RAJAR’s Q1 2012 release was particularly positive for Bauer’s Kiss, Absolute Radio and Global Radio’s Capital brand.

Charlie Yeates, associate director, Investment Trading at MediaCom, congratulates some of the specialist radio brands who offer nich­é and unique choices to both listeners and advertisers…

Mike Williamson, head of radio at Carat, says today’s RAJAR results represent a superb year overall but some stations need to re-focus after disappointing results…

Steve Parkinson, MD of Bauer Radio London, gives a positive view on the latest RAJAR results…

Adam Bowie, head of strategy & planning at Absolute Radio, says one concerning trend across the whole radio industry is the long-term decline of radio listening among the younger audience.

The new RAJAR radio research figures are out – and you’ll read two sets of stories today regarding digital radio.

Digital radio put in a strong performance once again last quarter. Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach has increased by 10% year on year, with 23.1 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver (DAB, DTV, internet) each week (up from 20.9 million in Q4 2010 and 22.8 million in Q3 2011).

Radio listeners in the UK continue to favour Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, which enjoyed a 1.6% YoY rise in weekly reach in Q4 2011.

Capital has retained its position at the top of the London chart after a healthy 14.9% YoY increase in reach (up 3.4% QoQ) to almost 2.3 million listeners.

Total Global Radio (UK) heads up the nationals and networks once again, though it recorded a -1.9% QoQ and -1.5% YoY decline in reach to 19.4 million. The Capital brand performed particurlarly well for Global.