29 Oct 2009 | Sam Howroyd

RAJAR Q3 2009: London Stations

For the eleventh consecutive quarter, Magic 105.4 has the largest weekly reach of all the London stations, according to the latest RAJAR figures for the three months to the end of September.

Magic’s reach stands at around two million listeners in Q3 2009 after a year on year rise of 6.6%. Its average hours per listener and share of listening figures were both down over the same period, however, although its share only dipped by 0.3 percentage points.

Magic’s listeners are now sticking with the station for 4.8% less time than they were in Q3 2008, giving it an average of 6 hours per listener. This is less than 95.8 Capital Radio, down 4.3% YoY to 6.7 hours; Kiss 100 FM, down 1.6% YoY to 6.3 hours; and Total Absolute Radio (London), at 6.5 hours.

Despite many of the London stations’ average hours falling over the past year, there were some period on period increases, with Kiss 100 FM up 3.3% and Absolute Radio London and Total Absolute Radio (London) up 7.4% and 8.3% respectively.

Heart 106.2 FM, meanwhile, saw its average hours fall by around 17% year on year and 6.9% period on period, to 5.4%. There was better news for the station in terms of weekly reach though, with year on year growth of 6.3% taking its total to almost 1.9 million listeners. Although the station’s share of listening fell by one percentage point year on year, it fared slightly better period on period, down just 0.4 percentage points to 4.7%.

95.8 Capital Radio enjoyed a massive year on year rise in reach, up 14.3% to 1.8 million listeners, although it was down on Q2 by around 7%. Its share of listening stayed relatively strong in the year to the end of September, with a 0.2 percentage point rise giving it a 5.6% share.

Also boasting a year on year increase in reach was Kiss 100 FM, up 2.1% to over 1.5 million, although like Capital it suffered a period on period decline, of 12.4%. Its share of listening now rests at 4.5% following a year on year dip of 0.3 percentage points.

Looking at Absolute Radio London and Total Absolute Radio (London), both enjoyed slight period on period increases in share of listening, up 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively. Absolute Radio London’s share now stands at 2.1% while Total Absolute Radio (London) has a 2.6% share.

Following a healthy period on period rise of 3.6%, Absolute Radio London now has a weekly reach of 783,000 listeners, while a dip of 0.6% on Q2 2009 leaves Total Absolute Radio (London) with a weekly reach of 877,000.