Heart 106.2 FM Retains Top Spot In London

Heart 106.2FM remained well and truly London’s favourite radio station, with Q4 2006 RAJAR figures revealing the station to have the highest weekly reach, share of listening and hours per listener amongst the commercial FM stations in the capital.

Heart’s weekly reach leapt more than 8% from last quarter and more than 5% year on year. The station now reaches more than 1.8 million people each week, compared to around 1.7 million in Q3. The station’s share of listening has grown from 6.1% last quarter to now rest at over 7%, whilst the amount of hours consumers spend with the station have increased from 7.6 last quarter to 8.3 hours a week.

Heart’s nearest rival, Magic FM (London), has also seen its reach grow, with a total of just under 1.8 million each week, compared to around 1.6 million at the previous RAJAR data release. This 9.5% hike is bolstered by an increase in share of listening, which has risen 0.6% points year on year and 0.2% points period on period. Consumers in the capital are now sticking with Magic for an average of 6.7 hours per week, down slightly from Q3 but up year on year.

95.8 Capital Radio saw a year on year slide of almost 20% to leave its reach at more than 1.4 million, despite pushing its weekly reach up slightly from Q3 to Q4. However, the station. GCap Media’s flagship London station saw its revenue down by £6.3 million year on year according to the group’s interim results for the six months to 30 September 2006. The deflation was attributed to a difficult ad market and the implementation of its no more than two ads policy (see Capital Radio Continues To Impede GCap Media’s Growth).

The station’s share of listening remained static period on period, despite a 1.2% point dip year on year to leave it at 4.7%, while its hours per listener fell 0.4% year on year. Londoners stick with Capital Radio for an average of 6.9 hours per week, a figure GCap London’s new MD, Fru Hazlitt, will surely be looking to boost as she steps into the role from Virgin in May (see Hazlitt Takes MD Role At GCap).

Virgin 105.8FM bolstered its weekly reach in Q4, up 3% from Q3 and up more than 5% year on year. The station’s share of listening dipped slightly year on year and rose marginally period on period to leave it with an almost 3% share of the London market. Its hours per listener were up from 6.3 per week in Q3 to 6.4 this quarter. Weekly reach for Total Virgin Radio (AM/FM) (London) rests at around 1.2 million, with a share of 3.6%.

It was mostly good news for Kiss 100 FM as well, with a larger weekly reach both year on year and period on period. The station upped its reach by more than 9% from Q3, almost 1% year on year, to stand at over 1.4 million listeners a week. Its share of listening grew marginally to almost 4% whilst its hours per week dropped from 6.2 last quarter to 5.8.

RAJAR: 020 7292 9040 www.rajar.co.uk