The Audience Is Amazing… And Rational

Michael Hedges May 20, 2016 Follow on Twitter

The audience is changing. On this there is total agreement. Everything else is a debate. Traditional platforms are waning, digital ascending, says conventional wisdom. But new platforms are evolving requiring people to constantly adapt or return to tried and true media consumption. The enduring question for media people is where should the investment go.

The current state of UK radio broadcasting is neatly summed up in the basic national RAJAR radio audience share rankings for the first quarter 2016 released this week. Radio listeners are brand conscious and the channels of public broadcaster BBC are deeply imbedded. For all the effort by commercial broadcasters to balance the needs of media buyers and the wants of listeners there is little to show.

Not only does BBC Radio 2 still top the national rankings, the audience share rose to a record-breaking 18.6%, up from 18.1% year on year. The channel’s current weekday daytime mix of high-profile show hosts, contemporary music and reliable news plus a fairly-wide variety of evening and weekend specialty shows is as comfy as a winter scarf. Nobody, as the old song goes, does it better.

“These are incredible figures,” noted Radio 2 controller (program director) Bob Shennan in a statement, “and they prove that distinctiveness and popularity can go hand in hand.” The term “distinctive” has been batted about by UK Culture Secretary John Whittingdale for several months to describe a nebulous aspirational quality that would keep BBC output from interfering with that of “popular” commercial broadcasters. Alas, the toughest of Secretary Whittingdale’s remonstrations were whipped out of his department’s White Paper on the BBC’s future, political expediency far more important than favors to commercial broadcasters.

For the BBC, the first quarter 2016 RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) audience estimates were actually quite mixed. News-talk legacy Radio 4 dipped to 12.0% audience share, keeping second place, from 12.8% one year on. Youth-oriented Radio 1 continued its slide toward “distinctiveness,” falling to 5.6% audience share from 6.4%, retaining fourth place nationally. “Rajars are only part of a bigger story,” explained Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper, quoted by the Guardian (May 19), “as we’ve seen record numbers for our distinctive programming on YouTube and social media to complement the 40% of 15-24s who listen to Radio 1 every week.” A memo must have gone out about using the word “distinctive” as much as possible.

All-sports Radio Five Live was up slightly to 3.9% audience share. Alternative music digital channel 6Music had its best showing ever with 2.1% audience share, up from 1.7% year on year. Classical music and arts channel Radio 3 was also up. (See Q1 2016 RAJAR UK national radio audience trend chart here)

Commercial radio in the UK is all about the brands and some did well, some didn’t and others tread lightly. The Heart brand placed 3rd nationally, no change at 6.7% audience share. The Capital brand, 5th place, was up slightly as was the Kiss brand (9th place). Further down the page the new Radio X, formerly XFM, moved up to 0.9%. Both statutory national commercial channels – Classic FM and TalkSport – were lower.

Behind all of this are rather obvious market trends. First quarter listening has long favored BBC radio channels. But that advantage is shrinking: Q1 2012 – 55.4% on aggregate, Q1 2013 – 55.7%, Q1 2014 – 54.9%, Q1 2015 – 54.4%, Q1 2016 – 54.1%. Losses, broadly, accrue to BBC national and local channels. The BBC is losing 15 to 44 year old listening hours about 1% per year.

Digital platforms are slowly but surely transforming the UK radio scene, now about 44% of all listening hours nationally. The BBC has long held an advantage with the DAB (digital audio broadcasting) platform, early to offer DAB-only brands and brand extensions. Commercial broadcasters are catching up. A second national DAB multiplex became operational in March offering 18 channels, mostly, but not exclusively commercial radio brand extensions.

The mobile effect is far from clear. RAJAR reports 7.8% of all listening as online or mobile apps. But listening at least once a month via smartphone or tablet has remained essentially static over the last four quarters, and dropping among 15 to 24 year olds. Mobile devices could be the next great opportunity for radio broadcasters or a crushing disappointment as a non-exclusive platform.

See also in ftmKnowledge

Europe’s Radio – Northern Europe

Northern Europe’s radio has a very digital sound. And change is in the air. Economic challenges abound for both public and commercial broadcasters. The ftm Knowledge file reports on Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the UK. 144 pages PDF includes Resources (November 2012)

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Digital Radio - Possibilities and Probabilities

Digital radio has many platforms. From broadcast platforms to internet radio and rapidly emerging smartphone platforms, listeners and broadcasters have choices galore and decisions to make. Some regulators have made up their minds, others not, some hedging their bets. This ftm Knowledge file details the possibilities for digital broadcasting and the probabilities for success. Includes Resources 149 pages PDF (August 2012)

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