Rajar Q3 1997 – National Stations
While there was an overall year on year drop of 1.7% in the number of people listening to radio, from 40.293 million to 39.603 million, commercial radio suffered less than the BBC in Quarter 3. The BBC’s total weekly reach slipped 4.4% to 26.3 million while all commercial fell 0.6% to 27.6 million.
The BBC’s total weekly reach % stood at 55% (down 3% points) while all commercial radio’s was 58% (down 1% point). In terms of share of listening, all BBC’s was 47.5% (down 1.4% points) while all commercial had a 50% share (up 1.2% points). A spokesman from the Commercial Radio Companies Association said that the reasons for the drop in overall radio reach could be the hot summer, the building society windfalls resulting in more holidays and the death of Princess Diana meaning more people watching television.
Q3 1997 Weekly Reach (%)
| Station | Q3 1996 | Q3 1997 | % Point Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All BBC | 58 | 55 | -3 |
| All BBC Network Radio | 51 | 48 | -3 |
| All Commercial | 59 | 58 | -1 |
| All Local Commercial | 49 | 48 | -1 |
| All Radio | 85 | 83 | -2 |
| Atlantic 252 | 8 | 7 | -1 |
| BBC Local/Regional | 18 | 17 | -1 |
| BBC Radio 1 | 24 | 20 | -4 |
| BBC Radio 2 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| BBC Radio 3 | 6 | 5 | -1 |
| BBC Radio 4 | 17 | 18 | 1 |
| BBC Radio 5 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Classic FM | 10 | 9 | -1 |
| Talk Radio | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Radio 1 experienced the largest year on year drop in weekly reach, with a fall of 15.3% to 9.4 million, though it still has the highest weekly reach percentage of a single station at 20%. Atlantic 252 wasn’t far behind however with a fall of 15.2% to 3.2 million. Radio 3’s reach also slipped, down 12.1%, while Radios 2, 4 and 5 all increased their listeners.
Q3 1997 Weekly Reach (‘000s)
| Station | Q3 1996 | Q3 1997 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All BBC | 27,524 | 26,317 | -4.4 |
| All BBC Network Radio | 24,101 | 23,029 | -4.4 |
| All Commercial | 27,831 | 27,654 | -0.6 |
| All Local Commercial | 23,029 | 23,012 | -0.1 |
| All Radio | 40,293 | 39,604 | -1.7 |
| Atlantic 252 | 3,864 | 3,277 | -15.2 |
| BBC Local/Regional | 8,409 | 8,144 | -3.2 |
| BBC Radio 1 | 11,217 | 9,499 | -15.3 |
| BBC Radio 2 | 8,465 | 8,565 | 1.2 |
| BBC Radio 3 | 2,640 | 2,320 | -12.1 |
| BBC Radio 4 | 8,204 | 8,318 | 1.4 |
| BBC Radio 5 | 4,736 | 4,884 | 3.1 |
| Classic FM | 4,594 | 4,423 | -3.7 |
| Talk Radio | 2,134 | 2,157 | 1.1 |
| Virgin Radio AM (UK) | 2,887 | 2,635 | -8.7 |
The other national commercial stations did not fare very well, with only Talk Radio managing a year on year increase in listeners of 1.1% to 2.1 million. Classic FM saw its year on year listeners drop by 3.7% to 4.4 million and Virgin Radio AM (UK) fell by 8.7% to 2.6 million. Classic remains top of the national commercials in terms of its weekly reach percentage, which stands at 9% compared to Atlantic’s 7%, Virgin’s 6% and Talk’s 5%.
The Radio Database can be accessed by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.