Exactly ten years ago, my first regular blog on the fortunes of NI stations as determined by RAJAR* was published.
It seems quite a time ago – the Olympics had recently been held in London; the word ‘Brexit’ had just been coined with the referendum due in a few years; a worldwide pandemic was the stuff of movie stories (the film ‘Contagion’ was released in 2011); and in Radio locally, Downtown Country was a programme on the station, not a full-time separate service, and Citybeat was then broadcasting as a stand-alone owned by Carlisle’s CN Group. U105 was operating out of parent company UTV’s HQ at Havelock House, and had yet to go on DAB provincewide, with SDL Digital set to launch to add a choice of a further 22 stations. Technologically, smart speakers were still years away.
So how do things compare today?
Regular readers will recall that I like to give the share of total listening hours achieved by all the local stations surveyed in RAJAR combined, as this indicates their strength in relation to Radio as a whole.
Back in 2013, this figure was 55% - in the latest research it is 57%, which will be a satisfying result for all those of us wishing to see a healthy local radio sector.
Lead station in the newly released figures is Cool FM, enjoying a weekly reach of 490,000 with 3,987,000 hours and a 14.1 share (was 428,000, with 3,183,000 hours and a 12.0 share at the same time last year). In 2013, Cool had a reach of 417,000, hours of 3,238,000 and an 18.6 share.
Stablemate Downtown has dipped by 1,000 to 292,000 in reach, and from 2,608,000 hours to 2,426,000, with a share of 8.6 (from 9.9). In 2013, Downtown attracted 268,000 adults each week, listening for 1,868,000 hours giving a share of 7.2. Downtown Country saw a jump in reach from 100,000 to 153,000, hours go from 563,000 to 1,095,000, and share increase from 2.1 to 3.9.
Q Radio increased reach from 194,000 to 284,000, with hours up from 1,324,000 to 1,766,000 and share from 5.0 to 6.2. Ten years ago, Citybeat and Q Radio were under separate ownership, but had respectively 154,000 and 107,000 listeners, 1,120,000 and 748,000 hours, and shares of 11.2 and 6.9.
U105 also posted increases in reach and hours, in the Greater Belfast area from 188,000 to 228,000, with hours of 1,937,000 (were 1,845,000) and a share of 11.4 (was 11.5). In its DAB-only area, the station had a reach of 32,000 (was 28,000), hours of 194,000 (were 156,000) and a share of 1.7 (was 1.4). A decade back, U105 had 196,000 listeners, 1,776,000 hours and an 11.4 share.
BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle decreased in reach year-on-year, from 504,000 to 439,000, with hours dropping from 5,016,000 to 4,590,000 and share likewise from 19.0 to 16.2. In 2013, the reach was 543,000 with 5,889,000 hours and a 22.2 share, which meant that these BBC services then accounted for 40% of total local radio listening hours. As of now this figure sits at 29%, which we can only conclude is a disappointing direction of travel from Ormeau Avenue.
*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI
Note: each station is quoted within its own Total Survey Area.
It seems quite a time ago – the Olympics had recently been held in London; the word ‘Brexit’ had just been coined with the referendum due in a few years; a worldwide pandemic was the stuff of movie stories (the film ‘Contagion’ was released in 2011); and in Radio locally, Downtown Country was a programme on the station, not a full-time separate service, and Citybeat was then broadcasting as a stand-alone owned by Carlisle’s CN Group. U105 was operating out of parent company UTV’s HQ at Havelock House, and had yet to go on DAB provincewide, with SDL Digital set to launch to add a choice of a further 22 stations. Technologically, smart speakers were still years away.
So how do things compare today?
Regular readers will recall that I like to give the share of total listening hours achieved by all the local stations surveyed in RAJAR combined, as this indicates their strength in relation to Radio as a whole.
Back in 2013, this figure was 55% - in the latest research it is 57%, which will be a satisfying result for all those of us wishing to see a healthy local radio sector.
Lead station in the newly released figures is Cool FM, enjoying a weekly reach of 490,000 with 3,987,000 hours and a 14.1 share (was 428,000, with 3,183,000 hours and a 12.0 share at the same time last year). In 2013, Cool had a reach of 417,000, hours of 3,238,000 and an 18.6 share.
Stablemate Downtown has dipped by 1,000 to 292,000 in reach, and from 2,608,000 hours to 2,426,000, with a share of 8.6 (from 9.9). In 2013, Downtown attracted 268,000 adults each week, listening for 1,868,000 hours giving a share of 7.2. Downtown Country saw a jump in reach from 100,000 to 153,000, hours go from 563,000 to 1,095,000, and share increase from 2.1 to 3.9.
Q Radio increased reach from 194,000 to 284,000, with hours up from 1,324,000 to 1,766,000 and share from 5.0 to 6.2. Ten years ago, Citybeat and Q Radio were under separate ownership, but had respectively 154,000 and 107,000 listeners, 1,120,000 and 748,000 hours, and shares of 11.2 and 6.9.
U105 also posted increases in reach and hours, in the Greater Belfast area from 188,000 to 228,000, with hours of 1,937,000 (were 1,845,000) and a share of 11.4 (was 11.5). In its DAB-only area, the station had a reach of 32,000 (was 28,000), hours of 194,000 (were 156,000) and a share of 1.7 (was 1.4). A decade back, U105 had 196,000 listeners, 1,776,000 hours and an 11.4 share.
BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle decreased in reach year-on-year, from 504,000 to 439,000, with hours dropping from 5,016,000 to 4,590,000 and share likewise from 19.0 to 16.2. In 2013, the reach was 543,000 with 5,889,000 hours and a 22.2 share, which meant that these BBC services then accounted for 40% of total local radio listening hours. As of now this figure sits at 29%, which we can only conclude is a disappointing direction of travel from Ormeau Avenue.
*RAJAR is compiled by Ipsos-MORI
Note: each station is quoted within its own Total Survey Area.
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