03 Aug 2023 | Ella Sagar |

Rajar Q2 2023: another record high for commercial audience reach and share

Commercial radio registered a record weekly reach and share of listening for a second consecutive quarter, according to the latest Rajar radio audience data.

Combined commercial radio stations reached a total audience of 39.2 million listeners per week over the last three months, which is 7.5 million more than the BBC (31.8 million). The gap is more than double that of a year ago, when commercial radio had 36.3 million listeners, compared to 33 million for the BBC.

Commercial radio stations also increased their share of listening against the BBC for the third quarter in a row. It recorded a 54.5% share for Q2 2023, up from 51.4% last quarter and 49% last year.

Global retained the top weekly reach and share of listening for all of its combined stations, which include Capital, LBC, Heart and Smooth. It reached 24.9 million weekly listeners, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.

Bauer Media Audio network, which includes Absolute Radio, KISS, Magic and Greatest Hits Radio Network, reached 21.33 million weekly listeners, an increase of 9.2%.

BBC Radio 2 was still the biggest national station in terms of weekly reach, but this declined by 7.4% year-on-year, not helped by former presenter Ken Bruce leaving for Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.

As a whole, radio reached 88% of the UK population or 49.5 million people on a weekly basis.

Commercial radio marketing body Radiocentre’s client director Lucy Barrett said: “These numbers show that commercial radio is giving audiences exactly what they want to hear. The surge in commercial radio listening is also really good news for advertisers. The growth in online listening once again reminds us just how important the support for radio in the Media Bill is for the future of our sector.”

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