The RAJAR results are in for radio listening in the third quarter of 2024, the three months to September 15…
BBC
There was a mixed picture in the quarter for BBC stations.
Music Week Awards champions BBC Radio 1 had a decent quarter with an increase of 5.2% year-on-year for audience reach to 8.18 million listeners. The station was also up slightly on the prior quarter.
The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James had 4.6m listeners aged 10-plus (4.31m for 15-plus). That is well up on the previous quarter, although Radio 1’s breakfast period with RAJAR now pulls in listeners into late morning.
“These are amazing figures for Greg and the Breakfast Show when we know that traditionally summer is a tough quarter,” said Radio 1 head of station Aled Haydn Jones. “We’re very grateful that we are the No.1 station for young audiences across the UK, and it’s brilliant to see them listening for over one hour longer.”
BBC Radio 1Xtra did even better with year-on-year growth of 24.8% to 804,000. The network has been in something of a recovery phase, although it did drop 25,000 listeners on the prior quarter (a 3% decrease).
BBC Asian Network topped that with a 31.8% year-on-year increase to 609,000.
BBC Radio 3, which was nominated at the Music Week Awards, delivered a Proms boost in its quarterly RAJAR results with listeners up above two million again (2.04m – up 1.8% year-on-year). The quarterly increase was 11.2%. During this quarter, Radio 3 also saw its highest ever figure of average hours per listener (8.1 hours).
The classical, jazz and world music network has implemented schedule changes – including late night jazz programme Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch – with more to come early next year.
In the quarterly RAJARs, Saturday Morning with Tom Service delivered year-on-year audience growth of 45%, and Jools Holland’s new Earlier… saw Radio 3’s lunchtime listenership grow by 44%.
On BBC Sounds, listeners for BBC Proms were up 12% on last year. The Proms also made it into the Top 10 most listened to on-demand programmes of the quarter for under-35s.
Sam Jackson, controller BBC Radio 3 and BBC Proms, said: “It’s heartening to see these record-breaking RAJAR results, with more hours spent listening to Radio 3 than at any other time in the station’s history. The success of our new schedule, combined with a compelling BBC Proms season, demonstrably attracted high audiences this summer – and we’re especially delighted that our new weekend shows fronted by Tom Service and Jools Holland have seen significant year-on-year growth, alongside double-digit percentage increases for programmes ranging from Breakfast, to Essential Classics, to Record Review. As well as driving new audiences to Radio 3, we’re especially pleased that this quarter has seen the highest ever figure for average hours listened: another record-breaking moment, showing that the BBC is the place audiences are flocking for the highest-quality, distinctive classical music content.”
Radio 2 was down 1.2% (13.31m) but still the nation’s most popular station. BBC Radio 6 Music dipped 1.0% to 2.72m and remains the country’s most popular digital station.
The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show is the UK’s biggest breakfast show with 6.28m listeners. Vernon Kay’s mid-morning Radio 2 show remains the nation’s favourite overall, increasing on the quarter to 6.8m listeners.
On BBC Sounds, there were over 622m plays of all content across radio, podcasts and music mixes in this quarter. That is up 14m plays on the previous quarter and an increase of more than 3% from the same period last year, as digital listening continues to grow.
Charlotte Moore, BBC chief content officer, said: “Our stations remain hugely important for our listeners, and I'm delighted that for the big national moments, people come to the BBC. We’ve had a record-breaking BBC Proms season and a summer packed with news and sport, and our commentary and programming have been unrivalled in their ambition and scale. I'm so proud of our teams who have refreshed schedules and kept on innovating, bringing distinctive, high-quality content to audiences across our speech and music stations, and on BBC Sounds.”
GLOBAL
Global has seen another consecutive quarter of growth, its fifth in a row, outperforming the commercial radio market.
The media group delivered its highest ever set of RAJAR figures with 29.2m people tuning in each week. It is the first time Global has broken through the 29m listener mark.
The most popular commercial radio group in the UK, Global has achieved its best-ever share of 26.9% for radio listening.
Heart strengthened its position as the number one commercial radio brand. The network was up 14% year-on-year to 9.79m listeners.
Heart Breakfast has 4.05m weekly listeners. Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden host the biggest commercial radio show, increasing their reach by around 250,000 on Q3 a year ago.
Heart 70s (853,000) and Heart 90s (1.3m) have achieved their highest listening figures to date, increasing in reach, hours and share in the last quarter.
Capital Network surged by 22.7% year-on-year to 7.5m. It was also up 7.3% on the previous quarter.
Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Siân Welby reaches 2.96m listeners. The line-up took over following the departure of Roman Kemp earlier this year after a decade. The show has added 151,000 listeners in the last quarter.
Capital Dance has more than one million listeners tuning in every week (1.02m – up 4.1% year-on-year).
Capital Xtra surged by 16.7% year on-year to 1.75m; the station’s breakfast show with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie has 584,000 listeners, increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.
Radio X was up almost 10% year-on-year to 2.17m listeners. At breakfast on Radio X, The Chris Moyles Show was stable at 1.12m.
Ashley Tabor-King, founder & executive president of Global, said: “I’m incredibly proud of these audience numbers today, adding more listeners for a fifth survey in a row, increasing, growing and consolidating. I’m deeply grateful to the over 29m listeners that tune in to one of our stations every week – it’s an achievement that’s fantastic news for the UK’s creative industries and UK plc. We never take this for granted.
“Radio is thriving and Global is outperforming the market, as we keep a laser focus on our content, whilst also embracing technology at the core of our strategy, as people use smart speakers and apps, as well as traditional means, to get to the content they love, wherever and whenever they want it. Our mission is to make everyone’s day brighter. Congratulations and thank you to everyone at Global and thank you to our listeners, it’s a privilege to have you with us.”
James Rea, chief broadcasting & content officer at Global, said: “What a result for Global! New records for Heart, Capital, Smooth and Radio X. I’m so proud of the most incredible team in radio, who’ve delivered these exceptional results alongside launching 14 new radio stations in the last month –another phenomenal achievement!”
BAUER
Bauer Media Audio UK now attracts 23.5m weekly listeners across its brands.
The Hits Radio Network secured its biggest ever audience of 7.2m weekly listeners (up 10.7% year-on-year). The main Hits Radio station now reaches 4.6m listeners a week (up 143.6% year-on-year)
Greatest Hits Radio’s growth continues with a climb to 7.4m weekly listeners (up 12.9% year-on-year). Simon Mayo has the biggest commercial drivetime show. Meanwhile, Ken Bruce is the most listened to show on commercial radio and has over four million weekly listeners.
The Absolute Radio Network had its biggest ever reach of 5.7m listeners (up 3.7% year-on-year). But while Absolute Radio Country achieved a record 541,000 weekly listeners (25.8% up), the main Absolute station was down 16.9% year-on-year to below two million (1.97m).
It was a particularly difficult quarter for the KISS brand, which experienced year-on-year decline across its main station (1.67m – down 35.9%), as well as brand extensions KISS Fresh (188,000 – down 34.9%) and even the usually reliable Kisstory (2.34m – down 9%).
Over a third of Bauer’s listening is now via connected devices including smart speakers, web and app, with a further 52% of listening on DAB. Bauer is also home to four of the top five digital commercial stations, including Kisstory at No.1.
Simon Myciunka, CEO for Bauer Media Audio UK, said: “All our teams at Bauer Media Audio UK are incredibly proud to be part of an industry that is thriving, and today’s results speak volumes about the strong connections our brands have with listeners. We remain committed to delivering exceptional content and experiences that resonate with both these audiences and our valued advertisers and partners.”
Gary Stein, director of audio for Bauer Media Audio UK, said: “We’ve invested significantly in Hits Radio and it’s fantastic to see such brilliant results for the network as it grows to a new record reach, while Greatest Hits Radio continues to be the UK’s most listened to commercial station. Absolute Radio Network has also enjoyed another standout performance with record audiences and a special mention to Clyde 1 and Forth 1 in Scotland which are celebrating their best audiences since the turn of the century.”
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