National Radio Stations Shed Listeners During Summer
With the exception of BBC Radio 1, the country’s national radio stations all saw their audiences fall over the summer period, according to the latest figures released by RAJAR this morning. Whilst Radio 1 increased its weekly audience by 2.5% to 11.2 million, the rest of the BBC’s national stations all saw the figures drop back. Radio 1’s share of listening during this period was up 0.3% points to 10.6%.
Of the commercial national stations, Talk Radio suffered the most, losing 390,000 listeners (17.2%) period on period. Since being bought by Kelvin MacKenzie’s TalkCo, Talk Radio has restructured and repositioned itself primarily as a sports station. The fact that there was little football played during the survey period is likely to account for the sharp fall in listeners.
Classic FM, whilst claiming its best ever summer listening figures, is nevertheless down 6.0% period on period in terms of reach. The station reached an average of 5.6 million people per week for the three months to September and took an average share of listening of 4.1%. Virgin Radio AM, meanwhile, lost 5.5% of its weekly reach, whilst share held steady at 2.2%.
| September 1999 RAJAR Weekly Reach (000s) Comparisons | ||||
| Station | Survey Period | Ending Jun 1999 | Ending Sep 1999 | % Change |
| Atlantic 252 | (Q) | 2,053 | 1,825 | -11.1 |
| BBC Radio 1 | (Q) | 10,946 | 11,219 | 2.5 |
| BBC Radio 2 | (Q) | 9,850 | 9,491 | -3.6 |
| BBC Radio 3 | (Q) | 1,948 | 1,923 | -1.3 |
| BBC Radio 4 | (Q) | 9,195 | 8,756 | -4.8 |
| BBC Radio 5 | (Q) | 5,948 | 5,572 | -6.3 |
| Classic FM | (Q) | 5,981 | 5,621 | -6.0 |
| Talk Radio | (Q) | 2,268 | 1,879 | -17.2 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | (Q) | 3,283 | 3,101 | -5.5 |
| September 1999 RAJAR Share Of Listening Comparisons | ||||
| Station | Survey Period | Ending Jun 1999 | Ending Sep 1999 | % Point Change |
| Atlantic 252 | (Q) | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| BBC Radio 1 | (Q) | 10.3 | 10.6 | 0.3 |
| BBC Radio 2 | (Q) | 12.5 | 12.2 | -0.3 |
| BBC Radio 3 | (Q) | 1.3 | 1.2 | -0.1 |
| BBC Radio 4 | (Q) | 10.7 | 10.6 | -0.1 |
| BBC Radio 5 | (Q) | 4.1 | 4.2 | 0.1 |
| Classic FM | (Q) | 4.2 | 4.1 | -0.1 |
| Talk Radio | (Q) | 1.8 | 1.5 | -0.3 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | (Q) | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0.0 |
For an explanation of the new RAJAR methodology and how and when the stations report, click RAJAR – The New Methodology Explained.
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