Record commercial figures, big audiences for BBC Radio 2’s North West presenting teams and breakthrough podcast titles from Yorkshire.
The RAJAR figures for the second quarter of the year have been released this morning.
Looking at the headline figures, 51m adults, or 88% of the population over 15, tuned into a radio station each week.
However, these figures don’t take into account Wimbledon, the Euros final, nor the Olympics, which are likely to have a major impact on Radio 5 Live’s listening figures next quarter, particularly given Paris is the first Games to be in a close enough timezone to really highlight that the IOC sold the European television rights to Discovery.
Nonetheless, the Salford-based station and its sister operation, BBC 5 Sports Extra both had an increase in listeners and a record reach of 5.4m.
Staying with the BBC and 32m people tuned into BBC stations, with a share of 42.6%.
BBC Radio 2, which has continued to add to its North West collection of presenting talent, remains the UK’s favourite radio station with Vernon Kay hosting the UK’s biggest radio show and Zoe Ball the most popular breakfast show.
While it has been losing ground to the commercial sector, the BBC has seen major increases in BBC Sounds. That’s reflected by RAJAR figures, which show that 12.3m people in the UK are listening to podcasts every week – a new record.
In Q2 there were 608m plays of all content across radio, podcasts and music mixes – up 5% year on year.
Miss Me? with Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver, from the newly Sheffield-headquartered Persephonica has been a hit for younger BBC audiences according to Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer:
“I’m delighted to see the strength of the audio landscape with a record number of people listening to radio and podcasts across the UK. Radio 1’s Big Weekend has contributed to the brilliant organic growth of Radio 1 with an uplift for Greg James’ Breakfast show, which continues to be the number one choice for younger listeners in the UK.
“As we head towards a fantastic summer of sport it is excellent to already see such a big increase for BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra with more world class coverage to come. BBC Radio 4 speech programming continues to dominate on BBC Sounds, showcasing our thriving digital strategy. In addition, we’ve launched new and exciting podcasts for younger audiences including Miss Me? with Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver and Famously.”
Commercial
Global and Bauer are both marking record figures for the period.
Global (Capital, Heart, Smooth, Radio X) added 1m listeners, reaching 28.6m weekly listeners.
That’s its biggest ever audience and it also achieved its highest ever share of 26.5%.
On Jordan North’s debut RAJARs, Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris and Sian reached 2.8m listeners, adding 261k listeners. Another tick in the box for North West presenting talent.
Smooth Radio broke through the 7m listener mark for the first time with a record reach of 7.2 million, while Radio X achieved 2.3m weekly listeners.
Global has the number 1 and number 2 commercial radio brands nationally with Heart and Capital.
“What an absolutely fantastic gold-medal winning RAJAR quarter this is for Global! It’s incredible to see so many record breaking performances,” said James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global.
“Congratulations to Jordan North and the whole Capital team for a truly outstanding result. It’s also fantastic that Heart, Smooth and Radio X continue to grow to new highs. We have the very best team at Global and I’m so proud of how they continue to reinvigorate and reinvent to drive our audiences forward. This is truly a moment to celebrate.”
Over at Bauer (Hits, Absolute), it achieved its highest ever reach with over 24m weekly listeners.
Its Hits Radio Network had 7m listeners, while Absolute Radio Network had a record 5.6m.
Greatest Hits Radio added 1.7m listeners in the last year, with 7.5m weekly listeners (+30% YoY). Simon Mayo has the biggest commercial drivetime show, Ken Bruce now reaches a record 4m listeners and Rossie at Breakfast now reaches a record 3m listeners a week.
The Magic Radio Network has 4.1m listeners (+8.1% YoY), with a record number of listeners to Magic Soul which now has over 600k weekly listeners (+33.1% YoY).
The KISS Network reaches 4m listeners a week, and KISSTORY is the No.1 digital commercial station with 2.4m listeners.
“What another stunning set of results for Bauer Media Audio UK. In a quarter where we rebranded 16 stations across England and Wales to Hits Radio, I’m delighted this has resulted in a record reach for Hits Radio and the wider network,” said Gary Stein, Director of Audio for Bauer Media Audio UK.
“It’s also great to see Absolute Radio Network hit new highs, and Ken Bruce continue to grow audience, with Greatest Hits Radio extending its position as the UK’s most listened to commercial station. A huge well done to our brilliant teams up and down the country.”
