This analysis is comparing the weekly reach of the breakfast shows of the London stations and not the time slots.
National
Radio listeners in the UK continue to favour Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 breakfast show with a weekly reach of 8.5 million. However, the breakfast slot on Radio 2 saw a fall in reach of -4.5% on the previous quarter and -3.6% year on year.
Despite seeing his reach dip slightly during the quarter, Evans remains well ahead of BBC Radio 2’s stablemates Radio 1 and Radio 4. Radio 1 reached 6.7 million listeners, down -6% YoY and -2.8% QoQ but it is too early to assess the performance of new presenter Nick Grimshaw’s show after the departure of Chris Moyles.
BBC Radio 4’s Today programme reached 6.9 million and turned in positive comparative performances – up +2.6% YoY and +2.5% QoQ. This is the first time that Radio 4 has moved above Radio 1 in weekly reach.
BBC Radio FIVE LIVE was the stellar performer; with increases no doubt helped by the BBC’s overall Olympic coverage. YoY reach was up +9.7% and +4.5% QoQ for FIVE LIVE.
The leading commercial station for breakfast remains Classic FM with a weekly reach of 1.6 million listeners. In the commercial sector there were positive year on year performances for Total Absolute Radio Network, Classic FM and Kiss UK. However, their performances compared to the previous quarter were lower. Total Absolute Radio Network declined -18.8% QoQ to 1.2 million.
BBC’s Radio 3 breakfast show turned in a +20% increase YoY but a -8% decline QoQ.
| Station | Group | Q3 2011 | Q2 2012 | Q3 2012 | QoQ % Change Q2 2012 on Q3 2012 | YoY % Change Q3 2011 on Q3 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio 2 (06.30-09.30) | BBC | 8,864 | 8,953 | 8,546 | -4.5 | -3.6 |
| BBC Radio 4 (06.00-09.00) | BBC | 6,759 | 6,764 | 6,936 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| BBC Radio 1 (06.30-10.00) | BBC | 7,162 | 6,927 | 6,734 | -2.8 | -6.0 |
| BBC Radio FIVE LIVE (06.00-10.00) | BBC | 2,522 | 2,647 | 2,767 | 4.5 | 9.7 |
| Classic FM (06.00-09.00) | Global | 1,590 | 1,719 | 1,645 | -4.3 | 3.5 |
| Kiss UK (06.00-09.00) | Bauer | 1,511 | 1,560 | 1,554 | -0.4 | 2.8 |
| talkSPORT (06.00-10.00) | talkSPORT | 1,347 | 1,331 | 1,312 | -1.4 | -2.6 |
| Total Absolute Radio Network (06.00-10.00) | Absolute | 1,108 | 1,420 | 1,153 | -18.8 | 4.1 |
| BBC Radio 3 (06.30-09.00) | BBC | 554 | 723 | 665 | -8.0 | 20.0 |
Source: RAJAR
London
In London, Capital remained the top breakfast show with a weekly reach of 1.2 million and grew the audience by +2.7% YoY and +0.8% QoQ.
The top performing London station in terms of percentage increase was LBC News 1152 with a +19.4% rise year on year and +25.7% on the previous quarter. It now has a weekly reach of 242,000 listeners. Bauer’s Magic 105.4 saw a +14.6% increase YoY and +8.2% QoQ.
LBC 97.3 and Kiss 100FM were the only other stations to record a growth in audience year on year with +7.4% for LBC and +2.4% for Kiss.
Total Absolute Radio Network saw a decline of -5.1% YoY and a -31.6% QoQ to a weekly each of 566,000.
| Station | Group | Q3 2011 | Q2 2012 | Q3 2012 | QoQ % Change Q2 2012 on Q3 2012 | YoY % Change Q3 2011 on Q3 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital London (06.00-10.00) | Global | 1,134 | 1,156 | 1,165 | 0.8 | 2.7 |
| Magic 105.4 (05.00-09.00) | Bauer | 717 | 760 | 822 | 8.2 | 14.6 |
| Kiss 100FM (06.00-09.00) | Bauer | 700 | 735 | 717 | -2.4 | 2.4 |
| Heart London FM (06.00-09.00) | Global | 843 | 734 | 611 | -16.8 | -27.5 |
| LBC 97.3 (07.00-10.00) | Global | 527 | 530 | 566 | 6.8 | 7.4 |
| Total Absolute Radio Network (London) (06.00-10.00) | Absolute | 486 | 674 | 461 | -31.6 | -5.1 |
| LBC News 1152 (07.00-10.00) | Global | 201 | 191 | 240 | 25.7 | 19.4 |
| Smooth Radio (London) (06.00-10.00) | Real and Smooth Radio Ltd | 249 | 134 | 188 | 40.3 | -24.5 |
| XFM London (06.00-10.00) | Global | 231 | 176 | 184 | 4.5 | -20.3 |
| Choice FM London (06.00-09.00) | Global | 256 | 242 | 176 | -27.3 | -31.3 |
| Gold London (06.00-10.00) | Global | 206 | 146 | 169 | 15.8 | -18.0 |
| BBC London 94.9 (06.00-09.00) | BBC | 209 | 154 | 152 | -1.3 | -27.3 |
| Sunrise Radio (Greater London) (06.00-09.00) | Sunrise | 143 | 153 | 105 | -31.4 | -26.6 |
| Premier Christian Radio (07.00-09.00) | Premier Christian Radio | 75 | 98 | 63 | -35.7 | -16.0 |
| Buzz Asia 963+972AM (06.00-09.00) | Sunrise | 47 | 55 | 40 | -27.3 | -14.9 |
| Kismat Radio 1035 (Greater London) (06.00-9.00) | Sunrise | 33 | 38 | 23 | -39.5 | -30.3 |
Source: RAJAR
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