Radio listening in the last 2 months reaches a 10 year high

The RAJAR audience research figures are now out and the headline story is that radio listening overall is at its highest level for more than a decade largely due to the general election and world cup coverage all landing in the same quarter.  Mark Sweney in The Guardian says...

According to figures released today by radio audience measurement body Rajar, an average of 46.8 million adults tuned in to their favourite radio stations each week during the period. This equates to 90.6% of the UK population over the age of 15.

Radio 1 pulled in a record audience of 11.81 million listeners, up 4.1% year on year and 0.6% quarter on quarter. The station's share was 9.3%.
Radio 2 attracted 13.73 million listeners on average each week, up 2.3% year on year but down 5.8% quarter on quarter. Its share was 15.9%.
There was less positive news at BBC Radio 3, which reported an average audience of 1.86 million, down 8.1% year on year and 8.2% quarter on quarter.
Radio 4 also passed several milestones: it had a record average weekly audience of 10.4 million in the quarter, with its best ever audiences for shows including Today, PM and The Archers.
Radio 5 Live reported its biggest audience since its launch in 1990, with a weekly reach of 6.76 million listeners, up 5.4% year on year and 4.4% quarter on quarter. Its share was 4.8%.

6 Music has shown why it needed to be saved, by doubling increasing its audience for the second quarter running, according to Steve Busfield in The Guardian...

The digital radio station, which was controversially proposed for closure before being saved by the BBC Trust, has seen its average weekly audience double since last year to a record 1.194 million for the three months to the end of June, according to Rajar figures published today.

However commercial radio were also spinning how good the results were for them. Radio Today report the results very differently....

For commercial radio, audiences have grown by nearly 1 million listeners (905 000) across the year, with the number of listeners tuning into a commercial radio service increasing to 32.8 million, the highest commercial reach recorded in the last decade and the fourth consecutive quarter of growth.

Andrew Harrison, Chief Executive, RadioCentre, said: “This is a fantastic set of results for the commercial radio sector showing long-term and sustained growth by every measure. The fact that commercial radio reach has hit a new record high and listening is up by almost 27 million hours in the quarter, is a testament to the investment that the sector is ploughing into ensuring that our content stands out from our competitors.

All BBC Radio listening is down - with weekly reach dropping from 34.88m last quarter to 34.59m this quarter. BBC share remains the same, ahead of commercial radio at 56.5 per cent.

Weekly reach and share for digital listening on DAB has seen a slight increase this quarter, with digital TV, internet and other devices either remaining static or increasing. Year-on-year figures are more encouraging with an 11 per cent increase in weekly reach. This means 20 million people now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled receiver each week (up from 18 million in Q2, 2009).

Home ownership of DAB radio is up to 35.3 per cent (from 33) but listening via a mobile phone is down for 15-24 year olds and static for 25+.

Whatever way you look at these figures, and I am sure we will see them dissected in minute detail over the coming days and weeks, it has got to be good news for radio industry.