Rajar Q4 2021: Digital nears two-thirds of all UK radio listening

Total digital listening is now 64.4% of all radio listening according to the latest Rajar figures.

This breaks down into DAB with 42.5%, online including smart speakers and apps at 16.9% and digital TV at 5.1% of all listening time.

This marks a slight decrease from Q3 2021 which had 65.8% digital share of listening.

Rajar’s latest survey found all radio reached 89% of UK population on a weekly basis, the same as the previous quarter.

In terms of total hours, listening online reached 170  million hours in total in this period from mid-September to mid-December 2021, which is down from 183 million hours in the preceding quarter.

Findings also showed 31% of adults listen to radio a mobile phone or tablet and 40 million adults have access to a DAB receiver.

Meanwhile, analogue platforms FM/ AM make up 35.6% of listening time, increasing slightly from 34.2% in the previous quarter, a small increase from 34.2% in the Q3 2021).

Oliver Clarke, planning director at independent media agency the7stars, told Mediatel  News: “We will see the share of digital listening continue to grow, as digitally enabled platforms become the norm for the majority of the population.”

“The inevitable rise of digital listening hours via apps and smart speakers has and will only accelerate the digital planning and buying capabilities that radio offers; the channel can now very much offer the mass broadcast reach of national networks alongside the audience-first programmatic approach to buying digital audio,” he added.

Charlotte Taylor, head of publishing & audio at Publicis Groupe agency Spark Foundry told Mediatel News: “Similarly to listeners, revenues in this channel are also on the rise. AA/WARC quoted last week that for 2021, revenue was +21.7% for linear radio and +41.4% for digital, with 2022 set to grow again 4% and 10.7% for digital.”

“With this growth of listeners, and audio being a fairly low entry point for advertisers compared to other channels, comes demand. 2022 is set to be another robust year for audio with; increased sponsorship opportunities, a World Cup in Q4, and advertisers returning to market, namely the automotive market and travel sectors we can expect airtime availability to sell out more times than not, which will inevitably increase CPT’s in some areas,” she added.

For more analysis on Rajar’s Q4 2021 results, log-in to Mediatel Connected and read our extended coverage.