RAJAR Results Q2 2002- Overall Summary

The RAJAR listening figures for the second quarter of 2002 show that in terms of share, there has been little movement, period on period. Both All BBC and All Commercial radio retained the exact same percentage share, 52.6% and 45.5% respectively, as they had in the first quarter of the year, which means the BBC retains its edge for now.

All National Commercial radio stations managed an increase in share period on period, adding 0.3 percentage points to achieve 8.1%. However, share for both All Local Commercial and BBC Local stations dropped 0.2 points each, leaving the former with a share of 37.5% and the latter with 11%.

A year on year analysis shows a more changed picture, with All BBC’s share representing a 1.3 percentage point increase, while All Commercial has fallen 1.1 percentage points. The same analysis shows that All BBC Network rose 1.4 percentage points, but again local stations have done less well, with BBC Local dropping 0.4 percentage points year on year and All Local Commercial dropping 1.1 points.

In the second quarter of 2002, reach for All Radio slipped 0.6% compared to the first three months of the year. The fall was reflected across the board, with BBC Local Radio the worst affected, seeing a fall of 6.1%.

All Commercial saw its reach decrease by 1.8% to 31.6 million, while All Local Commercial experienced a drop of 2%. While BBC Local and Regional services took some of the worst falls, All BBC Network Radio was the least affected, falling just 0.4% period on period.

Year on year, the loss of reach for All Radio was 1%. However, within that, All BBC managed a 1% increase to 32.6 million, still only marginally ahead of All National’s 31.6 million- the latter having seen a 1.9% year on year fall.

The BBC’s good news extended to All BBC Network stations, which saw a 2% increase in reach year on year, but was not seen in BBC Local Radio, where reach was down 4.7%. All National Commercial also suffered in this comparison, dropping 2.6% to just under 11 million.

Average hours per listener were down in a year on year comparison according to the new figures. All Radio experienced a fall of 2% in average hours to 23.9 and this was reflected across the board. All Commercial fell 3.8% year on year in its average hours per listener, to 15.2, while All BBC dropped 1.7% to 17.

Once again, the worst hit were the local stations. All Local Commercial saw a 3.9% fall to 14.7, while BBC Local Radio dropped 3.3% to 11.9.

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