%. Digital listening share was unchanged at 36.8%. Digital radio supporters noted at-home digital listening almost at parity with analogue. Hope springs eternal that another DAB multiplex will boost the digital market share. Then, too, the paltry in-car digital penetration can only be helped by mobile apps.

Aggregate market shares for radio broadcaster categories also fell, except ‘other’, highest in forever at 3.5% of all listening. The BBC national channels, taken together, were down slightly to 45.5% market share from 45.7% one year on. BBC local and regional stations fell much harder to 7.7% aggregate market share – another historic low – from 8.3%. The digital platform share for all BBC channels rose to 37.5% from 36.7% entirely from DAB platform growth. Among listeners 15 to 44 years the share for BBC channels was nearly unchanged, 39.6% from 39.7% year on year. Much lower was the listening share among folks 45 years and older, 62.4% from 63.8%.

The aggregate market share for national commercial channels dropped to 12.9% from 13.3% one year on. Local commercial stations market share, on aggregate, was almost unchanged, 30.3% from 30.4%. The digital platform share for commercial channels dropped to 36.1% from 36.6%, only internet listening rising. Commercial broadcasters lost market share among the favored ad target -15 to 44 year olds – 56.1% from 57.3% but gained a bit among the 45 years and older group, 34.6% from 34.3%. (See national radio audience share trend chart here)

Devilish, then, are the details. National rankings, BBC and commercial channels, were largely unchanged. BBC entertainment channel Radio 2 remains top of the heap with 17.7% market share, up from 17.2%, apparently on a surge for the breakfast (morning) show. News and talk channel BBC Radio 4 placed second, dropped to 11.6% market share – lowest in more than five years. Youth-oriented BBC Radio 1, not quite recovering from show host changes, was unchanged at number three nationally, 6.8% market share. Sports channel Five Live was unchanged at 4.1%. All-digital BBC 6Music was up slightly to 1.6% market share from 1.5% year on year.

Global Radio’s Heart franchise shot up to 6.4% market share nationally from 5.1% on a re-branding campaign and improved (analogue) distribution from a frequency shuffle with Smooth Radio and the disappeared Real Radio franchise. The Smooth Radio franchise also benefited from Real Radio’s termination, jumping to 3.6% market share from 2.2%. Global Radio’s Capital network franchise was unchanged at 4.0% market share and Classic FM was up slightly to 3.6% market share.

Shares and ranking in the London market were a bit more complicated. All BBC Radio national channels were share-wise lower, rankings mostly unchanged. BBC Radio 4 remains top ranked in London with 14.8% market share followed by Radio 2 with 12.1% market share. All-sports national channel Five Live fell to 3.7% market share from 4.5% year on year. Local BBC Radio London rose to 1.5% market share from 1.2%. (See London radio audience share chart here)

Global Radio’s Heart jumped to 3rd place, clobbering arch-rival Magic, which dropped to 5th place. In the middle was new arch-rival LBC 97.3, up slightly to 5.0%. Interestingly, national channels Classic FM and TalkSport made significant gains in the London market while Absolute London posted the biggest market share loss of the season, 2.0% from 3.2% year on year.

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