​The latest RAJAR* figures relate to the first three months of this year, when life was starting to move on from the pandemic, during which Radio as a medium had shown its strengths as a source of information, entertainment and connection. To find out if audience loyalty has been maintained we’ll look at each NI station’s adult weekly reach, total listening hours, and share of all listening.
 
Top performer this time was BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle with 527,000 listeners each week, 5,780,000 hours and a share of 21.2, up from 20.9 in the previous quarter.
 
Downtown increased its share too, from 8.6 to 10.1, with 285,000 listeners and 2,759,000 hours. Sister stations Downtown Country and Cool FM saw dips in share; these being 3.5 to 2.5 and 11.5 to 11.4 respectively. The Country service now has 105,000 listeners and 687,000 hours, while Cool attracts 440,000 listeners and 3,104,000 hours.
 
U105 enjoyed listener growth in both its original FM and the newer DAB-only areas, with 198,000 and 29,000 adults tuning in for 1,955,000 and 176,000 hours, with the respective shares  being 12.4 (up from 12.3) and 1.5 (same).
 
It was a different picture at Q Radio with decreases in all measures; a 228,000 reach, 1,151,000 hours, and a share down from 5.1 to 4.2.
 
Lastly to our usual check on how the local stations are performing against their national competitors. In the previous survey period, the combined share of listening hours of all the services referred to above was 57%, and this time it is…  57%, so the good news is that they are continuing to hold the attention of local audiences.


*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos - MORI
Each station's figures are from its own Total Survey Area

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com
​

Such was the long wait for the last RAJAR* after reporting was suspended in response to the pandemic, the newest figures seem to have come quickly, and these relate to Quarter 4, 2021. The measures by which the fortunes of the NI stations can be assessed are reach (of adults), total listening hours and share, and this is a pocket-sized summary of how each has fared.

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle now attracts 514,000 listeners each week, with 5,785,000 hours and a share of 20.9, up from 19.9 in the previous quarter.

Downtown also enjoyed an increase in share, from 7.3 to 8.6, with 280,000 listeners and 2,391,000 hours. Stablemate Downtown Country likewise saw upwards movement from 3.4 to 3.5, with 109,000 listeners and 974,000 hours. Cool FM posted 446,000 listeners, 3,185,000 hours and a share of 11.5, down from 12.9 last time.

Moving on to the Belfast-based commercial services: Q Radio reaches 253,000 with hours of 1,426,000 and a share of 5.1, declining from 7.6.

U105 in its original FM transmission area has a reach of 185,000, along with 1,946,000 hours and a share of 12.3, an increase from 11.6 previously, while a further 23,000 listeners and 166,000 hours come from the station’s newer DAB-only coverage, with a 1.5 share (was 1.8).

It’s always interesting to check on how the local stations perform against their national competitors, with up to 60 such stations currently available on a DAB+ receiver. The combined listening hours share of all the local services referred to above is 57%, one percentage point down on the previous quarter. We’ll find out next time if this is a blip or a trend.


*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI

Each station’s figures relate to its own Total Survey Area

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

The coronavirus pandemic had not long begun when RAJAR* was last published, and of necessity this has been in a holding pattern.

In the interim, the research gurus have been working on innovative ways to collect and collate the data needed to provide robust up to date results, issuing an advisory that comparisons should not be made with previous findings such as station ‘reaches’ - that’s the number of adults tuning in each week. It also in any case would not be advisable to contrast the previous Quarter 1 survey with a Quarter 3 survey now.

What remains a telling metric though is the share of total listening achieved by each station, which reflects their success in attracting and keeping an audience. So this time, in addition to giving the latest reach and total hours of each local NI station, I’ve added the respective share and compared it to that in the last set of published results from May 2020.

Since then, the two longest-established local broadcasters, BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and Downtown Radio have made significant on air changes; Ormeau Avenue refreshing its schedule, and the Newtownards station moving to a more modern music offering instead of being predominantly based on Greatest Hits and complementary to Cool FM. Downtown had also extended its FM service to the Belfast area by opening a relay at Carnmoney.

And so to the latest figures; leading on share is BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle with 19.9, from 19.3. Their reach and hours are 517,000 and 5,500,000.

Cool FM enjoys a 12.9 share (13.9 last time), a reach of 492,000 and 3,575,000 hours; while sister station Downtown has a 7.3 share (from 7.2), 281,000 reach and 2,012,000 hours, and Downtown Country a 3.4 share (from 2.2), 114,000 reach and 948,000 hours.

The Belfast-based commercial services next: Q Radio achieved a share of 7.6 (was 10.5) with a 292,000 reach and 2,108,000 hours, while U105 reporting in its original FM transmission area has a share of 11.6 (was 9.7), reach of 196,000 and 1,956,000 hours, with a further 1.8 share (no change), 27,000 reach and 185,000 hours outside of this.

With all the changes to people’s living and working patterns during the pandemic, and the increasing adoption of new ways of listening such as smart speakers, the radio sector has responded skilfully, playing to its strength as a ‘one-to-one’ medium. Many stations revised their ways of operating, with programme presenters broadcasting live from home.

So how did the aforementioned local NI stations fare in the big picture of all radio listening? Their combined share of total hours was 58%, the same as last time pre-Covid, from which we can tell that in the midst of the turmoil they held the attention and loyalty of their listeners.

*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI

Please note that each station’s figures relate to its own Total Survey Area.

The national scene from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

The latest RAJAR* release comes in the very week that Cool FM marks 30 years on air, and their new audience figures give added reason for celebration with an all time high of 506,000 weekly listeners.

This has edged ahead of the previous record set two years ago, which was helped by the inclusion of DAB coverage across the whole of Northern Ireland.

The decision by the original Downtown to ‘split’ its frequencies to carry two services in 1990 was not a straightforward one.

From 1988, stations elsewhere in the UK doing likewise were keeping their main output on FM aiming this at a younger audience, and opening a ‘gold’ alternative on AM.

While a station ‘of the times’ was a good fit for Greater Belfast with the launch of Cool FM, Downtown’s breadth and popularity on FM in the newer northern and western areas, combined with a loyal audience built up within the AM coverage, led to it becoming the station ‘of the place’. The addition of DAB from the early 2000s has allowed Downtown to offer a clear quality signal everywhere.

In terms of weekly reach and listening hours year-on-year, Cool with 506,000 is up from 486,000 and has a drop of 17% in hours; Downtown increases to 264,000 from 245,000 with a 13% loss in hours; and Downtown Country sees a decline to 108,000 from 143,000 and a 51% fall in hours.

Q Radio attracted an extra 24,000 listeners, giving the network 300,000 in all, with hours down by 8%.

U105 decreased to 210,000 from 221,000 in its FM area, with hours up by 10%. To this should be added the audience served only on DAB, of 31,000.

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle dropped to 516,000 from 524,000, and hours were down by 12%.

The total of the listening hours for the local stations above comprises 56% of the hours spent with all radio, which is up by one percentage point from the RAJAR results in the previous quarter. That gives them a greater share of the cake - birthday or otherwise!


*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos - MORI

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

In the latest RAJAR* just released, the two NI stations using letters as names are both celebrating an upturn in reach, that’s the number of people listening in the course of a week.

U105 increased to 191,000 from 186,000 in its FM area, with hours up by 5%. To this should be added the audience served only on DAB, the most recent figure being published in the last RAJAR, of 31,000.

Q Radio gained 20,000 listeners, taking them to 311,000, compared to last year when the Belfast and original Q Network figures were given separately as 142,000 and 149,000. Hours however did not follow suit, dropping by 14%.

Downtown, Cool FM and Downtown Country all saw declines (220,000 from 272,000; 477,000 from 496,000; and 125,000 from 134,000 respectively) with hours commensurately decreasing by 35%, 15% and 13%.

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle also dropped to 513,000 from 539,000, and hours were down by 11%. It will be interesting in due course to see the effect of the schedule changes recently introduced at Broadcasting House.

The total of the listening hours for the aforementioned local stations comprises 55% of the hours spent with all radio, which is unchanged from the previous RAJAR results, and would suggest that overall radio listening is down in this quarter.

As always, comparisons are year-on-year and each station’s figures relate to its own stated Total Survey Area.


*RAJAR is compiled by IPSOS-MORI


The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

The August RAJAR* release comes around faster than the others, as the publication interval is eleven weeks rather than the full quarter. The latest figures reflect the period up to the end of June, and indicate a slight slippage in local station listening of two percentage points to 55% of all the hours that NI people spend with the medium.

Turning to the broadcasters, BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle saw weekly reach go from 566,000 to 493,000, with hours down by 19%.

Downtown now has 215,000 (from 244,000) and 23% fewer hours, while Cool FM sits at 442,000 (from 473,000) with 5% fewer hours; however Downtown Country moves up from 116,000 to 121,000 and has 20% more hours.

Two Belfast-based stations enjoyed increases in reach; Q Radio from 260,000 (the combination of the previously separate Q figures) to 281,000, with hours decreasing by 6%. U105 is up from 153,000 to 189,000 and by 12% in hours in its original FM area. Their DAB-only extended coverage is measured yearly and last had a published figure of 29,000.

As always, comparisons are year-on-year and each station’s figures relate to its own stated Total Survey Area.

*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

Paul Easton with the London perspective:
http://www.pauleaston.co.uk

The latest RAJAR* has arrived in between elections, and the four local broadcasting ‘candidates’ - BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle, Downtown/Cool, the Q Network and U105 together account for 57% of the time that Northern Ireland listeners spend with radio. The remainder is largely shared out among over 40 national stations.

Drilling into the detail, BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle saw a weekly audience drop from 580,000 to 490,000, with a 10% decrease in hours.

Cool FM posted a loss (482,000 to 478,000) with a 1% dip in hours; Downtown fell from 258,000 to 194,000, losing 35% of hours; and Downtown Country increased from 120,000 to 123,000 boosting hours by 38%.

Q Radio is no longer reporting separate figures for Belfast and the original six stations; the combined number is now 271,000 (up from 231,000 when the two published figures from a year ago are added together) along with a 19% uplift in hours.

This time U105 is reporting on its original FM area, with a listenership of 201,000 (up from 12 months back when it was 172,000) and a 3% rise in hours; plus a further 29,000 within its DAB footprint.

As always, all comparisons are year-on-year and each station’s figures relate to its own stated Total Survey Area.

*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

Paul Easton with the London perspective:
http://www.pauleaston.co.uk

After only five weeks, this is already quite the year for Radio on the national stage, with Chris Evans moving lock, stock and barrel to Virgin Radio (part of Wireless Group, owners of U105), and Downtown parent company Bauer being due to launch Scala Radio, a classical music service on national DAB in March, with key signing Simon Mayo. BBC Radio 2 has accordingly revised its daytime line up, and RAJAR* will tell the story on all of that next year.

In the latest research just released, U105 enjoyed the largest gain in reach, from 197,000 in its FM area this time last year to 221,000, with DAB listeners now taking the audience to a total of 250,000.

Q Radio saw a decrease in both the Belfast and original Q Network areas, from 133,000 to 131,000 and 153,000 to 145,000 respectively.

Downtown Country posted a gain in reach - 119,000 to 143,000 while the heritage Downtown service decreased from 266,000 to 243,000. Cool FM moved back from 503,000 to 486,000 year-on-year.

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle had a drop in reach - 536,000 to 524,000.

As always, each station’s figures relate to its own Total Survey Area.

*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos - MORI

(Updated 8.2.19 with comparative amendments)

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

Paul Easton with the London perspective:
http://www.pauleaston.co.uk

With the sunshine of summer now a pleasant memory, the latest RAJAR* reveals what radio listeners were tuning into over that period. Again, the local stations notched up a strong performance, attracting 58% of all listening hours.

In terms of the individual broadcasters, Bauer NI lead the way with 710,000 listeners, up 13,000 on a year ago. Counter-intuitively, Downtown dropped by 16,000 to 272,000 with hours up by 19%; Cool increased by 1,000 to 496,000 while hours dipped by 18%; and Downtown Country attracted 134,000 (reach and hours down by 8,000 and 19% respectively). The explanation is that there is now less duplication in listenership across the 3-station family.

BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle had a weekly reach of 539,000, down from 572,000, with hours decreasing by 10%.

U105 achieved an overall increase of 13,000, but the figure 12 months ago of 198,000 related to the FM area, whereas there this time it is 186,000, with the further 25,000 added through the wider DAB footprint. On a like-for-like comparative basis hours were down by 11%.

Q Radio saw small gains in Belfast - 140,000 to 142,000 and 1% higher hours, but losses elsewhere - 166,000 to 149,000 and hours down by 17%, the latter being despite the addition of relay transmitters in parts of the province.

As ever, each station's figures are quoted within its own Total Survey Area.

*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI.

The national picture from Matt Deegan:
www.mattdeegan.com

Paul Easton with the London perspective;
http://www.pauleaston.co.uk