The weekly reach of the Independent Radio Network has fallen slightly to 52%, according to the latest JICRAR data released by the AIRC this week.
The reach of 52%, for Wave II April- June ’92, compares with figures of 53% for the same period last year and 54% for January-March of this year. Independent Radio’s share of audience has also fallen from 38.1% (Jan-Mar’91) to 36.3%.
The BBC national radio stations also recorded falls in weekly reach against April-June’91, with the exception of Radio 5 whose reach increased from 7% to 9%. The reach for both Radio 1 and 2 fell by 2 percentage points to 38% and 21% respectively.
Among the IR stations reporting in this period Radio Aire recorded the most favourable results with weekly reach for the total service rising from last year’s figure of 33% to 44% and average hours listened rising from 11.5 to 12.4.
Results for the London stations were mixed. Both of Capital Radio’s services increased their weekly reach, Capital FM’s rose from 31% to 34% while Capital Gold’s rose from 22% to 23%. The London dance music station Kiss FM also increased its reach on April-June’91, up by 1 percentage point to 11%.
Jazz FM and Melody Radio were among the London stations to record a drop in weekly reach. Jazz, which has undergone a slight format change in the last year, fell from 7% to 6% and Melody fell from 12% to 9%.
The Liverpool – based Radio City experienced a substantial increase in the weekly reach for its AM service from 8% last year to 16%. The AM service has gradually been revamped from the old speech-based City Talk to Radio City Gold, a predominantly music station. Plymouth Sound was among the stations to record a large drop in weekly reach, down from 49% last year to 43%. The fall may be attributed to the launch of Pirate FM in Cornwall earlier in the year, leading to a choice of IR stations for the first time in parts of Devon and Cornwall.
The IR region results show London to have increased its weekly reach from 57% to 63%, while average hours listened for the London area fell from 15.6 to 14.8. The Northwest region experienced an increase in both reach and average hours, the area’s reach rose from 46% to 49% and average hours from 12.3 to 14.2. The weekly reach for both the Southern and Yorkshire regions fell. Southern dropped from 39% to 42% and Yorkshire dropped from 47% to 44%.
A number of stations and groups which normally take part in JICRAR did not report in this period, it is likely that these omissions will have affected the network and region data. The Allied Radio Group, Southern Radio and Mid- Anglia do not appear because they were altering their programming during the fieldwork period. The Wave II April-June survey is the last to be produced under the JICRAR system which is to be replaced by RAJAR in September.
