Q3 RAJAR – National Stations

The weekly reach of all BBC stations increased by 1.4% this quarter to 26.6 million, a slightly larger increase than all commercial stations, which saw a rise of 1.2% year on year. During the summer period, both Talk Radio and Virgin saw healthy increases in weekly reach, of 11.2 and 18.6 percent respectively.

Radio 4 saw a loss of 7.6%, taking its average weekly reach down to 7.6 million. This audience decline follows the introduction of a new schedule in April 1998, by station controller, James Boyle. The station has recently been subjected to serious criticism, and Boyle was yesterday to resign by Paul Tyler, Liberal Democrat chief whip. For a Media Research Group meeting concerning the changes at Radio 4, click MRG Evening Meeting – The Relaunch of Radio 4.

Atlantic 252 saw the biggest fall in weekly reach, losing 20.2% (over 650,000 listeners). The station’s share of listening also fell by 1% point. Atlantic recently announced a new ad campaign to be run on television, which promotes its flagship bpm show (see Atlantic 252 Returns To Television).

Virgin, as well as enjoying a healthy increase in weekly reach, also increased its share of listening by 0.5% points to 2.7%. Virgin‘s Chris Evans made radio history in early October by having his breakfast show simulcast on television and radio, with the show appearing on Sky One every weekday morning between 7:30 and 8:30am. Radio 2 showed the biggest growth in share of listening, rising 0.6% points.

The Radio database can be accessed by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.