RAJAR Q2 09: BBC & Commercial

All Commercial and All BBC radio enjoyed a year on year rise in weekly reach in the three months to the end of June, according to the latest RAJAR figures for Q2 2009.

All Commercial also witnessed an increase in its share of listening, however, All BBC’s share of listening was down both year on year and period on period.

In terms of average hours per listener, both the BBC and All Commercial suffered year on year percentage declines.

Share of Listening

All Commercial saw its share of listening rise 0.3 percentage points year on year in the second quarter, taking its total to almost 43% of all listeners.

Within this, All Local Commercial (National TSA) was up by 0.7 percentage points to nearly 32%.

Meanwhile, All National Commercial rose to 10.8% after a period on period increase of 0.6%, despite slipping 0.4% year on year.

However, the BBC had a less impressive quarter. All BBC radio’s share was down by 0.9 percentage points year on year (and by a fairly significant 1.7 percentage points period on period) taking its total share of listening down to 54.6%.

BBC Local/Regional was down by the same amount as All BBC year on year and by 0.7 percentage points over the three month period to 8.7%.

All BBC Network Radio, meanwhile, was down by just 0.1 percentage points year on year to almost 46%.

Weekly Reach

It was a relatively strong quarter for both commercial radio and the BBC in terms of weekly reach.

All Commercial enjoyed a 3.2% year on year rise, taking its total to just short of 32 million listeners.

All Local Commercial (National TSA) also experienced a year on year rise, of 3.7% to nearly 26 million listeners, while All National Commercial saw a 0.8% year on year increase – and a fairly significant 4.2% period on period increase – to nearly 13.9 million listeners.

The BBC also had an impressive quarter with the exception of BBC Local and Regional radio, which was down 4.5% year on year to just over 9 million listeners.

All BBC, meanwhile, was up 2.3% year on year, giving it a weekly reach of more than 34 million listeners.

All BBC Network Radio also enjoyed an increase of 3.7% year on year to over 30 million listeners in total.

Average Hours Per Listener

All Commercial’s average hours per listener had a mixed period. Although its hours slipped by 1.4% compared to last year, it has increased from the previous period, up 1.5% to 13.7 hours in total.

All National Commercial saw a similar pattern with average hour down 3.6% year on year, but increased on the previous period, up 1.3% to 8 hours.

Meanwhile, All Local Commercial (National TSA) remained static year on year with an average of 12.7 hours.

The BBC, however, saw its average hours per listener fall both year on year and period on period.

All BBC’s average hours now sits at 16.5 following a fall of 2.4% over the year, while All BBC Network Radio rests at 15.4 hours after a similar fall of 2.5%.

BBC Local/Regional also suffered a year on year drop in its average hours, down by almost 4% to 9.8 hours in total.