All UK national radio stations saw their audiences decline this summer as listeners switched off in their thousands, according to the latest electronic measurement survey from GfK.
The unofficial listening figures reveal a particularly disappointing performance for GWR’s flagship Classic FM, which saw its weekly reach decline by more than 23.5% year on year to just over the 4.7 million mark in the four months to August.
Total Virgin Radio also performed poorly with audiences dipping by almost 24% during the same period to just under 3.3 million. However, the station is hoping to improve its fortunes with the launch of visually enhanced radio for mobile phone users.
Kelvin MacKenzie’s talkSPORT, the main backer of the GfK survey, suffered the least severe decline with its weekly reach dropping by just 3.7% year on year to just under 6 million. The station was no doubt boosted by its extensive coverage of the recent Euro 2004 football championships in Greece.
BBC stations were not immune to the seasonal downturn with Radio Two declining by 13.9% year on year and Radio 4 dipping by 13.5% during the same period to just over 15.6 million. BBC Radio One continued to haemorrhage audiences with a 12.2% drop in weekly reach, while Five Live dipped by 8.4% this summer to around 7.7 million.
| Station |
Weekly Reach Summer 2003 |
Weekly Reach Summer 2004 |
% Change |
| talkSPORT |
6215 |
5985 |
-3.7 |
| Classic FM |
6174 |
4720 |
-23.56 |
| Virgin Radio |
4301 |
3270 |
-23.98 |
| BBC Radio Four |
18073 |
15627 |
-13.53 |
| BBC Radio Two |
16470 |
14186 |
-13.86 |
| BBC Radio One |
12921 |
11345 |
-12.2 |
| BBC Five Live |
8458 |
7751 |
-8.36 |
| BBC Radio Three |
4067 |
3792 |
-6.76 |
| Source: Gfk |
Leading London station Capital FM saw its audience dip by 2% points to just under 2.6 million, while its closest rival Heart 106.2 dipped by 1% point to 2.4 million since the last GfK survey. Both stations continue to battle for the top spot in London and Heart recently hiked up its adspend by around 20% in a move designed to give it the edge.
The UK’s commercial radio stations have been in focus this week after launching a robust defence of their public service credentials in the face of an ongoing investigation into the state of the industry being carried out by media super-regulator Ofcom.
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