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BBC Radio 2 Sees Weekly Reach Decline

BBC Radio 2 Sees Weekly Reach Decline

BBC House The latest RAJAR figures, for Q4 2007, show that BBC Radio 2 remained the national station with the highest weekly reach, of more than 12.8 million listeners. However, it was down both period on period and year on year, by 1.5% and 3.4% respectively.

BBC Radio 1 was up period on period by 1.1% to around 10.7 million listeners.

Radio 4 remained relatively static period on period, up 0.3% to 9.3 million listeners.

Digital only music station BBC 6 Music bolstered its listener numbers by 28.7% year on year and 1.7% period on period, taking its reach to nearly half a million.

It was not a particularly good quarter for Classic FM, down 4.3% period on period and 2.9% year on year, to leave its reach at almost 5.6 million listeners.

Also finding it tough during Q4 was GCap Gold Network UK, which suffered a period on period drop of 19.1%. Its reach now stands at around 1.2 million listeners.

In December, Fru Hazlitt was appointed as GCap’s chief executive, taking over from Ralph Bernard (see Fru Hazlitt Appointed GCap Chief Executive).

TalkSPORT was up by a pretty impressive 9.5% year on year, taking its reach to 2.5 million in Q4.

Pop music station The Hits enjoyed a year on year increase of 22.3%, giving it a total of 1.4 million listeners. However, it was down period on period by 8.7%.

Total Heart (UK) now has a reach of almost 3.4 million listeners following a year on year increase of 7.2% and a period on period rise of 1.2%.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Network (inc Dig Listening) was down 2.5% period on period, leaving its reach at 2.5 million listeners, while Total Kiss Network recorded a 3.6% period on period drop, to just under three million.

Total Smooth Radio’s weekly reach increased to around 2.2 million listeners following period on period growth of 2.6%.

National Stations Weekly Reach (000s)
  Ending Dec 06 Ending Mar 07 Ending Jun 07 Ending Sep 07 Ending Dec 07 YoY % Change Dec 06 vs Dec 07 QoQ % Change Sep 07 vs Dec 07
BBC Radio 1 10,262 10,549 10,873 10,578 10,693 4.20 1.09
BBC Radio 2 13,269 13,252 13,117 13,013 12,824 -3.35 -1.45
BBC Radio 3 2,028 1,902 1,783 1,938 1,950 -3.85 0.62
BBC Radio 4 9,342 9,637 9,482 9,262 9,289 -0.57 0.29
BBC Radio FIVE LIVE 5,846 5,873 5,890 5,489 6,080 4.00 10.77
BBC Radio Five Live (inc Sports Extra) 5,919 5,973 6,104 5,652 6,174 4.31 9.24
Five Live Sports Extra 650 682 866 730 630 -3.08 -13.70
1Xtra 368 465 473 421 453 23.10 7.60
BBC 6 Music 383 477 471 485 493 28.72 1.65
BBC 7 672 808 738 795 853 26.93 7.30
BBC Asian Network UK 493 452 455 476 441 -10.55 -7.35
BBC World Service 1,264 1,389 1,305 1,303 1,183 -6.41 -9.21
Classic FM 5,757 6,031 5,704 5,844 5,591 -2.88 -4.33
TalkSPORT 2239 2,341 2,372 2,312 2,452 9.51 6.06
Total Virgin Radio (AM/FM) n/a n/a 2,534 2,472 2,487 n/a 0.61
The Arrow (UK) 99 93 124 146 150 51.52 2.74
Chill 134 187 189 183 197 47.01 7.65
Core 98 118 126 122 94 -4.08 -22.95
Fun Radio 37 37 35 40 57 54.05 42.50
Heat (Digital) 246 224 425 413 386 56.91 -6.54
Life 77 67 112 133 89 15.58 -33.08
Mojo Radio (Digital) 247 220 227 219 221 -10.53 0.91
Oneword Radio 138 140 138 151 157 13.77 3.97
Planet Rock 424 498 530 548 563 32.78 2.74
Q 289 317 379 400 298 3.11 -25.50
Smash Hits Radio 708 759 906 990 966 36.44 -2.42
The Hits 1,115 1,168 1,345 1,494 1,364 22.33 -8.70
theJazz n/a n/a 334 388 364 n/a -6.19
Virgin Radio Classic Rock 188 163 234 244 242 28.72 -0.82
Virgin Radio Groove 55 68 99 94 109 98.18 15.96
Virgin Radio Xtreme 53 82 95 82 73 37.74 -10.98
Total Choice (UK) 685 600 585 784 622 -9.20 -20.66
Galaxy Network (incl Dig Listening) 2,664 2,550 2,584 2,608 2,542 -4.58 -2.53
GCap Gold Network UK 1,830 1,687 1,512 1,499 1,213 -33.72 -19.08
Total Heart (UK) 3,136 3,094 3,254 3,322 3,362 7.21 1.20
Total Kerrang! 1,366 1,324 1,478 1,387 1,337 -2.12 -3.60
Total Kiss Network 2,922 2,804 2,928 3,095 2,983 2.09 -3.62
Total LBC (incl Digital Listening) 753 792 793 780 775 2.92 -0.64
Total Magic 3,069 3,166 3,378 3,430 3,357 9.38 -2.13
Total Real Radio 1,633 1,557 1,637 1,670 1,597 -2.20 -4.37
Total Smooth Radio n/a n/a 2,292 2,173 2,229 n/a 2.58
Sunrise Radio National 505 466 571 537 510 0.99 -5.03
Total XFM (UK) 1,130 1,157 1,187 1,181 1,122 -0.71 -5.00

BBC Radio 2 saw its share of listening drop in Q4, to 15.7%, following a year on year drop of around 0.6 percentage points.

However, it remains the national station with the largest share of listening, ahead of both BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 1, at 11.8% and 10.3% respectively.

BBC Radio 1 recorded a 6.2 percentage point increase, while Radio 4 was up 6.3 percentage points year on year.

There was a big period on period rise for BBC Radio FIVE LIVE, up more than 9.5 percentage points, taking its share to 4.6%.

While Classic FM’s share of listening remained very healthy at 4.2%, it was static year on year and down period on period, by around 2.3%.

TalkSPORT was up by 11.1 percentage points both period on period and year on year, to 2.0%.

Galaxy Network (inc Dig Listening) and Gcap Gold Network UK both suffered falling shares quarter on quarter in Q4, of around 16 percentage points and 29 percentage points respectively. Galaxy Network (inc Dig Listening) now has a share of 1.6%, while GCap Gold Network UK’s now rests at 1.0%.

Total Heart (UK), meanwhile, was up by 4.4 percentage points period on period, to take its share of listening to 2.4%.

Total Kiss Network saw its share decline by 5.88 percentage points period on period (although it remained static year on year), taking its share to 1.6%.

Total Magic enjoyed a big year on year rise, of 15 percentage points, to give it a share of 2.3%, while Total Real Radio was also up year on year, by nearly six percentage points, to 1.8%.

It was a good quarter for Total Smooth Radio, up over 11 percentage points in the last three months of 2007, giving it a share of listening of 2.0%.

National Stations Share Of Listening (%)
  Ending Dec 06 Ending Mar 07 Ending Jun 07 Ending Sep 07 Ending Dec 07 YoY % Pt Change Dec 06 vs Dec 07 QoQ % Pt Change Sep 07 vs Dec 07
BBC Radio 1 9.7 10.1 10.3 10.6 10.3 6.19 -2.83
BBC Radio 2 15.8 15.8 15.6 15.8 15.7 -0.63 -0.63
BBC Radio 3 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2 -14.29 0.00
BBC Radio 4 11.1 12.2 11.2 11.2 11.8 6.31 5.36
BBC Radio FIVE LIVE 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.6 4.55 9.52
BBC Radio Five Live (inc Sports Extra) 4.5 4.3 4.5 4.4 4.7 4.44 6.82
Five Live Sports Extra 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.00 -50.00
1Xtra 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 50.00 50.00
BBC 6 Music 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 50.00 50.00
BBC 7 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 33.33 0.00
BBC Asian Network UK 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.00 0.00
BBC World Service 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.00 -14.29
Classic FM 4.2 4.2 4.0 4.3 4.2 0.00 -2.33
TalkSPORT 1.8 2.0 1.8 1.8 2.0 11.11 11.11
Total Virgin Radio (AM/FM) n/a n/a 1.5 1.5 1.5 n/a 0.00
The Arrow (UK) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Chill 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Core * * * * * n/a n/a
Fun Radio * * * * * n/a n/a
Heat (Digital) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Life * * 0.1 0.1 0.1 n/a 0.00
Mojo Radio (Digital) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Oneword Radio * 0.1 0.1 * 0.1 n/a n/a
Planet Rock 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 50.00 -25.00
Q 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Smash Hits Radio 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 50.00 0.00
The Hits 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 50.00 0.00
theJazz n/a n/a 0.2 0.2 0.2 n/a 0.00
Virgin Radio Classic Rock 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.00 0.00
Virgin Radio Groove * * 0.1 * * n/a n/a
Virgin Radio Xtreme * * * * * n/a n/a
Total Choice (UK) 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 -33.33 -20.00
Galaxy Network (incl Dig Listening) 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.6 -15.79 -11.11
GCap Gold Network UK 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.3 1.0 -28.57 -23.08
Total Heart (UK) 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.4 0.00 4.35
Total Kerrang! 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 -14.29 -14.29
Total Kiss Network 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6 0.00 -5.88
Total LBC (incl Digital Listening) 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.00 0.00
Total Magic 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.3 15.00 0.00
Total Real Radio 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 5.88 0.00
Total Smooth Radio n/a n/a 2.0 1.8 2.0 n/a 11.11
Sunrise Radio National 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 33.33 0.00
Total XFM (UK) 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 -14.29 -14.29

BBC Radio 4 had the top average hours per listener figure of any national station at 12.9, up nearly 5% period on period and 3.2% year on year.

BBC Radio 2 was just behind at 12.5 hours, having recorded a period on period rise of around 1.6%, while Radio 1 had an average hour figure of 9.8 per listener, although it was down by 3.9% period on period.

Sports, news and current affairs stations BBC Radio FIVE LIVE and TalkSPORT had average hours per listener figures of 7.6 and 8.3 respectively.

Radio FIVE LIVE was down by 5% year on year and 2.5% period on period, while TalkSPORT was static year on year and up around 6.4% period on period.

Classic FM now reports an average hours per listener of 7.6 hours, up 1.3% on Q3, although it was down year on year by the same percentage figure.

There was a very large increase for Life, up 68.1% year on year to 7.9 hours.

Also up year on year was GCap Gold Network UK, by 8.8%, although it suffered a period on period drop of 1.1%, leaving it with an average of 8.7 hours per listener.

Both Total Heart (UK) and Total LBC (inc Digital Listening) recorded year on year downturns in average hours.

Total Heart (UK) now has a total of 7.2 hours after a year on year fall of nearly 9% and Total LBC (inc Digital Listening), after a year on year fall of 11.5%, now has a total of 11.5 hours.

Following a period on period increase of 9.4%, Total Smooth Radio’s average hours per listener now stands at 9.3 hours.

Meanwhile, listeners are now spending an average of 11.5 hours with Total Real Radio compared with 11 hours in Q3 2007 and 11.2 in Q4 2006.

National Stations Average Hours Per Listener
  Ending Dec 06 Ending Mar 07 Ending Jun 07 Ending Sep 07 Ending Dec 07 YoY % Change Dec 06 vs Dec 07 QoQ % Change Sep 07 vs Dec 07
BBC Radio 1 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.2 9.8 -2.00 -3.92
BBC Radio 2 12.6 12.5 12.5 12.3 12.5 -0.79 1.63
BBC Radio 3 7.1 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.1 -14.08 -3.17
BBC Radio 4 12.5 13.2 12.5 12.3 12.9 3.20 4.88
BBC Radio FIVE LIVE 8.0 7.4 7.6 7.8 7.6 -5.00 -2.56
BBC Radio Five Live (inc Sports Extra) 8.1 7.6 7.8 8.0 7.7 -4.94 -3.75
Five Live Sports Extra 2.0 2.5 3.4 3.2 2.0 0.00 -37.50
1Xtra 4.9 4.6 5.3 5.5 5.7 16.33 3.64
BBC 6 Music 6.6 5.5 6.3 5.2 5.4 -18.18 3.85
BBC 7 5.2 5.3 5.5 5.3 5.3 1.92 0.00
BBC Asian Network UK 7.5 5.0 5.7 5.5 5.9 -21.33 7.27
BBC World Service 5.0 5.2 5.7 5.9 5.0 0.00 -15.25
Classic FM 7.7 7.3 7.3 7.5 7.6 -1.30 1.33
TalkSPORT 8.3 8.7 8.1 7.8 8.3 0.00 6.41
Total Virgin Radio (AM/FM) n/a n/a 6.2 6.4 6.1 n/a -4.69
The Arrow (UK) 7.6 6.1 6.8 6.4 6.1 -19.74 -4.69
Chill 5.4 4.4 5.2 4.4 5.0 -7.41 13.64
Core 2.8 3.3 3.9 3.0 4.0 42.86 33.33
Fun Radio 4.0 3.1 3.4 5.6 3.7 -7.50 -33.93
Heat (Digital) 3.0 2.6 2.7 2.9 3.5 16.67 20.69
Life 4.7 6.7 8.2 6.3 7.9 68.09 25.40
Mojo Radio (Digital) 3.8 2.7 3.2 2.9 3.3 -13.16 13.79
Oneword Radio 3.3 3.8 3.9 3.4 3.8 15.15 11.76
Planet Rock 5.6 4.9 6.6 7.1 5.6 0.00 -21.13
Q 1.9 3.1 2.9 3.1 2.8 47.37 -9.68
Smash Hits Radio 3.5 3.5 3.0 3.4 3.2 -8.57 -5.88
The Hits 3.4 3.2 4.0 4.0 4.2 23.53 5.00
theJazz n/a n/a 7.0 4.6 5.2 n/a 13.04
Virgin Radio Classic Rock 5.0 4.0 4.7 5.1 4.3 -14.00 -15.69
Virgin Radio Groove 3.1 4.5 5.4 5.0 4.7 51.61 -6.00
Virgin Radio Xtreme 4.3 3.0 3.2 3.2 3.2 -25.58 0.00
Total Choice (UK) 9.8 6.5 6.8 6.5 6.8 -30.61 4.62
Galaxy Network (incl Dig Listening) 7.4 7.7 7.4 7.0 6.4 -13.51 -8.57
GCap Gold Network UK 8.0 7.3 7.9 8.8 8.7 8.75 -1.14
Total Heart (UK) 7.9 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.2 -8.86 0.00
Total Kerrang! 5.6 4.4 4.8 4.9 4.8 -14.29 -2.04
Total Kiss Network 5.7 5.6 5.7 5.6 5.5 -3.51 -1.79
Total LBC (incl Digital Listening) 13.0 11.3 10.9 11.4 11.5 -11.54 0.88
Total Magic 6.9 7.3 7.4 6.8 6.9 0.00 1.47
Total Real Radio 11.2 11.1 10.9 11.0 11.5 2.68 4.55
Total Smooth Radio n/a n/a 9.3 8.5 9.3 n/a 9.41
Sunrise Radio National 6.8 7.6 7.6 8.3 7.2 5.88 -13.25
Total XFM (UK) 6.5 5.9 6.2 5.9 5.4 -16.92 -8.47

New RAJAR specification introduced in Q2 2007. Please use caution.

RAJAR: 020 7292 9040 www.rajar.co.uk

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