The fight for our digital listening hours has begun

Mediatel’s ‘The Future of Audio’ conference has seen several brands stake a claim in the digital audio future.

66% of the UK’s population now listen to audio via a digitally connected device, throughout the week and as the way consumers listen to audio evolves, it opens up opportunities for growth and competition, within audio advertising.

Spotify looks to take on traditional in-car live radio

Spotify has announced plans to launch driving playlists and increase investment in podcasts in a move to demonstrate they are ‘absolutely focused’ on growing their share of in-car listening.

Currently, the most common type of in-car audio consumption is via FM/AM or DAB live radio. Only 8% of those surveyed in Ofcom’s Media Nations 2019 report listen to music via a streaming service, and only 4% listen to podcasts.

However as in-car media systems such as Apple Carplay and smart voice assistants such as Siri and Bixby improve, it will be even easier for consumers to listen to their own music and podcasts in-car.

Bauer to build on digital growth

Another brand to embrace digital growth is Bauer Media. Their digital station, KISSTORY, is now the largest digital radio station in the UK with over 14 million users. 2019 has also seen successful debuts from Country Hits Radio and Scala Radio.

Chief Revenue Officer for Bauer Media, Simon Kilby, outlined how the current trend of in podcasting, DAB, and the rise of online listening matched growth in connected cars, 5G and smart speakers.

Commercial radio is in its fifth consecutive year of growth and captures 36m listeners each week in the UK and since 2015, there has been a 23% increase in audio hours consumed in the UK (Rajar).

Kilby said this was further evidence that the digital age was not negatively disrupting the sector.

Neither, he added, were new entrants such as Apple Music and Spotify, which he viewed as “complementary to the ecosystem.”

However, the growth in connectivity is not without future threats. Smart speaker owners such as Apple and Google may look to branch out in later years, with some experts Mediatel News spoke with suggest US tech giants might turn into “gatekeepers” for UK radio content, ushering in a new wave of competition.

Is your brand ready for changes in the way consumers listen to audio? Get in touch today to see how our team can recommend the best way to reach your audience via audio.

RAJAR Q4: What you need to know

Today we received the most up to date listening figures for radio in Wales; giving us insight into the current listening patterns of Welsh radio fans.

We have put together a brief overview of the top line stats.

Wales

Heart South Wales has continued to be the number one commercial radio station in Wales with 487,000 listeners (up 3,000 listeners from Q3) 26%, tuning in every week.

Capital South Wales gained 7,000 additional listeners, reaching 208,000 listeners per week, 20%.

Unfortunately once again The Wave has not had a successful Quarter, losing 17,000 listeners; however, they have still achieved a strong reach of 25%.

Radio Pembrokeshire continues to achieve the highest percentage weekly reach of any radio station in Wales at 38%, a 2% increase on Q3.

Smooth South Wales listening hours remain strong with the average person listening for 15.5 hours a week – an increase of nearly 2 hours per listener a week, closest competitor is Swansea Sound at 10.7 hours

Capital North Wales and Heart North Wales both saw a loss of listeners with 13% and 2%.

National

Capital drops from 2m listeners to 1.7m, whilst Heart loses 321,000 listeners going from 1.683m to 1.362m.

Magic has also lost reach, dropping from 1.804m to 1.723m but remains in third place amongst commercial stations behind Capital.

Radio X is up this quarter nationally but down in London. Chris Moyles’s show is nationally up by 14,000

The top 5 London commercial stations are

LBC (1m listeners)
Heart (1.362m)
Magic (1.723m)
Capital (1.730m)
Kiss (1.860m)

Digital

National commercial digital listening hours continue to grow increasing by 21% year-on-year to account for almost three quarters (73%) of all national commercial listening, following the launch of the second national DAB commercial network broadcasting 19 national commercial stations in March 2016.

If you need help ensuring your marketing budget is invested in the right radio stations and media platforms so you STAND OUT and get results contact our award winning team for impartial media planning and buying expertise on [email protected] or call us on 02921 320200

More people in Wales listen to radio than any other UK nation

If the latest figures from Ofcom’s communication market report are anything to go by, radio should really be considered an important part of your advertising plans, particularly for advertisers wishing to reach a high percentage of adults in Wales.

The radio reach figures for Wales appear to be extraordinarily high, with services reaching 95.4% of the adult population! These massive figures accompanied further impressive statistics to show that Welsh audiences also tuned in for longer listening hours than any other of our UK counterparts. South Wales based stations in particular are reaching large numbers of the population, with Capital for example reaching a massive 98,000 listeners between the ages of 15 and 34 every week. Similarly, South Wales’ Nation Radio has a considerable weekly reach of 173,000 listeners, accruing a total average of around 688,000 listening hours for every week.

These figures no doubt suggest that radio should be a vital element in your marketing mix, if you aren’t making use of this medium and its benefits already. We Angels know that radio advertising can sometimes be costly, and when the purse strings are little tight, plans to make use of those airwaves might be first to face the chop.

However, with the right mix of creativity and innovation, and with the potential to reach huge numbers of the population, radio advertising could potentially produce great returns on that investment.

As always the Angels are on hand to make sure you make the most of your marketing potential, and can help with your plans to identify the perfect mix of media for your campaign.

With the largest increase in DAB radio set ownership over the past year, perhaps there has never been a better time to advertise over the airwaves in Wales. Improvements in DAB coverage are likely to have encouraged these increased figures in DAB ownership and reach. Perhaps it’s time to make the most of these exciting developments and incorporate radio into your marketing mix! Get in touch.

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