RAJAR Results Q2 2004: National Commercial Riding High

The latest RAJAR listening figures for the second quarter of 2004 reveal a rather lacklustre performance for All Commercial Radio, which saw its share of listening dip by 0.5% points period on period to 45%. The corresponding increase enjoyed by All BBC helped it to extend its lead to just above the 53% mark.

Things were slightly more upbeat for All National Commercial, which saw its share of listening inch up by a nominal 0.2% points during the same period to just over the 10% mark. However, All Local Commercial proved less fortunate with a 0.7% points dip to just under 35%. Both BBC Local and BBC Local/Regional suffered a 0.2% points decline in the three months to June, while Other Listening crept up by 0.1% points.

The picture is broadly the same in year on year analysis with All Commercial and All BBC both seeing their respective share of listening rise by 0.1% points in the second quarter of this year. However, All National Commercial experienced a solid 1.7% points period increase as the raft on new digital stations continued to bolster the market. Meanwhile, All Local Commercial suffered a 1.6% points decline in the second quarter and BBC Local Radio slipped by a slightly less significant 0.6% points during the same period.

Period on period analysis of weekly reach shows that All Radio remained static in the second quarter at just below the 44 million mark. Within this, All BBC held firm with just over 32 million weekly listeners, but All Commercial dipped by 0.9% to just over the 31 million mark.

The three months to June brought slightly more impressive news to All National Commercial, which saw its weekly reach climb by a healthy 0.6% period on period to a shade over the 13 million mark. However, this was off-set by a poor performance for All Local Commercial, which suffered a 1.4% decline during the second quarter to just under 26 million weekly listeners. BBC Local and BBC Local/Regional suffered relatively heavy declines, but Other Listening rose by a solid 4% to almost 2.7 million.

The outlook changes quite significantly in year on year analysis with All Radio seeing its weekly reach inch up by 0.6% in the second quarter. All BBC enjoyed a solid 1.4% increase at the expense of All Commercial, which dipped by 0.2% during the same period.

The increasing popularity of new digital radio stations on the Freeview digital terrestrial platform helped to boost All National Commercial by a notable 12.6% year on year. However, All Local Commercial put in a less impressive performance with its weekly reach dipping by 2.9% in the three months to June. BBC Local and BBC Local/Regional both enjoyed rises, while Other Listening fell by 4.1% in year on year analysis.

The latest RAJAR data for the second quarter of this year shows that All Radio saw a solid 1.7% year on year increase in average hours per listener. Within this, All BBC enjoyed a healthy 1.1% rise to 17.6 hours and All Commercial welcomed a more significant 3.4% increase to an average of 15.4 hours.

The increasing appeal of digital radio helped All National Commercial to experience a marked 9.2% year on year increase to 8.3% average hours per listener, while All Local Commercial rose by 0.7% to 14.4 hours. Both BBC Local and BBC Local/Regional saw a decline in average hours per listener, along with Other Listening, which slipped by 5.1% to 7.4 hours.

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