The latest RAJAR* figures released today are for the period ending December 17, which was just days after all Medium Wave/AM transmissions for local radio here ceased, with the switching off of Downtown’s 1026 kHz (formerly ‘293’) signal from Knockbreckan, near Carryduff. BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle closed theirs back in May, 2021.
Two NI services achieve beyond the half million mark; Cool FM improves in its position as leader in reach with 538,000 listeners each week tuning in for a total of 4,155,000 hours, to give a share of 14.3. This time last year there were 470,000 listeners, 3,017,000 hours and an 11.0 share.
Next comes BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle with 506,000, which is an increase of 31,000 on the year. Their hours and share lead the local listening league - 4,927,000 (were 5,269,000) and 17.0 (was 19.3).
Q Radio moves up the ranking, with 351,000 listeners (was 226,000), hours of 2,068,000 (were 1,523,000) and a 7.1 share (was 5.6).
Downtown saw slippage in reach to 259,000 (from 305,000) along with hours and share (2,259,000 from 2,379,000 and 7.8 from 8.7).
U105 adds audience year-on-year with a 220,000 reach in the original Greater Belfast coverage area (was 202,000), with 1,866,000 hours (were 1,679,000) and share of 10.9 (was 10.7). In the station’s DAB-only area outside Belfast, a further 31,000 listeners (up 2,000) tuned in for 211,000 hours (were 169,000) with a 1.8 share (was 1.5).
Downtown Country rounds off our summary, with a reach of 105,000 (was 114,000), hours of 897,000 (were 995,000) and share of 3.1 (was 3.6).
So, are the stations named above holding the attention of local audiences? Comparing their combined total listening hours with 12 months ago reveals an increase of 9%, and this now represents 57% of all radio listening hours.
*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI
Note: each station is quoted within its own Total Survey Area.
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