GfK Research Reveals Drop In Viewing For Sky News
Sky News has seen a significant decline in viewing figures since the end of the war in Iraq, according to the latest wave of research from GfK.
The second set of results from the National Broadcast Media Survey show that Sky News saw its weekly reach fall by 5% points between 10 March and 25 May, in what was the only decline to be experienced by the major television channels included in the study.
Out of home viewing helped Sky News to see its daily audience more than double during the first days of the war in Iraq (see Sky News Boosted By New Measurement System) and the decline could be due to the end of the conflict and a drop in the demand for rolling news.
Nick North, director of GfK Media, said: “The effect of the Iraq war was certainly felt in the first set of results and we are beginning to see a tail-off in the latest figures.”
The research, which uses an electronic wristwatch device to measure both TV and radio audiences, also shows that speech-based national radio stations continue to outperform their competitors. BBC Radio 4 maintained its position as the UK’s most popular radio station, with a weekly reach of 17.7 million, ahead of Radio 2 with 15.5 million and Radio 1 with 12.5 million weekly listeners.
Of the three commercial radio stations to be included in the survey, talkSPORT was the top performer with a weekly reach of 7.9 million, followed by Classic FM with 7.3 million and Virgin AM and FM with 3.9 million weekly listeners.
BBC1 was found to be the most popular TV channel, with a weekly reach of 43.8 million, putting it significantly ahead of ITV, which has 40.4 million weekly viewers, according to the GfK survey. Channel 4 recorded a weekly reach of 35.9 million and Five was found to attract 30.6 million viewers on a weekly basis.
North added: “We are delighted with the stability of the survey, which is showing a very consistent picture from month to month. As we build our knowledge base, more trends will become apparent.”
The survey, commissioned by Kelvin MacKenzie’s Wireless Group, 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?). However, it has received a mixed reception from those wary of its limited sample size and partial scope.
GfK: 0870 603 8339 www.gfk.com
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