This post is brought to you in association with RALF from DP Software and Services. I’ve used RALF for the many years, and it’s my favourite RAJAR analysis tool. So I am delighted that I continue to be able to bring you this RAJAR analysis in association with RALF. For more details on the product, contact Deryck Pritchard via this link or phone 07545 42567.
Overall Trends
The latest RAJAR for Q4 2024 is out today. This was a period that included Zoe Ball’s final breakfast show on Radio 2, and is the final full quarter in which Global’s FM local stations had at least one local show.
But if there’s a theme to this quarter, it’s the deluge of new digital services that have either just launched, or are now being measured by RAJAR for the first time. These kinds of services seem to be a way of fighting back against algorithmic playlists from streaming services like Spotify. Playlists like this are very popular, for lean-back listening, and in some genres we’ve seen services like Spotify commission their own music that they sometimes preference in these playlists – so called “ghost artists“.
So it’s not surprising that radio stations’ apps are full of their own versions, and Global has pushed many of its out on DAB platforms as well, so you can listen to a calm playlist in your car as well as in the Global Player app.
As we will come to, the BBC also has a number of such services, although they mostly sit only on BBC Sounds and are not measured separately by RAJAR (Ofcom is currently reviewing a number of proposed new BBC Radio services).
There are also some interesting figures for stations that have either closed analogue frequencies, or switched stations on their analogue frequencies.
In overall terms, All Radio was down 1.2% on the quarter, but up 1.6% on the year to 50.3m people listening to the radio each week. Likewise, listening hours were down 1.1% on the quarter, but up 2.0% on the year to 1.03bn a week.
On a technical note, it’s worth remembering that in Q2 2024, the new census populations were introduced which bumped up a lot of numbers.
The average age of a radio listener is 49 (based on a sample population of 15+ adults – in other words, children aren’t really included in this measure).
As with the general picture, BBC Radio saw similar trends, with reach down 2.9% on the quarter, but up 1.3% on the year to 31.7m a week. Hours were down 1.9% on the quarter but up 4.3% on the year to 456m hours.
The average BBC Radio listener listens for 14.4 hours per week.
Commercial Radio saw its reach fall 0.4% on the quarter but grow 2.1% on the year to 39.9m reach. Hours fell just 0.1% on the quarter, and rose a modest 0.2% on the year to 556m.
BBC Radio has a 44% share of listening compared with Commercial Radio’s 54% share. The remaining 2% is listening to other radio services not measured by RAJAR including very small commercial radio stations, community stations and international stations.
Radio 1 will be disappointed that reach fell 7.8% this quarter to 7.5m, although that is still up 2.8% on the year. Hours also fell 7.9% on the quarter to 50.9m, although they too were up on the year a healthy 10.8%.
As mentioned above, this was the final quarter of Zoe Ball at breakfast, and she helped Radio 2 with an all round set of increases. Reach was up 2.5% on the quarter and up 2.7% on the year to 13.6m. Hours were up 5.9% on the quarter and up 9.1% on the year to 148m.
With Scott Mills taking over at breakfast from the start of this year, while Trevor Nelson gets the afternoon slot, it’ll be worth keeping an eye on next quarter’s numbers.
Radio 3 came down from it’s Q3 Proms “bump” with reach down 4.33% to 2.0m, but that’s still up 10.0% on the year. Hours were down 10.6% on the quarter yet up 11.2% on the year to 14.7m. Note that the newly launched Radio 3 Unwind is currently BBC Sounds only, and is not measured by RAJAR (See also Radio 1 Anthems and Radio 1 Dance).
While it was a big quarter for politics, with a new UK Government properly getting underway, and a US Presidential Election, there was still a fall on the quarter at Radio 4. Reach was down 6.7% on the quarter and down 0.8% on the year to 9.0m. Hours were down 3.5% on the quarter, but up 0.4% on the year to 111m.
Meanwhile a new football season on BBC Radio 5 Live didn’t seem to do many favours, although this came off a big Q3 for the station. So reach was down 11.2% on the quarter, but up 1.9% on the year to 5.3m. Hours were down 15.6% on the quarter and down 2.3% on the year to 30.6m.
A positive story over a BBC 6 Music which saw reach rise 1.9% on the quarter and a chunky 10.2% on the year to 2.8m. Hours were up 9.1% on the quarter, but down 1.4% on the year to 25.8m.
While the news may not have helped BBC Radio 4 so much, it did seem to help the BBC World Service. Reach was up 7.7% on the quarter and up 10.4% on the year to 1.2m. Hours were up 6.0% on the quarter and up 0.8% on the year to 5.0m.
Elections also seemed to help LBC a bit. LBC (UK) saw reach flat (0.0%) on the quarter and up 9.0% on the year to 2.7m. Hours increased 2.6% on the quarter and 17.0% on the year to 29.9m.
During Q4, Global closed down LBC News on AM in London. But it still exists as a rolling news service digitally, helping the overall LBC Brand (UK) to a reach of 3.4m (down 1.3% on the quarter, up 12.1% on the year). Hours increased to 32.1m (up 1.3% on the quarter, and up 14.4% on the year). So shutting down a transmitter cost the channel some reach in the short-term, yet gained it some hours? Nope. I don’t understand. My suspicion is that many “LBC News” listeners are really listening to regular LBC, and consequently the closure of an AM transmitter had little impact. But I can’t prove or disprove that thesis.
Times Radio which leant heavily into election coverage saw some good growth (even as Matt Chorley left over the summer to start a new afternoon politics show on BBC Radio Five Live). Reach was up 8.4% on the quarter and up 22.8% on the year to 604,000 – their best result since the start of 2022. Hours were up 5.1% on the quarter and up 12.0% on the year to 4.4m, which is a record high for them. I confess that I’d been in the camp that hadn’t thought they could break out of the ~500,000 listenership, and while this is just above it, it’s encouraging news for a station celebrating its fourth birthday.
The news was less rosy at stablemate Talk (rebranded from Talk Radio last summer), which saw reach fall 12.5% on the quarter to 504,000. That’s a fall of 30.5% on the year. Hours were better, up 3.4% on the quarter, and down 6.6% on the year to 5.2m.
talkSPORT had positive results this quarter as the football season got properly underway. Reach was up 1.5% on the quarter and up 5.6% on the year to 3.3m. Hours were up 0.4% on the quarter and down 3.9% on the year to 20.0m. The station has just announced a deal for commentary rights for the British and Irish Lions’ rugby union tour of Australia later this year.
Finally amongst speech stations, GB News saw a drop-off post the UK election. Reach was down 23.4% on the quarter, although up 8.8% on the year to 468,000. Hours were down 11.7% on the quarter, but up 24.5% on the year to 3.5m.
Commercial Brands & Networks
This quarter saw Global launch a torrent of new digital spin-off stations for nearly all its major brands. I’ll get to them in turn, although don’t expect me to go through every digital service in every quarterly report!
Global also announced the end of its only remaining local programming on its local commercial stations following the passing of the Media Act last year. Bauer Radio still has local breakfast shows across its Hits Network, some of which do very well. The question is probably when, not if, Bauer networks those shows…
Classic FM gains two new digital siblings. The main station itself saw reach increase 1.3% on the quarter, but fall 4.6% on the year to 4.5m. Hours fell 6.8% on the quarter and fall 15.0% on the year to 34.8m. Classic FM Calm launched with a reach of 121,000 and 669,000 hours. Meanwhile Classic FM Movies had 82,000 reach and 427,000 hours. So 1m hours between them which negates that main station fall on the quarter, but doesn’t really stop the year on year decline.
The Heart set of stations gain three new services: Heart Love, Heart 10s and Heart Musicals. These sit alongside the pre-existing Heart 70s, Heart 80s, Heart 90s, Heart 00s and Heart Dance!
Overall it was an excellent quarter for the Heart Network (UK) with reach up 2.7% on the quarter and up 13.8% on the year to 10.1m. That’s their biggest ever result and the first time the network has exceeded 10m listeners. Hours were up 0.5% on the quarter and up 2.8% on the year to 58.4m. Across the whole Heart Brand (UK) reach was up 2.4% on the quarter and up 15.4% on the year to 13.3m. Hours were up 0.9% on the quarter and up 6.8% on the year to 81.6m.
Of the newbie stations, Heart 10s did best with 292,000 reach and 673,000 hours. Heart Love has 201,000 reach and 462,000 hours, while Heart Musicals has 134,000 reach and 252,000 hours. (While I was typing this up I mistyped “Heart Musicals” as “Heart Movies” and inadvertently invented another sub-brand for them. You’re welcome.)
The brand’s biggest sub-brand is Heart 80s which saw its reach increase 1.6% on the quarter and 11.8% on the year to 1.9m. Hours were up 6.7% on the quarter and up 3.3% on the year to 7.8m.
(This compares with Absolute 80s the OG 80s station, which saw declines this quarter. Reach was down 8.1% on the quarter and down 0.9% on the year to 1.6m. Hours were down 12.8% on the quarter and down 11.4% on the year to 7.5m.)
Sticking with Global, Smooth also gained some new digital siblings. Smooth 70s, Smooth 80s and Smooth Soul all launched to sit alongside Smooth Chill, Smooth Country and Smooth Relax, as well as the parent brand. The Smooth Radio Network saw reach fall 0.8% on the quarter, but grow 20.1% on the year to 6.6m. Hours were down 1.3% on the quarter, but up 15.7% on the year to 42m.
Across the whole Smooth Brand (UK), reach was up 2.3% on the quarter and up 27.2% on the year to 7.8m. Hours were up 1.0% on the quarter and up 21.6% on the year to 49.2m.
For the record Smooth 70s had 317,000 reach and 816,000 hours; Smooth 80s had 533,000 reach and 2.2m hours; and Smooth Soul had 206,000 reach and 571,000 hours. So another win for the 80s!
Capital also gained a new station Capital Anthems which had 440,000 reach and 882,000 hours, to site alongside Capital XTRA, Capital Dance and Capital Chill. The overall Capital Network (UK) had 7.4m reach (down 0.8% on the quarter, up 26.8% on the year) and 37.6m hours (up 1.5% on the quarter and up 36.8% on the year). This was mostly additive to the Capital Brand (UK) with reach at 9.7m (flat on the quarter (0.0%) and up 22.3% on the year), and hours of 51.4m (down 0.9% on the quarter, and up 28.0% on the year).
Finally at Global, Radio X also gained new stations: Radio X 00s (133 reach, 236,000 hours), Radio X 90s (129,000 reach, 411,000 hours) and Radio X Chilled (129,000 reach, 271,0000 hours) all join the existing Radio X Classic Rock. Radio X Brand (UK) saw a reach of 2.4m (up 3.3% on the quarter, up 12.1% on the year) and 18.1m hours (down 3.1% on the quarter, down 9.4% on the year).
Overall Total Global Radio (UK) saw a new record reach of 27.8m (up 0.4% on the quarter, up 10.4% on the year), with hours slipping slightly from last quarter’s record to 253m (down 0.9% on the quarter, up 7.0% on the year).
The average age of a Global Radio listener is 46.
Bauer is also launching new digital offspring as well. Kiss gained Kiss Dance and Kisstory R&B, while Greatest Hits Radio gained Greatest Hits 60s.
Bauer Media Audio UK (exc Partners) saw its reach fall 1.1% on the quarter, but climb 0.5% on the year to 21.9m. Hours fell 3.5% on the quarter and were down 4.9% on the year to 198m.
The average age of a Bauer listener is also 46.
Greatest Hits Radio saw some falls this quarter for a change, with reach down 0.9% on the quarter but up 9.1% on the year to 7.4m. Hours were down 2.6% on the quarter but up 8.5% on the year to 62m. It’s might be a little presumptuous to think that GHR has reached its maximum yet, but Bauer has rebranded basically everything it can to GHR now, so those year on year comparisons should be treated with some caution.
Greatest Hits 60s got a reach of 386,000 and hours of 2.7m which is extraordinarily good!
Overall Greatest Hits Network (exc Partners) saw its reach grow 0.6% on the quarter and 10.9% on the year to 7.6m. Hours were flat (0.0%) on the quarter and up 11.5% on the year to 65m.
Hits Radio is up in reach 1.4% on the quarter and 228% on the year to 4.7m, while hours are down 10.5% on the quarter but up 235% on the year to 23.3m. A reminder that the year on year jumps are due to various Bauer stations rebranding as Hits Radio so those numbers are a little misleading. Also worth noting is that Hits Radio gained FM frequencies at the expense of Kiss (see below). Across the Hits Radio Network (exc Partners) reach is down 0.8% on the quarter but up 13.2% on the year to 7.2m. Hours are down 6.4% on the quarter and down 8.6% on the year to 45.6m.
Absolute Radio saw reach rise 8.4% on the quarter but fall 9.3% on the year to 2.1m. Hours were up 0.9% on the quarter and 0.6% on the year to 14.1m. Across the Absolute Radio Network reach was down 0.9% on the quarter but up 6.1% on the year to 5.6m. Hours fell 2.8% on the quarter but grew 3.5% on the year to 37.6m.
Kiss had a poor RAJAR, and you’ve got to in part put that down to Bauer’s decision to remove it from FM in London, Norfolk and the West of England where it was replaced by Hits Radio. Reach was down 34.9% on the quarter and 53.8% on the year to 1.1m. Hours fell 31.7% on the quarter and 48.1% on the year to 4.4m. It does feel like the switch between Kiss and Hits Radio has not worked, with Kiss losing heavily while Hits has not really made up for it.
And it wasn’t alone. KISSTORY saw reach fall a more modest 7.5% on the quarter and 8.6% on the year to 2.2m. Hours fell 14.0% on the quarter and 25.0% on the year to 7.9m.
Overall, the KISS Network saw reach actually climb 2.0% on the quarter but dip 10.9% on the year to 3.8m. Hours were down 4.1% on the quarter and down 24.0% on the year to 15.8m.
The two new stations actually did quite well with Kisstory R&B getting a reach of 530,000 and 1.9m hours, while Kiss Dance got 720,000 reach and 1.2m hours.
Radio 2 was not the only national station to launch a new breakfast show last week. Magic also launched a new show with Gok Wan joining Harriet Scott. Obviously, RAJAR won’t report on that change for another quarter. But in the meantime Magic saw its reach increase 3.0% on the quarter but fall 33.6% on the year to 2.3m. Hours were up 2.7% on the quarter and down 39.9% on the year to 11.7m.
Across the Magic Network reach was down 4.5% on the quarter and down 15.7% on the year to 3.5m. Hours were down 9.3% on the quarter and down 23.1% on the year to 18.6m.
Notably, Bauer recently bought Clear Channel Europe-North with the transaction set to close this year. I mention this, because Global already owns a sister outdoor company (it purchased several outdoor businesses in 2018-2021). As a consequence, it is able to leverage unsold inventory on those outdoor sites to promote its consumer radio brands like Heart and Capital. With a growing proportion of them being digital, there’s not even always a bill posting cost. Expect to see Bauer do likewise with its new outdoor sites once the transaction has completed.
Platforms & Podcasts
Podcast listening reached a new high as measured by RAJAR under this methodology, with 22.5% of the population listening every week – or 13m adults 15+. (As usual, I would note that you shouldn’t compare this number with other measurements of podcast listening due to methodological differences. But the growth is up and to the right).
How much podcast listening is impacting on speech, or even music radio, is an interesting question, and not one we can easily answer via this survey.
Another interesting measurement is the 22.1% of the adult population who listen to the radio, at least some of the time, via smart speakers. That’s 12.8m people, and that’s the reason that station idents and trails explain to listeners so often how they can use their smart speaker to play their favourite radio stations.
Elsewhere
I will again be on the The Media Club with Matt Deegan Podcast this week to talk about RAJAR. Listen out or watch on YouTube from Friday morning.
Matt Deegan‘s blog is here.
The official RAJAR site has all the topline figures
Radio Today for a digest of all the main news
Media.Info for lots of numbers and charts
The Media Leader will have analysis
BBC Mediacentre for BBC Radio stats and findings
Bauer Media’s corporate site
Global Radio’s corporate site
Radiocentre’s website
All my previous RAJAR analyses are here.
Source: RAJAR/Ipsos MORI/RSMB, period ending 15 December 2024, Adults 15+.
Disclaimer: These are my views alone and do not represent those of anyone else, including my employer. Any errors (I hope there aren’t any!) are mine alone. Drop me a note if you want clarifications on anything. Access to the RAJAR data is via RALF from DP Software as mentioned at the top of this post.