Radio Audience Figures Announced - RAJAR Q3, 2009

Radio Audience Figures Announced - RAJAR Q3, 2009

LONDON, October 28/PRNewswire/ --

          - Radio Listening Remains High at 45.7 Million Adults Each Week     - Radio Digital Listening Hours up 14% Year on Year     - DAB Ownership up 14% Year on Year     - Listening to Radio via Mobile Phone up 8% Year on Year  

Radio listening remains high with a total of 45.7 million listeners or 89.2% of the UK population (15+) tuning in to their favourite radio station each week*, it was revealed today (October 29, 2009) when UK radio audience data for Quarter 3, 2009 was released by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd). This figure is up year on year (cf. 45.1 million in Q3, 2008) but down from 46.3 million in Quarter 2, 2009, which was the highest weekly reach recorded since new research methodology was introduced in January 1999.

Radio listening via digital platforms: share of radio listening via a digital platform has increased by 14% year on year to 21.1% (cf. 18.7% in Q3, 2008) but remains stable quarter on quarter at 21.1%. Once again listening via DAB leads the increase:

          - DAB listening share is 13.3% (11.3% in Q3, 2008 - up 18%)     - DTV listening share is 3.6% (3.2% in Q3, 2008 - up 13%)     - Internet listening share is 2.2% (2.2% in Q3, 2008 - stable)  

Digital listening: Listening to radio via a digital platform in terms of weekly reach has risen by 11% year on year, with 17.7 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled set each week (up from 15.9 million in Q3, 08), but is down 1% quarter on quarter. This is reflected in the digital listening hours for Q3, 2009 which now total 213 million hours per week, up 14% from 188 million hours in Q3, 2008, but down 2% quarter on quarter from 217 million hours in Q2, 2008.

DAB ownership: RAJAR's latest research shows that DAB set ownership has increased by 14% year on year, with 16.6 million adults (15+) in Q3, 2009 now claiming to live in a household which has a DAB receiver. (cf. 14.5 million in Q3, 2008).

Radio listening via mobile phone: Radio listening via mobile phone continues to grow steadily among adults aged 15+ with Q3, 2009 posting an increase of 7.5% from 6.4 million in Q3, 2008 to 6.9 million in Q3, 2009. The 15 to 24-year-old demographic shows a slightly bigger increase of 8.3% year on year, with nearly 33% of those in this age group saying they have listened to the radio in this way (30.5.% in Q3, 2008), while 16% say they listen at least once a week and 3.2% say they listen every day.

Detailed data and individual radio station data, for both BBC and Commercial Radio stations, is available on the RAJAR web site at http://www.rajar.co.uk from 07.00hrs, October 29, 2009.

* This weekly reach figure is the number of people (adults 15+) in the UK who listened to a radio station for at least five minutes in the course of an average week during the quarter.

Source: RAJAR

For further information please contact: Penelope James, Penelope James Public Relations, Tel: +44(0)1303-844555, Mobile: +44(0)7860-162-231, E-mail: penelope@penelopejamespr.com

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Profile: International Entertainment