GfK Claims BBC Music Stations Boosted By Heatwave
BBC music stations Radio 1 and Radio 2 were the big hits of the summer, according to the latest research from electronic measurement company, GfK.
The latest set of results from the contentious National Broadcast Media Survey show that the two BBC stations attracted an extra 2.25 million listeners at the height of the summer season, placing them head and shoulders above their commercial rivals.
BBC Radio 2 cemented its position as the UK’s most popular radio station and recorded a weekly reach of 17.2 million between 14 July and 17 August. The station is currently searching for a new controller to replace Jim Moir and reports suggest former Capital Radio programming chief, Jeff Smith, is being considered for the role.
The survey, which is yet to be sanctioned by the industry, shows that BBC Radio 1 was the second most listened to station during the summer, with a weekly reach of 13.1 million. The youth-orientated station has suffered from speculation that its Sara Cox’s breakfast show is under threat due a poor performance in the latest official RAJAR figures.
The absence of any footballing action led to sports stations BBC Five Live and talkSPORT both losing audiences over the summer. The former saw its weekly reach drop to 8.3 million between 14 July and 17 August, while the latter dipped to 5.9 million (see below).
According to GfK, the only other station to lose listeners during the heatwave was Classic FM, which saw its weekly reach drop to 5.6 million between 14 July and 17 August.
Looking beyond the heatwave, results for the three month period from 19 May to 17 August show that BBC Radio 4 is the UK’s most listened to radio station with a weekly reach of just over 18 million. TalkSPORT is the top national commercial station, followed by Classic FM and Virgin Radio (see below).
BBC1 was found to be the most popular TV channel in the three months to 17 August with a weekly reach of 43.2 million, followed by BBC2 with 40.2 million and ITV with a weekly reach of 39.7 million.
The GfK survey, commissioned by Kelvin MacKenzie’s Wireless Group, caused a stir when it was first released earlier this year. There was concern that it could challenge the existing industry systems by offering advertisers a single port of call for television and radio audience measurement (see New Study To Shake-Up Audience Measurement?).
GfK: 0870 603 8339 www.gfk.com
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