Q1 RAJAR – Local Stations
The local commercial radio stations have returned very mixed results for the first quarter of 1998 with some stations improving dramatically, others declining dramatically and a few remaining fairly stable. All Local Commercial radio showed a 0.2% drop in weekly reach and a 0.5% points increase in share of listening.
The biggest success story in this quarter appears to be Virgin 105.8 London. The station achieved an increased in weekly reach of 48.5% year on year, taking its reach to 1.1 million. Virgin 105.8’s share of listening was up by 1.8% points to 4.6%.
Other improvements year on year came from 963 Liberty, up 47.3% to a weekly reach of 137,000, and Heart 106.2 FM which saw a rise in share of listening of 1.9% points to 5.4% and a 27.9% increase in weekly reach, up to 1.4 million listeners.
Local Commercial Stations’ Year On Year Share Of Listening Comparisons
| Station | Q1 1997 | Q1 1998 | % Point Change |
| All Local Commercial | 39.7 | 39.9 | 0.5 |
| 963 Liberty | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Capital 95.8 FM | 18 | 15.5 | -2.5 |
| Capital Gold 1548 AM | 5.2 | 5.2 | 0 |
| Capital Radio London | 23.3 | 20.8 | -2.5 |
| Heart 106.2 FM | 3.5 | 5.4 | 1.9 |
| Jazz FM 102.2 | 0.8 | 1 | 0.2 |
| Kiss 100 FM | 3 | 2.8 | -0.2 |
| LBC 1152 AM | 3 | 2.8 | -0.2 |
| Melody 105.4FM | 5 | 4.9 | -0.1 |
| News Direct 97.3FM | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| Other Listening | 2.2 | 2.2 | 0 |
| Premier Christian Radio | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| RTL Country 1035 AM | 1.1 | 0.6 | -0.5 |
| Spectrum Radio on 558 AM | 1.1 | 0.9 | -0.2 |
| Sunrise Radio (London) | 1.9 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| Total Jazz FM | 1 | 0.9 | -0.1 |
| Total London News Radio | 3.6 | 3.6 | 0 |
| Virgin 105.8 FM London | 2.8 | 4.6 | 1.8 |
RTL Country 1035 AM, which is currently up for sale by its owners CLT UFA (see CLT To Examine Bids For Its UK Radio Stations), performed particularly poorly, losing 41.1% of its weekly reach year on year, leaving the station with a reach of 178,000. In line with this drop, RTL’s share of listening dropped by 0.5% points to 0.6%.
Both the LBC-owned stations, News Direct 97.3FM and LBC 1152AM, suffered weekly reach losses of 13.1% year on year. 1152AM achieved a weekly reach of 423,000; News Direct managed 324,000. News Direct’s share of listening, however, was up 0.2% points to 0.8%.
Local Commercial Stations’ Year On Year Weekly Reach (000s) Comparisons
| Station | Q1 1997 | Q1 1998 | % Change |
| All Local Commercial | 28365 | 23689 | -0.2 |
| 963 Liberty | 93 | 137 | 47.3 |
| Capital 95.8 FM | 2,878 | 2,836 | -1.5 |
| Capital Gold 1548 AM | 1,256 | 1,240 | -1.3 |
| Capital Radio London | 3,428 | 3,365 | -1.8 |
| Heart 106.2 FM | 1,057 | 1,352 | 27.9 |
| Jazz FM 102.2 | 461 | 561 | 21.7 |
| Kiss 100 FM | 877 | 829 | -5.5 |
| LBC 1152 AM | 487 | 423 | -13.1 |
| Melody 105.4FM | 960 | 1,010 | 5.2 |
| News Direct 97.3FM | 373 | 324 | -13.1 |
| Other Listening | 2,889 | 2,792 | -3.4 |
| Premier Christian Radio | 115 | 163 | 41.7 |
| RTL Country 1035 AM | 302 | 178 | -41.1 |
| Spectrum Radio on 558 AM | 91 | 93 | 2.2 |
| Sunrise Radio (London) | 328 | 300 | -8.5 |
| Total Jazz FM | 714 | 774 | 8.4 |
| Total London News Radio | 778 | 687 | -11.7 |
| Virgin 105.8 FM London | 747 | 1,109 | 48.5 |
There are a few stations which do not appear in the above charts. Nottingham-based 106FM reported its first figures since its launch in September last year. It achieved a share of listening of 3.9% and a weekly reach of 198,000.
Also, the Galaxy stations 102 and 105 did not report in Q1 1997 which means year on year comparisons cannot be made. Quarter on quarter Galaxy 102 reported an increase in weekly reach of 31.1% to 299,000 listeners. Its share of listening was up 1.6% points to 4.2%. Galaxy 105 increased share listening by 0.6% points to 5.5%, and weekly reach was up 24.4% to 515,000 quarter on quarter.
XFM can also only be compared quarter on quarter. The alternative station reported a weekly reach drop of 6.4% to 219,000 listeners. Share of listening also fell slightly, by 0.1% points to 0.6%.
All BBC Local/Regional stations showed a 4.6% drop in weekly reach to a total of 8.9 million listeners; share of listening was down 0.3% points year on year to 9.6%.
Radio revenue figures for Q1 1998 are expected to be released next week.
Subscribers can access the Radio Database by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.