UK Radio: in a good place?
It’s radio ratings time again with the release of the latest RAJAR results. Every radio station and group are claiming they’re winners. Looking beyond the spin what do these results tell us about the state of radio? How is radio holding up in an increasingly competitive media market?
How many people are listening?
In the fast changing media world UK radio actually remains remarkably resilient with 89% of all adults listening to the radio at some point during the week. That number has been hovering around the 90% mark since at least the turn of the century. Radio remains a more popular media choice for adults than social networks, gaming and newspapers.
Listeners take in an average of 21.4 hours of radio every week, this is trending downwards but still radio is holding up remarkably strongly in the face of a media landscape that has changed beyond recognition in the space of just a decade.
How are people listening?
Over half of the listening in the UK is still done on good old FM and AM radios. The amount of digital listening is rising steadily with DAB still by far the most popular way of listening digitally. The number of people who own a DAB radio has risen to 48.7%.
Interestingly over 80% of radio listening is done on a device designed purely for listening to the radio. Mobiles, TVs and online/apps still account for only a small slice of radio listening.
Listening to a radio on a mobile device is a monthly occurrence for 21.3%, the younger you get the more likely you are to be using a smartphone or tablet to listen to your favourite stations, 32.7% of 15–24 year olds are doing this.
The really exciting sign for radio is the increased number of people turning to digital only stations. These tend to be more niche than the traditional radio stations and their growth gives an indiction that radio’s future is in having clearly defined and well delivered stations available wherever you want to listen to them.
Radio isn’t doing too badly at all, it reaches more of the UK than any media bar TV and the signs are that it’s ready for its own digital future.
Source: RAJAR/Ipsos MORI/RSMD Oct 14
