Latest RAJAR figures – a curate’s egg?
James Cridland, managing director of Media UK and a radio futurologist, says the latest digital listening figures are a welcome, gradual, improvement: but anyone expecting the internet or DAB to replace FM listening any time soon might have egg on their face…
The radio audience figures released today are a bit of a curate’s egg for those of us interested in new platforms for radio.
Digital radio listening as a whole – which includes DAB Digital Radio, the internet, and listening to the radio over your TV – has increased. It’s up by over a quarter year on year; and now, 25% of all radio listening is done on a digital platform.
This 25% figure is a magic one: it’s the one the industry is watching. If this figure has risen to 50% by 2013, the government will press for digital switchover to happen in 2015: the net effect being that all the large radio stations will stop broadcasting on FM. Putting the rights and wrongs of a government-mandated switchover aside, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the industry will hit this ambitious 50% figure.
Individual services are delivering rather a scrambled message, too.
Some digital radio services have done well – Planet Rock has seen a good continuation of their slow and steady rise; and a creditable increase in audience for Absolute Radio 90s, pretty well doubling their initial figures. talkSPORT, an AM radio station that you’d expect to punch above its weight in digital listening, is celebrating their best-ever audience figures, aided by a sucessful redesign of their website (increasing their visitors by 90% quarter on quarter).
But some digital-only services have done less well. BBC 6music and JazzFM appear static. BBC 1Xtra and BBC Radio 7 appear to be on the decline (in terms of hours). Some large radio brands are also doing particularly poorly on digital. I’d name them, but the rules say I can’t.
Two things happen this Spring, however, that should make quite a difference to digital radio.
First, in only a few weeks we’ll see the launch of a UK internet “RadioPlayer”: to help increase the amount of internet radio listening, which is the least popular way of listening to the radio. This long over-due service will make it easier than ever to listen to radio online – with a player that “just works”, and one that has been specifically produced to allow easy discovery of every participating UK radio station. Lost interest in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday morning programmes? The same player will bring you Andrew Pierce’s political show on LBC 97.3 at the press of a button. Or vice-versa. It’s a massive opportunity.
Second, we’ll see the launch of BBC Radio 4 Extra: a digital radio service which promises programmes more closely-aligned to Radio 4 itself. We’re promised, according to one “industry source”, additional spin-off shows, and chances to hear The Archers a day early. The details of the programming are less important than knowing that Radio 4 Extra is likely to get considerably more promotion on Radio 4 than its predecessor, BBC Radio 7. Let’s not forget that the listeners to Radio 4 are opinion-formers – at least of the old, analogue, kind – so promotion of digital radio on that network will be a considerable benefit.
However, if I’m a loyal listener to Capital or to Magic on FM, I’ve no reason at all to buy a digital radio. There are no additional services from the radio station I listen to, and little reason, if any, to purchase a new receiver which will simply get me the same radio station that I currently listen to.
The latest digital listening figures are a welcome, gradual, improvement: but anyone expecting the internet or DAB to replace FM listening any time soon might have egg on their face.
Click here to read James’ blog