Radio enjoys sound results as listeners soar by up to a third

Published on Thursday 6 August 2009 22:03

SCOTTISH commercial radio stations are managing to maintain their popularity, according to the latest listener statistics.

Stations such as Forth One and Northsound One have seen listener numbers rise by 17.9 per cent and 16.1 per cent respectively, according to UK radio body Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar).

Others such as 96.3 Rock Radio also saw rises, up 17.9 per cent, and Kingdom FM's listeners increased by 16.9 per cent.

BBC Radio Scotland also saw an increase of 13.8 per cent.

But some other stations saw a drop; the Glasgow-based Clyde 2 fell 20.7 per cent and Wave 102 FM was down 18.8 per cent.

Andrew Jones, media expert at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, put the strong figures down to stations pooling resources but warned that a lack of advertising caused by the economic downturn would probably prove to be a "significant" problem.

He said: "These figures are probably what we would expect to see because the medium-wave services of Clyde 2, Forth 2, Northsound Two etc are under intense pressure because people can find music, particularly older music, from a whole variety of sources such as Spotify.

"That's why Clyde 2 and Forth 2 are, in effect, a single network.

"Bauer Scotland have made the first steps towards creating a single network because now they only have separate breakfast shows and all the other programmes cover a national network on the medium wave.

"This is Bauer's strategy to retain a heritage station by retaining the separate branding but in effect it is one service."

Bauer's listening figures are up 7.9 per cent across Scotland.

However, Mr Jones said it would take more time to see if the strategy would work in the long-term.

He added: "What would appear to be the case is that radio in Scotland is holding up well, but the long-term trend is that commercial radio is facing some significant problems, like competition from other music sources and the loss of advertising."

The figures also show that Sir Terry Wogan is holding his position as the king of breakfast radio today, pulling clear of rival Chris Moyles.

Moyles, the self-styled "saviour of Radio 1", was almost neck and neck with Wogan for listeners in the last set of quarterly figures.

But data released yesterday showed 7.93 million people tuned in to Wake Up To Wogan on BBC Radio 2 each week, up from 7.77 million in the last quarter and well clear of the Chris Moyles Show, which had 7.72 million listeners each week, up slightly from 7.7 million last quarter.

Across the UK, listener numbers overall are at an all-time high: 90.3 per cent of the population, or 46.3m people, tuned in for at least five minutes in the course of a normal week.

Radio 3 was given fresh cause for celebration after being named station of the year at the Sony Radio Awards. The channel broke the two million listener mark.

A total of 2.02 million people tuned in each week during the last quarter, Radio 3's biggest audience for more than two years.

AUDIENCE SHARE

BBC Radio Scotland 13.8 %

Big City Scotland 6.8%

Radio Borders -20%

Central FM -2.5%

Total Radio Clyde 6.8%

Clyde 1 FM 8.1%

Clyde 2 -20.7%

Bauer Radio Total Scotland 7.9%

Bauer Radio Central Scotland 10.7%

Total Radio Forth 18.6%

ForthOne 19.9%

Forth2 -1.1%

Galaxy Scotland 5%

Galaxy Scotland (East) 29.3%

Galaxy Scotland (West) -3%

GMG Radio Scotland 1.5%

Kingdom FM 16.9%

Moray Firth Radio 6.4%

Total Northsound Radio 13%

Northsound One 16.1%

Northsound Two -8.8%

Real Radio (Scotland) -3.2%

96.3 Rock Radio 17.9%

Smooth Radio (Glasgow) 0%

Total Radio Tay -5.7%

Tay-FM -1%

Tay-AM 0%

Wave 102 FM -18.8%