RAJAR Q3 results are now in!

Here are the top stats from Q3 for the period starting June and ending September.

Data has revealed that the weekly population of all radio listeners has remained the same as Q1 and Q2 in Q3 with 88% and has remained at 49.5 million people.

Here are some interesting stats to begin –

The average number of weekly hours listened to radio for this Quarter is 1.016 billion hours
The average radio listener tunes into 20.5 hours of Live Radio per week.
43 million adults (15+) are tuning into radio digitally each week.
In an average week, digital listening accounts for 714 million hours, with a listening share of 76%, up by 2% since Q2.
Listening via DAB has a 42% share of listening, Online has 24% and DTV is 4%.
AM/FM listening hours share is less than a third with 30%.
32% of adults (15+) claim to listen to Podcasts at least once per month.

National RAJAR listening figures

They’ve done it again! Heart and Capital remain the largest 2 commercial radio brands, resulting in Global leading the radio market with 26.4 million weekly listeners, up by 6% since Q2.

In this quarter, The UK’s largest radio station Heart, achieved its highest-ever audience of 11.3 million weekly listeners across the UK.

Capital has reached a milestone of 8 million weekly listeners, increasing by an incredible 200,000 listeners since Q2.

Following a successful Q1 and Q2, Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio has grown again in Q3, achieving 6.2 million weekly listeners.

Welsh RAJAR listening figures

Heart South Wales now has 432,000 weekly listeners, up 29,000 from Q2, making it the station with the most listeners in all of Wales.

Nation Radio Wales reached 150,000 weekly listeners an increase of 20,000 since Q2.

Greatest Hits South Wales’ weekly listeners increased by 20,000 from Q2 to Q3, reaching a total of 102,000

Even though Capital is still the biggest commercial radio station in the UK, Capital Northwest, and Wales’ reach decreased by 14,000 listeners from Q2 to Q3, yet it is still quite high at 107,000 listeners per week. Capital South Wales’ reach also decreased slightly by 6,000 listeners per week.

Although radio listeners have switched stations, they still regularly tune in to the medium highlighting that there is still a market for radio advertising! Millions of people can still hear your message; to be heard at the right time, get in touch with our team today!

[email protected]

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

Tag: Digital Radio