Q4 2007 Commercial Radio Revenue Up 7% YoY

UK commercial radio revenues increased year on year by over 7% in the last quarter of 2007 to almost £151 million, according to research by Enders Analysis.

The increase was driven by an 11.4% increase in national revenues, a 3.2% increase in local revenues, and a 1.1% increase in branded content (also known as sponsorship and promotions). Full-year 2007 revenues increased by 2.8% to £598.2 million.

The report also predicted that commercial radio revenues would rise 6% year on year in Q1 2008.

However, the research also found that audiences for UK commercial radio fell in Q4 2007 as listeners continued to migrate to BBC national networks. This left the commercial sector with 42.4% of all radio listening.

“In Q4 2007, commercial radio reached 61% of the UK adult population who listened for an average 14.0 hours per week,” said the report.

“A year earlier, it had reached 63% of adults who had listened for 14.6 hours. As a result of fewer people listening for less time, commercial radio’s share of all radio listening (compared to the BBC) fell from 43.2% to 42.4%, only marginally above its nadir of 42.1% in Q1 2007.”

The research further found that commercial radio’s share of listening in its 15-44-year-old audience had dropped from 53.8% to 53.1% year on year.

Nevertheless, commercial radio still accounts for the majority of listening (59.5%) in the 15-24 demographic.