Rajar Q2 2019: Digital

Digital radio has seen a marginal drop in its share of listening, according to the latest Rajar results for Q2 2019, down -0.4pp over the quarter to claim a 56% share.

However, digital has grown its share of listening from 50.2% during the same period last year, a result of the growing popularity of smart speakers and listening via apps.

36 million adults now tune in to radio via digitally enabled platforms, including DAB, digital TVs, online and apps, with 27.5% of all adults claiming to listen to live radio via a smartphone or tablet at least once a month.

Moreover, 26% of adults claim to have a smart speaker in their homes, 94% of which use the device to listen to live radio. Online listening at home has therefore risen 44% over the year to account for 15% of all in home listening, while in home accounts for 60% of listening in total.

Digital listening therefore accounts for 569 million hours in an average week – 8 million hours less than in the first quarter of 2019, but an increase of 11.6% year-on-year (YoY). DAB continues to dominate, claiming a 69% share, while online takes 22% and TV takes 9%.

Meanwhile, digital listening in cars grew 17.1 million hours or 20% YoY, therefore reaching a new record share of 41.8% of all in car listening.

The second quarter of the year has also seen strong growth across a number of digital-only stations, including Virgin Radio, new home to Chris Evans’ breakfast show, which has grown a further 18.8% compared to Q1 and now reaches over 1.5 million listeners.

Bauer’s KISSTORY is now the most popular digital-only station, reaching a record 2.3 million listeners after growing 14.8% YoY.

BBC 6 Music drops to second overall, but continues to lead the BBC’s digital-only stations with a reach of just under 2.3 million, while BBC Radio 4 Extra follows with a reach of 2.2 million – a YoY growth of 13.1%.

Mediatel are the audio experts operating at the centre of audio trading, distribution and analytic processing. Contact us for more information on J-ET, Audiotrack or our RAJAR data engine.