Rajar analysis

Despite a slight drop in overall listening figures this quarter, radio clearly continues to play a vital role in augmenting the listening experiences of UK consumers, with almost 90 per cent of the population tuning in to their favourite channels each week.

Unsurprisingly, digital radio has played a major part in sustaining high levels of engagement, with audience numbers growing for the fifth year in a row. Impressively, this quarter, the number of people listening via DAB, online/App and digital TV has surpassed the 50 per cent mark for the first time ever, signaling that this trend toward digital dominance is only set to continue.

Listening via online devices – whether that be hand-held or otherwise – is only set to grow, as stations are urged to diversify and invest more heavily in new media formats. This signals good news for advertisers, as greater investment in these channels can only mean more opportunities to connect with British consumers on a personal level and with more immediately relevant content.

Radio remains a hugely popular medium in the UK, with the RAJAR figures showing another stellar set of results for radio, whist the recent AA/Warc results show that ad spend on radio is driving growth in ad spend overall.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, commentators have been heralding the age of audio for a long time now. What’s of real interest here is how well the specialist stations are doing – for instance the 26.3% y-o-y growth in weekly reach by Absolute Radio 90s. This reflects the fact that people are increasingly looking for content that suits their individual interests and requirements rather than looking for mass content. Audiences want tailored content and experiences, and this is a trend we’re seeing across the media landscape.

As people increasingly look for niche content, it’s great that radio can serve up content that suits that, helping advertisers to create truly targeted campaigns using a ‘traditional’ format.

This quarter’s results are strong for commercial radio, with Global and Bauer seeing moderate gains on a total portfolio level. Wireless Group has remained largely flat QoQ, although it’s interesting to see TalkSPORT’s continued growth YoY; we’ll be watching to see whether the World Cup delivers any additional positive effects over the next quarter. It’s great for advertisers to see commercial radio in such a good place – it’s a channel offering unique opportunity to connect with British consumers on a personal level.

The BBC appears to have struggled with its key stations taking hits in listeners, and with stations such as Radio 1 going through some major changes, we could expect listening figures to be affected in the coming year.

That said, the overall story for radio is relatively positive; a sizeable 89% of the population are tuning in every week. This proves the continuing popularity of the channel, despite fluctuations and a slight downward turn this quarter.