Tag: radio
The first RAJAR of 2024, Q1 is here!
RAJAR’s first quarterly update of 2024 is here, check out the top stats for the period (January – March 2024)
Data collected from this period has revealed that the weekly population of all commercial radio listeners has increased in 2024 with 89% equivalent to 50 million adults, this is a 1% increase compared to Q4 2023.
Here are some interesting stats –
- The total average number of weekly hours listened to radio for this quarter is 1.023 billion hours.
- On average a listener tunes into 20.5 hours of Live Radio per week, unchanged from Q4 2023.
- 44 million adults (77%) are now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled platform each week.
- 73% of weekly listening hours are consumed digitally.
- In an average week, digital listening accounts for 746 million hours increasing by 17 million since Q4 2023.
- DAB has a 58% share of digital listening hours, Smart speaker with 23%, Website/Apps with 15%, and DTV with 4%.
- 63% of Smart Speaker users say they use it for listening to the radio.
- AM/FM listening hours have a share of 27%, falling by 1% since Q4 2023.
- 33% of all adults claim to listen to Podcasts at least once a month, this has increased by 6% since the last quarterly update.
- 30% of all adults say they listen to radio via Smartphone or Tablet at least once a month
National radio stats –
The latest RAJAR Q4 results reported that Commercial radio gained an additional 500,000 weekly listeners.
Three-quarters of commercial stations (75%) gained reach compared to the previous quarter, compared to more than half (53%) of BBC stations losing reach.
Breaking its record yet again, Heart Radio strengthens its position as the number one commercial radio brand, growing to a huge 12.4 million listeners across the UK, increasing by 900,000 listeners since Q3 2024.
Additionally, Capital had a great Q1 report, reaching 8.3 million weekly listeners nationwide, a 400,000 gain in listeners.
Bauer Media and partner stations celebrated this quarterly report with 198,000 weekly listeners, with a reach up 30% compared to last quarter.
Welsh radio stats
Welsh radio stations have had a very successful RAJAR this quarter.
Heart South Wales has remained the most listened to radio station in Wales. The Q1 report has shown reach is currently 453,000 an increase of 34,000 compared to Q4 2023. Also holding the highest weekly percentage reach at 23%.
This quarter, Kiss (West) has had greater success than Q4 2023. With a 36,000 gain in listeners, the station now has the biggest reach growth in all of Wales this quarter, reaching 311,000 listeners overall.
Nation Radio Wales has again increased its reach during Q1 2024, gaining 17,000 listeners making their total reach 202,000 listeners.
Smooth Radio North West and Wales remained the station with the highest average listening hours this quarter with 9.5 per week.
Greatest Hits South Wales’ (previously The Wave) weekly reach has further increased in Q1 2024 by 16,000, now reaching 136,000 listeners.
Heart North Wales has gained a considerable reach of listeners this quarter with an increase of 30,000, making the total reach of 132,000 listeners.
Following suit, Capital South Wales also had a successful quarter with an increased reach of 191,000 gaining 31,000 more listeners.
The only 2 stations throughout Wales to marginally fall in reach were Radio Pembrokeshire and Bridge FM, both decreasing by 2,000 listeners each.
Despite station switching, radio listeners continue to tune in regularly, demonstrating the importance of radio as a medium for spreading your message and drawing in new clients.
With over 40 years of commercial radio experience, contact our radio experts today to help with your next campaign!
RAJAR Q4 has now been released!
RAJAR’s final quarterly update of 2023 is here, check out the top stats for the period (October – December 2023)
Data has revealed that the weekly population of all radio listeners has remained consistent throughout each quarter of 2023 with 88%, remaining at 49.5 million people.
Here are some interesting stats –
- The total average number of weekly hours listened to radio for this Quarter is 1.013 billion hours.
- On average a listener tunes into 20.5 hours of live radio each week, unchanged from Q3.
- In terms of reach, 43 million adults aged 15+ are now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled platform.
- In an average week, digital listening accounts for 729 million hours; DAB has a 59% share of digital listening hours, DTV 5%, Website/Apps 15%, Smart Speaker 20%.
- AM/FM listening hours have a share of 28%.
- 31% of Adults 15+ claim to listen to Live Radio via a Smartphone or Tablet at least once per month.
- 63% of Adults say they would prefer to listen to the radio at home and 58% whilst traveling.
National radio stats –
The latest RAJAR Q4 results reported that Commercial radio gained an additional one million weekly listeners.
7.8 million more people listen to commercial radio than the BBC; this difference has increased by 4.8 million during the same quarter last year.
When comparing this quarter to the same quarter last year, there were 38.1 million more individuals listening to commercial radio, setting a new Q4 high of 39.1 million listeners weekly.
Breaking its own record, Heart Radio strengthens its position as the number one commercial radio brand, growing to a huge 11.5 million listeners across the UK, increasing reach, hours and share year on year.
Capital in Q4 achieved 7.9 million weekly listeners, unfortunately down by 100,000 listeners since Q3.
Bauer Media and partner stations celebrated this quarterly report with 23 million weekly listeners, showing an 8% growth YoY.
Welsh radio stats –
Heart South Wales has remained the most listened to radio station throughout the whole of Wales, in comparison to Q3 the reach of listeners has fallen by 13,000, dropping to 419,000.
Heart SW has strong average listening hours at 9.1 per week
Nation Radio Wales increased its reach during Q4, gaining a considerable 35,000 listeners making the total to 185,000 listeners.
Following suit, Capital South Wales reached 160,000 listeners gaining 23,000 more listeners.
Greatest Hits South Wales’ (previously The Wave) weekly listeners has further increased in Q4 by 18,000, reaching a total of 120,000.
Heart North Wales gained listeners, now at 102,000 per week up 14%.
Smooth North Wales and West retains the highest listening hours of 9.5 hours per listener per week.
Kiss (West) had the biggest decrease in reach throughout the whole of Wales, dropping 34,000 listeners but still having a considerable share of 275,000 listeners.
Although radio listeners switch stations, they still regularly tune in to the medium highlighting that radio is a key media option for getting across your message/ attracting new customers.
With over 40 years of commercial radio experience, contact our radio experts today to help with with your next campaign!
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!
Interesting Media Statistics
Do you want your brand to be seen by a mass and diverse audience, at the right time and place?
Check out the latest statistics for different advertising medias!
TV
28 million households in the UK have a television (Cybercrew, 2023)
3 hours were spent daily watching TV in the UK for 2022 (Cybercrew, 2022)
TV advertising is on average almost half the price of YouTube, and 17 times cheaper than other online video advertising (Thinkbox, 2021)
Adults ages 35-54 spent up to 26% of their total TV time watching traditional TV on a weekly basis (Keegan, 2023).
VOD (Video on Demand)
In the first quarter of 2023, the number of UK households subscribing to video-on-demand services amounted to around 19.08 million (Statista, 2023).
73% of the UK population choose to watch shows/movies on streaming platforms.
58% of all households in the UK are subscribed to an average of 5.4 streaming services (Boyle, 2022).
There were 35 million users on ITV X alone in 2022! (Boyle, 2023).
OOH (Out of Home)
Out of Home reaches 98% of the UK population at least once a week (Outsmart, 2023)
Nearly 26% of Customers Have Visited a Website in Response to an OOH Advert (75 media, 2023)
Transport
Transit advertising reaches 83% of commuters on weekdays and 69% on weekends, equivalent to 48 million adults on a two-week basis (Global, 2023)
Each year a branded taxi will be seen over 75 million times (Capspacemedia, 2022)
Spending over 95% of their time in the city centre, taxis offer universal coverage by targeting mass volumes of consumers (Hugemedia, 2023)
54% of adults 15-34 see bus advertising every week (Global, 2022)
Bus shelter Ads reach 92% of the Population Every Week (75 media, 2023)
On average, passengers spend 7-13 minutes at their respective rail station (Global, 2022)
71% of regular rail users have noticed an OOH ad in the past week (Clearchannel, 2023)
Radio
88% of the adult population listens to radio weekly, equivalent to 49.4 million people (RAJAR, 2023).
The average user tunes into 20.5 hours of live radio each week (RAJAR, 2023).
A record 39.2 million people are tuning into commercial radio every week, up by 1.3% on the quarter and 8% on the year (RAJAR, 2023).
In an average week, digital listening accounts for 697 million hours, and has the highest percentage of listeners with 74% (RAJAR, 2023).
Digital Audio
Podcast advertising will see a growth rate of 15.7% in 2023.
The average podcast fan consumes 9 episodes per week (Thepodcasthost, 2023).
The average Spotify user spends an average of 25 hours per month listing to music (Ferjan, 2023).
Q4 data for 2022, shows that 33.2 million people in the UK are listening to online radio each week (IAB, 2022).
In an average week, digital listening accounts for 697 million hours, and has the highest percentage of listeners with 74% (RAJAR, 2023).
Cinema
Cinema advertising spending is forecast to show the largest growth rate in 2023 compared to any other media at 37% (Statista, 2023).
There are on average 220 new films of different genre released every year; therefore, cinema advertising reaches a large and diverse audience (SocialFilms, 2022).
87% of survey respondents claimed they noticed adverts before, during and after the movie (Digiday, 2023).
Social Media
In 2022, there were 4.9 billion people globally who use one or more social media platforms daily (Forbes, 2022).
An average person spends 145 minutes every day on social media (Workup, 2022).
Facebook has remained the most-used social media platform with 2.98 billion monthly active users as of Q1 of 2023, a 7.18% increase year on year (Dean, 2023).
Static images posted on Instagram achieved an average reach of 1,850 users and carousels reached an average of 2,325 users (Dixon, 2022).
500 billion YouTube videos are watched daily (Omicore, 2023).
On average, 500 million tweets are shared daily (Oberlo, 2023).
TikTok is the most engaging social media platform, with an average session length of 10.85 minutes, the time spent on TikTok globally in 2022 was a mammoth 68 billion hours (Kurve, 2023).
If you need help ensuring your using the right mix of media, get in touch with our experienced team today!
RAJAR Q2 stats have been revealed!
Here are the top stats from Q2 for the period ending June 2023 of Rajar’s update.
Data has revealed that the weekly population of all radio listeners has remained the same as Q1 in Q2 with 88% but has increased slightly to 49.5 million people.
Some other interesting stats –
- A record 39.2 million people are tuning into commercial radio every week, up by 1.3% on the quarter and 8% on the year.
- Commercial Radio’s share of listening has also grown massively to a new record of 54.5%, up from 51.4% in Q1
- The average user tunes into 20.5 hours of live radio each week.
- In an average week, digital listening accounts for 697 million hours, and has the highest percentage of listeners with 74%.
- At home listening has the biggest percentage with 62%, followed by transport with 25% and in the workplace with 14%.
Nationally
Commercial radio now has 7.5 million more listeners than the BBC.
They’ve done it again! Heart, Capital and Smooth remain the top 3 UK commercial radio brands, resulting in Global leading the radio market with 24.9 million weekly listeners.
Heart reaches more than 11.1 million listeners each week, increasing listening hours by 3%.
Capital reaches 7.8 million listeners each week – 14% of the UK population.
Smooth reaching 5.9 million listeners each week, reporting a 4.8% increase from Q1.
Following a successful Q1, Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio has grown by a further 12% in reach, equivalent to 5.9 million listeners each week and a total of 21.3 million listeners.
Locally
Across Wales North Wales appeared to have the most success this RAJAR
Reach has increased for Capital North Wales from 100,000 to 121,000 a staggering 21% in Q2.
Following this trend, Heart North Wales reach has also increased from 89,000 up by 14%. Its total listener hours is up by a staggering 40% from 606,000 to 846,000, whilst share of listening is up from 2.9% to 4.1%.
Other each increases include:
Greatest Hits South Wales: 72,000 to 77,000
Radio Carmarthenshire: 18,000 to 20,000
Several Welsh stations have seen a significant fall in their reach from Q1 to Q2, these include:
- Smooth Radio South Wales: 76,000 to 70,000, fell by 9%
- Capital South Wales: 154,000 to 143,000, fell by 8%
- Heart South Wales: 426,000 to 403,000, fell by 5%
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!
Q1 2023 Rajar Figures are announced
Here are a few top line stats from 2023’s first Rajar.
Overall 88% of the adult population listens to the radio weekly – 49.4 million people.
Digital listening is 68% – 39% DAB and 24.4% online.
Nationally
BBC local radio network is down 7% from 5.6m to 5.2 weekly reach.
BBC Radio London drops from 625,000 weekly reach to 564,000 weekly reach – down 10%.
Commercial radio has come up trumps, with 38.7m listeners tuning in weekly. Global – 26.7m, Bauer 22.4m reach and News Broadcasting 6.7m reach.
Listening using online platforms has increased to 28%.
Global’s Heart, Capital and Smooth are the top 3 stations in the UK.
Bauer’s digital listening is bigger than the industry average at 77.7% compared with 67.7%
Locally
A number of stations including Greatest Hits Wales, Capital North Wales, Nation & Heart South Wales have all seen a fall in their reach since the last quarter of 2022.
Greatest Hits Wales 86,000 to 72,000
Capital South Wales 175,000 to 154,000
Heart North Wales 114,000 to 76,000
Heart South Wales 439,000 to 426,000
Nation Radio 173,000 to 162,000
Radio Pembrokeshire & Radio Carmarthenshire retained their listener reach of 19,000 and 18,000 with high average hours per listeners of over 9 and 10 hours each.
Weekly listener hours are down slightly across other local station too with Heart South Wales retaining just about the same amount of hours (7.6) average hours per listener.
It’s Rajar Q3 2022!!
Good news for digital Radio
41 million adults aged 15+ are now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled platform (DAB, DTV, Online, App, Smart Speaker) each week. 66% of the population claim to own or have access to a DAB radio. 74% of the population tune in to digital radio every week. 66% of weekly listening hours are consumed digitally. Listening via a DAB has 39% share of listening, Online has a 24% share and DTV is 4%.
A General overview
- 88.8% of the adult UK population that’s 49.7 million adults tuned in to radio in Q3
- Radio weekly hours are up at 1.02 billion from 998 million in Q2
- Live radio average listening hours 20.6 hours per week
- Commercial radio reached 5.2m listeners more than BBC radio
- 41 million adults are reached via a digitally enabled platform weekly
National Commercial Stations
- Global has 24.4% share with 246m hours with 25.4m listeners a week.
- Heart is the UK’s biggest commercial radio brand with over 10m listeners. It’s the most listened to commercial station in London with 1.8m weekly reach.
- Capital has the second largest reach after Heart with a weekly reach of 7.4 m, down 3.5% year on year across the UK,
- Smooth Radio remains the UK’s third largest commercial radio station, with 5.6 million weekly listeners, up 123,000 listeners .
- Radio X has increased its listeners by 70,000 now nearly 2m weekly listeners.
- Virgin Radio has lost 7% of its listeners with Chris Evans Breakfast listeners also decreasing from 869,000 listeners to 776,000
- KISS has grown to 2.7m listeners, up 7.2% yearly as has Magic to 2.8m
Local Commercial Stations
- Heart South Wales’s reach is 450,000 up from Q2’s 396,000 with an average of 8 hrs per listener.
- Radio Pembrokeshire’s weekly Reach has dropped from 23,000 to 20,000, Radio Carmarthenshire’s weekly reach is 143,000, both reaching 19% of the population in their areas.
- Capital South Wales has a reach of 196,000 with average listening hours of 3.9 hours, an increase of 8,000 listeners.
- Capital North Wales and Heart North Wales have increased their listeners by 7,000 and 25,000 respectively.
- Nation Radio’s reach has increased by 18,000 to 150,000 a reach of 8%
- Easy Radio Wales (was Swansea Bay radio) has lost listeners and has a reach of 11,000 down from Q2’s reported 14,000
If you would like to advertise on radio please contact our experienced team.
RAJAR Returns!
After 18 months, RAJAR has returned with interesting data highlighting a consumer listenership shift due to the pandemic and a new way of measuring audience figures.
We have collated a few highlights and top-line figures for you.
RAJAR measuring methods
These were conducted via an app running that identified radio stations by matching exposure to a stations audio output rather than face to face data gathering
Radio Audiences
This RAJAR shows that 89% of the UK population (15 yrs.+) is reached by radio each week.
Commercial radio reaches 66% of the population per week, for an average of 8.6 hours a week.
62% of the population is exposed to BBC radio per week – 72% of over 45s and 50% of under-55s
BBC Radio 2 accounts for 26% of all listening per week, with BBC Radio 1 following at 15%.
Global accounts for the highest amount of listening across its various stations, with 23.5% market share. Listening hours across its radio network grew 5% year on year versus Q1 2020, and now stands at 236 million hours.
Decline in younger audiences
Results show a decline in younger audience listenership despite DAB and other digital formats now accounting for well over 60% of total listenership. There were 6.6 m young listeners in 2016 versus 5.9m this RAJAR. In the last five years 15-24s have reduced their radio listening by 40%. Between now and the last RAJAR, the drop’s been 17%. This audience is listening to less radio stations. In 2016 they listened to 3.4 stations versus 2.8 now. Youth stations targeting 15-24’s are losing reach… Radio 1 reach dropping from 8.9m to 8.2m, Kiss down from 3.5m to 2.7m. Capital though saw an increased reach to 6.5m from 6.3m, but still suffered a young audience fallout as did 1Xtra.
Younger audiences typically listen to more commercial radio than audiences over 45 – 69% vs 64%.
How and when audiences are listening
34% of radio listenership takes place across AM and FM stations, versus 66% in digital. Of the digital total DAB accounts for 43%, with online and in-app making up 18% – and DTV listenership accounting for 5%. Radio is listened to by 32.5% of consumers through the internet weekly.
Times have changed with the breakfast peak now at 10am instead of 8am and drive time peak duration lessened from 4-6pm to 4pm. This is undoubtedly how the pandemic has changed listener times…. Hybrid working and working from home has clearly impacted listener patterns. Certainly working from home means people are listening for longer and more intently.
RAJAR on a local level
Some great new here in Wales, Heart reaches 20% of the population in their TSA with a reach of 395,000, Nation Radio is closing the gap on Capital with a reach of 155,000 compared to Capital’s reach of 159,000 with Nation Radio having a 6.0 average hours per listener against Capitals 6.1. The smaller local stations faired well in their TSA’s too with radio Pembrokeshire having the highest reach of 30% followed by The Wave with 23%. And a 10.4% listening share.
To add to the positive outcomes of RAJAR, advertising spend on radio is forecast to grow by 18.6% this year, underpinning marketeers faith in utilising this platform to have their message heard
If you have any questions about radio advertising, contact our team today!
Global leads the UK commercial radio market with 25 million weekly listeners
This quarter RAJAR have released information that door to door audience surveys were not possible during Q2 2020 due to Covid-19.
RAJAR numbers are still based on the Q1 surveys, but run on a 12 month roll to provide a larger sample. They also include up to date census data. The figures below are based on this data.
- Heart- Heart remains the UK’s biggest commercial radio brand with 9.6 million people tuning in every week.
- Capital- Capital remains the UK’s no.1 hit music brand with 7.9 million weekly listeners.
- LBC- Leading Britain’s Conversation, LBC reaches 2.7 million listeners across the UK each week.
- Capital XTRA- Capital XTRA reaches a huge 1.9 million people across the UK every week.
- Smooth- Smooth is the UK’s third largest commercial radio brand with 5.7 million tuning in each week.
- Classic FM- Classic FM again cements its position as the UK’s most popular classical music station with 5.5 million weekly listeners.
- Radio X- Nationally, Radio X reaches 1.7 million listeners every week.
- Gold- Gold reaches an audience of more than 1.3 million listeners every week
- Ashley Tabor-King OBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “I’m incredibly proud that Global brands continue to lead the commercial radio market with the top 4 UK commercial stations, Heart, Capital, Smooth and Classic FM.
Over the past 4 months, as the world has gone through incredibly challenging times, people’s daily habits have shifted and we have all made huge adaptations in our lives. However, radio has remained a constant source of information, entertainment, company and comfort.
If you need help with a radio campaign, please contact one of our team here: info@themediaangel.co.uk.
Source: Global Media & Entertainment Limited
How has the UK’s media consumption changed since lock-down began?
It’s been almost two months since our first blog about how the coronavirus has affected the UK advertising industry, so we thought it was a good moment to take a look at how things stand in May 2020.
Television
Across the major channels, television viewing has grown massively since lock-down was introduced in the UK. Sky viewing has increased by 24%, taking the average time spent watching TV per day to 3 hours 40 minutes, that’s an increase of 5 hours per week since lockdown began.
Younger audiences have seen the biggest increases in television viewing, 16-24 year olds were watching 57% more TV now than they were this time last year.
Unsurprisingly, as more of us are at home, daytime viewing has increased by 39%.
Viewers are tuning into the news and light entertainment more than any other genre. Gordon, Gino and Fred: American Road Trip concluded with 4.0m viewers, which was up 1.4 million viewers compared to the slot last year.
Video on Demand
ITV Hub has seen viewing hours increase by 82%, with catch-up viewing across drama up 26% year on year. Sky On Demand was also up by 52%.
Likewise, All 4 achieved its highest number of quarterly views ever across Q1 of 2020. This record breaking period includes All 4’s biggest ever month, week and day of viewing in March, with viewing up 37% year on year.
Video on demand platforms also remain popular with a younger audience, viewing was up 30% among 16-34 year olds, with almost 80% of all 16-34s registered with All 4 in the UK.
Radio
From our previous blogs it should come as no surprise that radio continues to perform well.
Commercial radio industry body Radiocentre found that 38% of commercial radio listeners are tuning in for an extra hour and 45 minutes each day, hitting an average of 26 hours a week compared with 14 hours a week prior.
Bauer’s radio network’s average reach also up a quarter and listening hours up by almost a fifth, as was Global’s.
Streaming
Streaming on platforms like Spotify have seen subscribers increase, in Q1 of 2020 Spotify saw a rise of 31% year on year.
While usage in cars, wearables (e.g. smart watches) and web platforms dropped last quarter, Spotify said that its TV and game console audience has grown in excess of 50% over the same period.
Outdoor and transport
Unsurprisingly, outdoor and transport advertising continue to see low levels of reach and footfall as people stay indoors and avoid public transport.
Looking to the future, it may take some time for reach and footfall figures to reach pre-lock-down levels as capacity restrictions are introduced and commuters are encouraged to cycle or walk to work.
Keep an eye on our blog and social media for more updates on the advertising sector.
If you need advice on planning future marketing campaigns, get in touch with our friendly team today at info@themediaangel.co.uk.
Tags: marketing, advertising, change, updates, advice, UK, United Kingdom advertising, industry, UK advertising industry, WARC, ITV, Sky, All 4, radio, Bauer, Global, Spotify, streaming.
The latest Rajar, Q3 2019
In the last RAJAR survey of 2019, how have stations across Wales and nationally fared?
Top line Stats
88% of the UK population tune into radio every week.
On average a listener tunes into 20.4 hours of live radio per week.
59% of listeners tune in at home
25% in a vehicle and
16% at work/elsewhere.
The Rajar data also shows large parts of the British public are discovering podcasts, with 8.4 million saying they listened to them, up from 6 million at the same time last year. Up 40% year on year
Local
In the last Rajar of 2019, the stations surveyed by The Media Angel saw a range of results.
Heart South Wales turned around their fortunes. In Q3, their reach has jumped up 59,000 to 453,000, the biggest increase of all the stations The Media Angel surveyed. Q2 their reach was down to 394,000.
The Wave 96.4 FM reversed the decline with a jump in reach to 137,000. Their % reach was also up, to 29%. Up from 115,000 and 24% reach.
Kiss (West) was another station who experience a decline in reach in Q2 but in Q3 their reach has increased by 29,000 to 386,000.
Smooth North West and Wales’ reach was down again by 27% to 49,000. However, Smooth South Wales’ reach increased by 16,000 to 97,000.
Local stations in Swansea experienced a mixed bag. Swansea Bay Radio’s reach increased by 5,000 to 26,000. Up 36%. However, Swansea Sound’s reach declined 10% to 36.000.
It was a bad quarter for Capital, as both their North West and Wales and South Wales stations experienced declines in reach. South Wales down by 18,000 listeners, now 213,000 weekly listeners and North West and Wales were down by 17,000.
% Reach remained relatively unchanged across the board. The biggest loss was Capital South Wales, losing 2% now 20%. While Heart South Wales increased by 5% to 24%.
Listener hours also experienced little change. Heart South Wales retains the highest listening hours with 9.5. 106.3 The Bridge FM lost the most hours now 4.8 hrs, down 2.7. Swansea Bay Radio6.5 hrs and Smooth South Wales were both up 9.4hrs, by 2.4 and 2.2 respectively.
Capital South Wales has the lowest listening hours at 4.4.
National
The biggest news in national radio has to be Zoe Ball’s breakfast show continual decline on Radio 2.
Between Q1 and Q2 of 2019, Ball’s figures fell from 9.05 million to 8.27 million after she took over from Chris Evans. In the latest quarter, figures have fallen again to 7.9 million listeners, the lowest audience figures for the Radio 2 breakfast show in a decade.
Chris Evans left to join Virgin Radio, and despite promising initial listening figures, they have remained flat in Q3 at 1.1 million.
Global has continued to grow its’ audience, and Heart now attracts more weekly listeners than Radio 1 and the breakfast show has become the biggest commercial radio programme in the country.
Bauer, the other major commercial radio owner, has seen enormous growth at its digital-only Kisstory station which grew 18% to 2.6 million.
Digital
With digital listening now accounting of 56.8% of all radio listening (up from 52.4% in Q3 2018, equating to 65% of the population listening to digital radio every week).
28% of adults now claim to own a voice-activated smart device it seems they are a neglected piece of equipment as only 18% of owners say they use one every day.
So which radio station is right for you?
If you want to make sure you’re using your marketing budget to its’ full potential and using the right radio station(s) to reach your target market, then give our team a call on 02921 320 200 or email at info@themediaangel.co.uk.
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/24/radio-2-breakfast-show-audience-falls-lowest-level-decade, https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/rajar-kisstory-s-digital-reign-continues-6-music-grows-mobile-listening-static-and-more-q3-2019-takeaways/077849, https://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/10/rajar-q3-2019-the-quarterly-radio-infographic-is-here/
RAJAR
Radio stations surveyed: 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire, 106.3 Bridge FM, 96.4 FM The Wave, Capital North West and Wales, Capital South Wales, Heart North Wales, Heart South Wales, Kiss (West), Radio Carmarthenshire and Scarlet FM, Radio Ceredigion, Smooth Radio North West and Wales, Smooth Radio South Wales, Swansea Bay Radio (surveyed as Nation Hits!), Nation Radio South Wales, Swansea Sound – 1170 MW
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.
Further Reading;
Sources; https://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2019/10/16/bauer-outlines-plans-for-radios-internet-enabled-future/, https://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2019/10/14/why-digital-is-transforming-the-audio-landscape/, https://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2019/10/16/spotifys-plans-to-take-ownership-of-in-car-audio/