RAJAR Latest Shows Radio 2 And Classic FM Carry The Flag For National Stations
This was not a strong quarter for commercial stations. Virgin Radio (AM) slipped once again, by 0.4 percentage points in share and by 15.4% year on year in terms of reach, to 2.5m. The station blamed the erosion of AM listening and insisted that its future would be secured by being available across all platforms including the internet and DAB.
Severe losses in year on year reach were also seen at Atlantic 252, which dropped 26.6% to 1.1m. Its share remained static. TalkSport increased its reach from 2.1 to 2.2m quarter on quarter, but saw a 3.6% drop year on year. Audience share in the national sports station also saw a year on year reduction of 0.2 percentage points.
This left Classic FM to be the hero of commercial radio once again. Despite a quarter on quarter fall in reach, year on year the station saw a 0.6% increase, staying above the 6m mark. Share also moved up by 0.4 percentage points to 4.7%.
Over at the BBC, Radio 2 continues to hold its place with the largest share of listening. Its reach increased by 7.9% year on year. Radio 1 and Radio 5 did not put in such a good performance during the quarter. Radio 1 slipped below the 11m mark in reach and fell 0.9 percentage points to 10% share. Radio 5 saw its reach slip 9.2% to 5.5m and its share reduced by 0.3 percentage points. Radio 3 and Radio 4 remained relatively stable, although both saw small year on year and quarter on quarter reductions in both reach and share.
| National Stations Weekly Reach (000s) | ||||
| Station | Reporting Period | Dec-99 | Dec-00 | % Change |
| BBC Radio 1 | (Q) | 11,291 | 10,709 | -5.2 |
| BBC Radio 2 | (Q) | 9,901 | 10,688 | 7.9 |
| BBC Radio 3 | (Q) | 2,018 | 1,980 | -1.9 |
| BBC Radio 4 | (Q) | 8,915 | 8,872 | -0.5 |
| BBC Radio 5 | (Q) | 6,081 | 5,523 | -9.2 |
| Classic FM | (Q) | 6,004 | 6,041 | 0.6 |
| talkSPORT | (Q) | 2,242 | 2,162 | -3.6 |
| The New Atlantic 252 | (Q) | 1,527 | 1,121 | -26.6 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | (Q) | 3,040 | 2,572 | -15.4 |
| National Stations Share Of Listening (%) | ||||
| Station | Reporting Period | Dec-99 | Dec-00 | % Point Change |
| BBC Radio 1 | (Q) | 10.9 | 10 | -0.9 |
| BBC Radio 2 | (Q) | 12.8 | 13.6 | 0.8 |
| BBC Radio 3 | (Q) | 1.3 | 1.2 | -0.1 |
| BBC Radio 4 | (Q) | 11 | 10.8 | -0.2 |
| BBC Radio 5 | (Q) | 4.4 | 4.1 | -0.3 |
| Classic FM | (Q) | 4.3 | 4.7 | 0.4 |
| talkSPORT | (Q) | 1.5 | 1.3 | -0.2 |
| The New Atlantic 252 | (Q) | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | (Q) | 1.8 | 1.4 | -0.4 |
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