26February
Time for the quarterly RAJAR figures, this time covering the twelve weeks to 17 December 2006. Of particular reference are the figures for the third quarter of 2006 and the equivalent last year.
In each case, the figures are a weighted average of the most recent quarter's figure, and the middle three of the previous five quarters. This gives a trend figure based on a central one-year sample drawn from the past eighteen months, much more stable than the individual quarters.
Share (in the regional tables) is the percentage of listeners who heard the station.
Hours is the average listening figure per person in the area, whether they listened or not.
Changes are on the last quarter's figures.
National stations
Assumed national audience: 49,590,000.
| BBC national stations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Station | Audience | Hours |
| Radio 1 | 10327 (-34) | 2h03 (+1) |
| Radio 2 | 13081 (+30) | 3h22 (-1) |
| Radio 3 | 2024 (+39) | 0h16 |
| Radio 4 | 9354 (-63) | 2h28 (-1) |
| Radio 5 | 5919 (+31) | 0h57 |
| 6Music | 363 (+14) | 0h02 |
| BBC7 | 648 (+11) | 0h04 |
| World Service | 1308 (+2) | 0h09 |
| Asian Network | 461 (+13) | 0h04 |
| Analogue national stations | ||
| Station | Audience | Hours |
| Choice | 624 (+30) | 0h06 (+1) |
| Classic FM | 5832 (-39) | 0h54 |
| Galaxy | 2567 (+26) | 0h23 (+1) |
| Kiss | 2489 (+10) | 0h16 |
| LBC | 729 (+3) | 0h11 (+1) |
| Magic | 3040 (+31) | 0h27 |
| Smooth | 1405 (+30) | 0h12 |
| Sunrise | 472 (+9) | 0h04 |
| Talk Sport | 2182 (-4) | 0h23 |
| Virgin 1215 | 1774 (+20) | 0h12 (-1) |
| Xfm | 1008 (**) | 0h08 (**) |
| Analogue national stations | ||
| Station | Audience | Hours |
| 3C | * | * |
| Arrow | 77 (+3) | 0h01 |
| Capital Disney | 55 (-4) | 0h00 |
| Chill | * | * |
| Core | 112 (-2) | 0h00 |
| Heat | 254 (+4) | 0h01 |
| Hits | 1040 (+40) | 0h04 |
| Life | 79 (-2) | 0h01 |
| Oneword | 129 (+6) | 0h01 |
| Planet Rock | 401 (+10) | 0h03 |
| Q | 340 (-18) | 0h01 |
| Smash Hits | 749 (-22) | 0h03 |
* 3C and Chill have only four and three quarters of data. 3C reports 90,000 listeners, Chill 124,000; both have 1 minute.
** Xfm figures are not comparable with the previous quarter, following the inclusion of Xfm Scotland from 06/Q1. Proper comparisons will be unavailable until 07/Q2 to Q3, published in October 2007.
A very quiet quarter for the BBC nationals, and for the terrestrials; the only significant movements are 6Music increasing hours by a quarter, World Service losing hours equally quickly. Neither loses much audience. In the commercial sector, a collapse of a half for Q's hours, and a third for Smash Hits. LBC's national rollout has boosted audiences and hours by 10% for a second straight quarter.
A year ago, Classic was ahead of Radio 5 on audience, BBC7 has added 25% of audience, but Asian Network is unchanged. Planet Rock and 6Music are the only other digital stations to show a substantive gain.
| BBC local stations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Coverage | Share | Hours |
| Asian Network (WM) | 4974 | 3.9% (+0.1) | 0h19 |
| CWR | 627 | 13.6% (+0.2) | 1h20 (-1) |
| Gloucestershire | 472 | 18.9% (+0.7) | 2h22 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 506 | 25.5% (-0.2) | 2h55 (+5) |
| Leicester | 757 | 20.9% (-0.6) | 2h11 (-7) |
| Oxford | 507 | 16.7% (-1.2) | 1h43 (-3) |
| Shropshire | 372 | 29.5% (+0.2) | 3h37 (+6) |
| WM | 2180 | 14.8% | 1h44 (+3) |
| Regional stations | |||
| Station | Coverage | Share | Hours |
| Heart (WM) | 3473 | 23.5% (-0.5) | 2h14 (+3) |
| Saga (WM) | 3473 | 11.6% (+0.1) | 1h26 (+1) |
| Kerrang | 3476 | 10.7% (+0.3) | 0h46 (+5) |
| Heart (EM) | 2027 | 16.2% (-0.2) | 1h23 (-5) |
| Saga (EM) | 2021 | 11.5% (-0.5) | 1h13 (-4) |
| Heritage local stations | |||
| Station | Coverage | Share | Hours |
| BRMB | 2025 | 24.3% (-0.5) | 1h50 (-5) |
| Beacon | 1286 | 20.1% (+0.1) | 1h41 (-1) |
| Mercia | 661 | 24.2% (-2.5) | 1h51 (-10) |
| Wyvern | 478 | 20.2% (-1.8) | 1h34 (-10) |
| FOX | 574 | 30.6% (-0.6) | 2h57 (-11) |
| Galaxy (WM) | 2022 | 16.4% (-0.4) | 1h17 (-6) |
| Small-scale local stations | |||
| Station | Coverage | Share | Hours |
| Wolf | 424 | 13.1% (-0.4) | 0h58 |
| Bear / Kix | 579 | 16.9% (-1.8) | 1h26 |
| Fosseway | 146 | 17.9% (-0.3) | 1h23 (+2) |
| Centre | 235 | 15.8% (-1.6) | 1h16 (-5) |
| Rugby | 69 | 39.4% (-0.1) | 3h46 (-4) |
| Heritage AM local stations | |||
| Station | Coverage | Share | Hours |
| Xtra-AM | 2025 | 3.1% (-0.2) | 0h18 (+1) |
| Mercia AM | 661 | 4.8% (-0.5) | 0h29 (-1) |
| WABC | 1286 | 2.6% (-0.1) | 0h16 (+1( |
Again, not a tremendous amount to note in the BBC section, Leicester's decline is due to a very good first quarter of 2006, Oxford's to a very good third quarter dropping out. Changes over the year: Gloucestershire is up, Leicester has lost 20 minutes per listener.
Heart WM has lost almost 100,000 listeners in the last year, though that's not altered the hours very much; the EM has held audience since rebranding from Century in summer 2005, but has lost 20% of its hours. Kerrang holds on to the 3rd quarter gains.
The listed heritage stations are now entirely owned by the GWR-Capital merged company, and we fail to see how this is good for listener choice. The trend is down; Mercia and Wyvern are feeling it particularly from good 05/Q2 figures now dropping out - Mercia is down 6% and 23 minutes over the year, Wyvern 5% and 40 minutes. The re-naming of Kix, The Bear, and Centre to Touch in 2006 has been an unmitigated disaster; the combined Kix / Bear station (which may also include the group's new station in Banbury) has lost a third of listeners and hours; the Lichfield station has squandered 5% of share and an eyebrow-raising 44 minutes of its two hours.
Since these figures were published, GMG has bought out the Saga stations, and will re-name them Smooth for the start of 07/Q2; we will retrospectively aggregate Saga WM, EM, and Central Scotland with Smooth's existing stations in London and the NW, with effect from the Q2 publication in August.
The next RAJAR day is 3 May; expect analysis later that month.
