Rajar Q1 1997 – National Radio Stations Summary

Attention was focused on how Radio 1 had performed since Chris Evans left its breakfast show in January. Quarter 1 RAJAR figures, released today, show that the station lost 8.6% of its reach, which fell from 11.245 million last year to 10.278 million this year. Share of listening for Radio 1 was down 1.7% points to 11% and average hours per listener fell 10.1% to 8.9.

National commercial stations did not perform well, with all showing a year on year drop in weekly reach. Talk Radio and Virgin showed the largest decreases, with drops of 15.3% and 14.5% respectively. Talk Radio had a reach of 1.794m and Virgin 2.874m. Atlantic recorded a large drop in hours per listener, with a drop of 12.1% to 5.8, while Virgin fell 8.5% year on year to 7.5. Talk was the only national commercial station to increase its listener hours, with a growth of 3% to 6.8 hours.

The other BBC stations put in quite strong performances, with Radios 2, 3, and 5 Live all increasing reach and share of listening. 5 Live recorded the best growth in listening figures of all the national stations, with reach increasing 6.2% to 5.531m, while Radio 3 increased its average hours per listener by an impressive 20% to 4.2 hours.

To access the latest RAJAR data, subscribers should click here.