Carat: ‘A great set of results for radio’
Mike Williamson, head of radio at Carat, on the latest RAJAR Q1 2011 results…
Overall it’s been a great set of results for radio with record reach achieved for all radio, all commercial radio as well as for some individual stations. It’s especially good to see stations like Capital, talkSPORT and Absolute getting a return on their heavy investments – whether that has been through investing in talent and content or through marketing campaigns.
It’s good to see Capital back at the number one position in London. They’ve invested heavily in Q1 promoting their newly formed Capital Network. 95.8 appears to have benefitted the most and it makes the London market as competitive as ever. Magic will no doubt have plans in place to re-claim top spot, but with Capital heavily promoting their Summertime Ball in Q2, it’s likely we’ll see Capital remain on top for at least the near future.
As for their newly National network, I’m sure they will be delighted to be almost one million listeners ahead of BBC Radio 1 within the Capital TSA. Some strong gains in London, Birmingham & Scotland show the transition has been successful, though they will need to address declines in Manchester, the North East & South Wales to prove it is a complete success. It’s a strong start for them.
Eyes were on talkSPORT to retain the huge growth in listeners they had achieved over the past six months. Not only did they retain them but they increased listeners further to another record high total of 3.25 million weekly listeners. Their investment in content and talent has proved a real success and they have been deservedly rewarded through increased audiences as well as winning three Sony awards. Their Keys/Gray acquisition could prove to be a real coup in future RAJAR results.
Absolute continues to see mixed results. Their heritage FM and AM stations showed steady numbers year on year. But it’s their increasing proliferation of stations that is proving a winner with listeners. Their Network has seen increases of 30% YoY. Absolute has always been at the head of the market when it comes to providing creative solutions for clients and this larger network gives them a wider platform to utilise these solutions.