Rajar Q3 2014: Digital

Today Rajar announced that 89% of the adult UK population (15+) tuned in to their selected radio stations each week in the third quarter of 2014 – down by approximately 47,000 adults on the same quarter of the previous year.

On average a listener tunes in to 21.4 hours of radio per week, with listening to radio via a digital platform – in terms of weekly reach – exceeding over half of the UK population.

27.4 million people now tune in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver (DAB, DTV, Online) each week.

Digital listening hours remain high for Q3 2014 with 385 million hours being listened to in an average week.

DAB radio is still the most popular device when it comes to listening digitally, accounting for 65% of all digital hours and up 8% year on year. Listening via a digital television represents 13% and listening online 17% of all digital listening hours.

21% of adults claim to listen to the radio via a mobile phone or tablet at least once per month, up 45% year on year.

33% of 15-24 year olds claim to listen to the radio via a mobile phone or tablet at least once per month, up 25% year on year.

The share of all radio listening via a digital platform now stands at 37.8% compared to 35.6% on the previous quarter. The share of listening to DAB has increased by 6% year on year to 24.5% of all listening (23% in Q3, 2013).

In terms of social media, 20% of the adult population currently receive updates about their favourite radio station/presenter, with the figure rising to 37% of 15-24s.

BBC Radio 6 Music, the largest digital-only station, increased listening by 15% to a record of almost 2 million listeners, while Absolute Radio 80s, the largest commercial digital-only station, grew by 18% to a new record of more than 1.4 million listeners. Its sister station, Absolute Radio 90s, grew by 27% to a new record of 665,000 listeners.

Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, said: “Digital listening has grown to a new high of 37.8% driven by record performances of digital only stations and the strong growth of digital listening in cars.

“The future of UK radio is definitely digital and it is pleasing to see the success of the new innovative digital only stations with so many more drivers now enjoying them in their cars. Digital radio is good news for the radio sector and good news for listeners.”

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