Rajar Q3 2017: Industry analysis

It’s been another good quarter for commercial radio, out-performing the BBC again. The most interesting aspect of the Rajar report is the continued growth of listening via digital platforms. With the continued advancement in technology and increased access to digital platforms – through TVs and most new cars being fitted with DAB radios – we’ve seen another increase in listening via digital platforms.

DAB is still the most dominant platform in this sector, but online and mobile/tablet listening are on the rise. This demonstrates a continuing shift in the behaviour of listeners who want to consume radio content on the go and this presents opportunities to advertisers to target radio listeners in different ways other than traditional spot airtime buying. An example of this would be granular geo-targeting or reaching users based on their online consumption habits programmatically, through radio or music streaming services.

In addition to this 8.7m adults claim they listen to radio through earphones which generally means they’re deeply engaged and may mean an opportunity for advertisers to be more creative with their radio messaging.

A final interesting point to note is that 42% of 15-25 year old social media users receive updates about radio shows and/or presenters showing that radio is still a medium that the typically hard-to-reach younger audiences are still consuming.

Q3 continues to show that radio listening is in rude health and represents another strong showing for commercial radio.

Investment across the commercial sector continues to pay back with nearly 1 million additional listeners added in just two years, which represents a strong success story for a medium that is often undervalued in a world of Google and Facebook.

All of the major groups saw strong growth with Magic, Absolute and Capital Xtra posting impressive figures but the most notable success was driven by digital stations. Heart 80s added 234,000 to its already impressive numbers pushing reach up 27.5% in just one quarter, Absolute 90s (up 16.1%), Magic Chilled (up 33%), and Smooth Extra (up 15.1%) all saw double digit growth – the latter recovering from a six month drop to post its best figures this year.

After a record breaking Q2, speech radio showed signs of inevitable decline after the dust settled on the election and the Brexit circus started to leave town. BBC Radio 5 Live (-4.7%), BBC Radio 4 (-2.9%) and TalkRadio (-6.9%) all saw declines although LBC continues its resurgence up 2.3% QoQ, 15.7% year on year and a remarkable 53.5% since Q1 2015.

In that same period BBC Radio 5 Live declined by 12% and Radio 4 grew by only 3%, which shows what a transformation Global has achieved.

Digital listening continues to grow with a 48.8% share coming via mobile, internet or DAB. This figure is yet another record and although growth is only by 0.1% percentage points quarter on quarter, since 2014 this has been by nearly 30% as online and DAB listening continues to rise and the industry gets ever closer to the holy land of 50% digital share.

Another quarter, another positive set of results for the UK’s audio sector. Commercial audiences have continued to grow, driven by brand off-shoots and digital listenership. Although positive results can be seen with pretty much all of the major brands, it’s nice to see the newer digital-focused offerings, like Kisstory and Heart 80’s, taking some of the plaudits.

It’s these new offerings that have enabled radio to accelerate its transition into the digital and addressable world (with 61% of the population tuning in via DAB, online or DTV), offering consumers more choice and giving advertisers access to niche audiences that weren’t previously accessible in the audio space.