Global Radio Group
Elsewhere on the commercial network, Global Network (Heart, Capital and Smooth) remains the largest commercial player. Its combined weekly audience figures hit 26.7m, with a 25% market share.
The Heart brand alone reached 11.2m listeners, while Capital increased its weekly audience to 7.8m.
The Smooth Radio network had 5.9m people tuning in every week.
“This is a brilliant set of results for Global. Our teams work so hard to deliver world-class content and it is great to see their efforts being recognised,” said James Rea, Global’s Director of Broadcasting & Content.
“Congratulations to the Heart team for a truly magnificent set of figures, beating the 11 million mark for the first time is a fantastic accomplishment, along with significant growth from our other brands, including Capital and LBC, all contributing to outstanding growth for Global.”
Bauer Media Audio
Bauer Media Audio, which owns the Hits and Absolute brands reached a record 22.4m listeners.
It retains its crown as the leader for people accessing their output via a digital device (77.7%, compared to the industry average of 67.6%).
The Hits Radio Brand Network (Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio Networks) grew its reach during the period to 11m (+19.2% year on year).
The Absolute Radio Network also recorded its highest ever audience – a 5.3m reach.
“Our relentless focus on delivering world-class content, while recruiting and nurturing the best talent in the industry is what continues to drive our growth and success at Bauer Media Audio UK,” stated Dee Ford CBE, Group Managing Director, Bauer Media Audio UK.
“The future is exceptionally bright for commercial radio, and Bauer is in the best possible position to embrace the fantastic opportunities that lie ahead.”
BBC Radio
As BBC local radio prepares to undergo major changes as part of cost-cutting plans, the figures show that combined, the BBC Local Radio network fell to a weekly reach of 7.4m. That compares to 7.8m in the previous quarter and 8.6m in the same quarter last year.
It comes as journalists announce further strike action, having rejected BBC management’s revised plans.
Yesterday, BBC Radio Tees’ Neil Green added his name to the list of long-running BBC local radio presenters to leave the corporation. He told listeners that yesterday’s show would be his last, an end to a 28 year association with Radio Tees.
Nationally, BBC Radio 5 Live, which is based at MediaCity, saw its listening figures fall by around 500k (5.1m). However, the previous quarter included the FIFA World Cup. Sister station, 5 Live Sports Extra had a weekly reach of 1.1m.
BBC Radio 6 Music, which is also increasing its presence in Salford, continued to increase its reach, to 2.7m, while Radio 3 remained fairly static at 1.9m weekly listeners.
Across the entire BBC radio network, 32.2m tuned in every week. BBC Sounds had 436m live and on-demand plays for radio, podcasts and music mixes (up 7.7%).
“With more people listening on-demand, we’ve upped our editorial ambition for BBC Sounds and it is paying dividends, as BBC Sounds is repeatedly reaching record numbers,” said Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer.
RAJAR Research
Rajar said that 49.4m adults, or 88% of the population (aged 15+) tuned into radio during the first quarter of 2023. The total average number of weekly hours listened to during the period was 1.008bn hours.
41m adults now use a digital-enabled platform, including DAB, DTV, Online/App or smart speaker every week, that’s around 74% of the UK.
31% of adults say they listen to radio through a smartphone or tablet at least once a month.
64% use a smart speaker for radio, and 33% of these say they use it every day.
Listening at home is the most popular location (62%), followed by car/van/lorry (24%).
