RAJAR Q1 2012: BBC & Commercial

The latest RAJAR figures for Q1 2012 show that All Radio’s reach has dropped slightly compared with the same period last year, keeping it just below the 47 million listener mark, which it hit for the first time ever in Q1 2011.

All Radio’s figures peaked in Q2 2011 – hitting a high of 47.6 million, though it fell to 47.1 million in Q3 and 46.7 million in Q4. In the first three months of this year, All Radio remained static at 46.7 million listeners.

However, All Commercial Radio enjoyed a 1.2% QoQ increase, which takes its total reach above the 33 million mark once again. All BBC saw fewer people listening but listeners tuned in for longer, given it its highest ever total hours.

Weekly Reach

Q1 2012 was a positive period for commercial radio, with All Commercial Radio’s total reach up to 33.2 million listeners and All National Commercial Radio up 2.9% QoQ to 15.9 million listeners. All Local Commercial Radio (National TSA) also enjoyed a 1.0% QoQ rise to 26.5 million listeners.

BBC Radio did not have the same success in the quarter, with the exception of BBC Local Radio, which recorded a 3.0% QoQ increase to almost 9.9 million listeners. However, this time last year, BBC Local Radio’s reach was 10.2 million.

Yesterday’s Guardian reported that the BBC is going to drop controversial plans to share afternoon shows between its local radio stations with the total amount of cuts halved to £8 million a year from the originally proposed £15 million.

All BBC Radio, meanwhile, saw its reach drop -1.0% QoQ and -1.4% YoY, closing the gap slightly for All Commercial Radio. The BBC’s total reach now stands at 34.6 million (compared with Commercial’s 33.2 million). All BBC Network Radio also suffered a -1.4% QoQ and -2.2% YoY decline in weekly reach.

Share of Listening

Commercial radio saw its share of listening dip very slightly in Q4 – down -0.1% QoQ and -0.3% YoY. However, All National Commercial Radio enjoyed a rise in share, up 0.2% QoQ and 0.3% YoY.

All BBC Radio, meanwhile, recorded a small -0.1% QoQ fall but enjoyed a 0.4% YoY increase. BBC Local Radio also posted positive results, up 0.5% QoQ and 0.6% YoY.

All Commercial Radio now has a 42.3% share compared to the BBC’s 55.4% share.

Average Hours Per Listener

All Radio enjoyed a boost to the amount of time listeners stayed tuned in for in Q1. All Radio’s average hours per listener jumped 3.2% QoQ and 1.8% YoY to 22.8 per week.

All BBC Radio and All Commercial Radio were up by 3.7% and 2.3% QoQ respectively.

MediaTel has PowerPoint presentations available to download, featuring pre-prepared market breakdown graphs for the RAJAR data release – click here.