RAJAR Q2 2012: Round-up

Absolute Radio posted an impressive performance in the latest RAJAR release for Q2 2012 – particularly in the London market where other stations struggled to hold on to listeners, and with the popularity of its Christian O’Connell breakfast show.

Overall, All Radio enjoyed a very small 0.2% QoQ increase in reach, though its total sits just below the 47 million mark after a -1.8% YoY dip. All Commercial Radio is slowly closing the gap on All BBC following a dip of just 0.1% QoQ (All BBC was down -0.4%).  However, the real story in the BBC & Commercial report is BBC Local Radio suffering a -9.4% QoQ decline to its lowest reach since Q4 2009.

In the national market, Total Global Radio continues to lead the nationals and networks, though its reach remains below the 20 million mark. Bauer Radio’s Total Portfolio posted a 0.2% QoQ rise, while Total GMG Radio recorded a -1.7% QoQ drop. BBC Radio 2, Radio 1, Radio 4 (including 4 Extra) and the Total Absolute Radio Network all enjoyed positive results.

BBC Radio 2 is a non-mover at the top of the breakfast show chart, while BBC Radio 1 is slipping further behind following a poor set of figures. In July the BBC announced that Chris Moyles would be replaced by Nick “Grimmy” Grimshaw on the breakfast show.

Capital London’s Lisa Snowdon and Dave Berry recorded a -8.6% QoQ drop, while Magic 105.4, Kiss100FM, Heart 106.2 FM and LBC 97.3 also saw listening figures dwindle in Q2. However, it was a positive set of results for Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell breakfast show.

In London, only six stations in our analysis (out of 17) recorded a QoQ increase, while just three stations witnessed an uplift compared with the same period last year. However, Total Absolute Radio (London), which includes Extra and internet listening, managed to buck the trend, enjoying a positive 22.2% QoQ increase to its highest reach since September 2008

And lastly, Digital radio put in a strong performance once again. Listening to radio via a digital platform has increased by 10% YoY, with 24.2 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver. Digital listening hours are up to 326 million hours and listening online recorded an increase of 37% YoY, which is likely to have been driven by Radioplayer.

Full analysis (including tables and graphs) on Newsline now.