RAJAR Q3 2024

Summer 2024 was the hottest on record, not only in the UK but the whole planet. There was a General Election and change of government, but in this changing world there’s one constant you can always rely on… RADIO.

The Q3 2024 RAJAR survey, covering 24th June to the 15th of September is in. Here are the headlines:

  • All Radio reach remains at 88% and delivers over 51 million listeners each week.
  • There are now 1,369,000 more radio listeners compared to Q3 2023.
  • Commercial Radio has over 40 million listeners an increase of 817,000 year on year and 7.5 million more than BBC radio.

Your radio experts have been trawling through the data to bring you the detail you need to know.

National Stations and Networks

Global remains the number one commercial radio company in the UK, in terms of reach, with 27.7 million listeners, up from 27.2 million in Q2 2024, with a record share of 24.5% and highest ever hours of 255 million.

The Heart Brand is healthy with another excellent quarter, adding a further 229,000 listeners – now reaching nearly 13 million listeners across the full spectrum of Heart stations.

The Capital Brand is stronger than ever, now reaching over 9.7 million listeners each week, including both Capital Network and Capital Xtra stations. The main takeaway for the Capital Network in Q3 is it has increased its total reach by 7.3% from 6,992,000 to 7,502,000 and total hours by 10.8% – up from 33,404,000 to 37,009,000. One of the drivers for this could have been Jordan North joining the Capital Breakfast Show. His new show attracted 2.96 million listeners in the third quarter of 2024, compared with 2.55 million for the final three months hosted by his predecessor Roman Kemp.

The Smooth Brand is sailing smoothly through calm waters – its weekly reach is up 6.3% from 7,215,000 in Q2 to 7,688,000 weekly listeners in Q3.

It’s been a solid gold survey this quarter for the Gold Brand. It’s holding its own and increased reach by 2.8% year on year, currently reaching 1.8 million listeners weekly.

The second biggest commercial radio company in the UK is Bauer Media. They achieved a total of 22.1 million weekly listeners.

Amongst their brands, The Absolute Radio Network stands out, absolutely increasing its weekly reach by 100,000 and is now reaching nearly 5.7 million listeners each week – up 1.8% from Q2 2024. Average listening hours per week are also up, resulting in a 4% increase in total hours quarter on quarter to 38.7 million.

The Hits Radio Network has also seen an increase in reach – up 2.2% from 7,071,000 to 7,225,000 weekly listeners.

Bauer’s flagship brand, Greatest Hits Radio, is more than a one hit wonder, reaching an impressive 7.4 million every week during Q3 2024.

The Magic Network’s total hours have also increased by an incredible 19.6% year on year from 17,098,000 in Q3 2023 to 20,463,000 in Q3 2024, whilst its weekly reach has grown by 5.4% from 3,482,000 to 3,669,000 listeners.

News UK will be pleased with the performance of the Virgin Radio Network. It delivered its highest reach during Q3 with 2.4 million weekly listeners, up 7.3% from 2.2 million in Q2.

News and Talk stations

During this RAJAR survey, former Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, called a General Election which saw a change of Government. That meant that news and current affairs were high on the agenda with radio playing a vital part in the nation’s debate.

Leading the conversation in Q3 was the LBC Brand which delivered 3.4 million listeners every week, adding a further 63,000 listeners to its figures quarter on quarter, up 16% year on year. Total Hours for the brand also grew by 4.5% to 31.7 million.

GB News enjoyed spectacular results with its reach up 18% from 518,000 to 611,000, weekly listeners.

Listeners to Times Radio voted with their ears as they also saw reach increase, up 17% to 557,000, compared to 478,000 in Q2 2024.

Digital Listening and Digital Only Stations

Total digital listening (inclusive of DAB, DTV, total online and websites, apps and smart speakers) has consolidated its share of listening at 74%. This compares to listening on traditional AM/FM at 26% – down from 30% last year. One of the highlights is DAB listening – which achieved a 44% share in Q3 2024 – up from 42% compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Looking at specific digital station performances, KISSTORY remains the No.1 commercial digital station with 2.3 million weekly listeners in Q3.

Another Bauer station, Magic Soul, became the star of the show this quarter, with its total hours increasing by 20.2%, up from 1,908,000 to 2,293,000 and its weekly reach growing by an impressive 10.4%, up from 603,000 in Q2 to 666,000 in Q3.

Heart Tens (70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s) have had another strong quarter too, adding just under 300,000 new pairs of ears to their audience. Heart 70’s is the winning decade this quarter. Helped by its flared jeans and long hair, its listening hours climbed 45% from 2.1 million in Q2 2024 to just over 3 million in Q3.

The Capital XTRA Brand is still on song as the biggest for Hip Hop & RnB, now reaching nearly 2.2 million listeners each week, up 3.1% compared to Q2 2024.

There was a symphony of good results for Magic Classical in Q3, with its weekly reach up by 11.7% to 219,000 and its total hours up by 5.5% to 1,829,000. As this RAJAR survey took place before the brand changed from Scala Radio to Magic Classical, it will be interesting to see how this classical station performs in the next quarter.

Boom Radio is still booming, seeing its highest ever reach in Q3 – up 13% from 621,000 to 701,000 and hours per listener are still rising high at 11 hours per week.

Absolute Radio decade’s stations have all grown their audience and four of the six have increased total hours. Absolute 80s is the most popular of the decades, increasing reach to 1,714,000, up 8% from Q2, and not far behind the flagship station for the brand, which has a weekly reach of 1,974,000. The highest gains have been made by 70s, 00s and 10s, up 26%, 42% and 37% respectively in total hours in Q3.

Over at Absolute Radio Country, “Everybody at the bar is gettin’ tipsy” as they’ve reported their best set of results. With interest in country music on the rise in the UK, this station now has a record high weekly reach of 541,000, up 18% since Q2 2024 and 26% year on year.

London

As Jefferson Starship once sang “We built this city on Rock and roll”. Well, London is built on more than that as there’s a wide range of radio formats available in the city. It’s more like “Status Quo”, as there’s little change in the battle of the brands this quarter. Heart remains number 1 for reach with 1.94 million listeners, but not far behind is Capital London achieving a solid 1.78 million weekly listeners.

LBC News London is up by 11.9% year on year from 338,000 listeners to 434,000. However, the best result in the city is Radio X London – increasing its reach by 17.1% compared to Q2 2024 up from 490,000 to 574,000 weekly listeners.

The top 5 London stations are as follows:

Weekly Reach (000’s)

Heart London1,945
Capital London1,786
LBC London1,415
Smooth London1,247
GHR London1,072

Total Listening Hours (000’s)

 LBC London17,507
 Heart London9,273
 Capital London8,656
 Smooth London5,253
 GHR (London)5,247

Locally

In the regions, there has been some solid performances this quarter.

Capital South Coast is up 33.2% in total hours this quarter, up from 752,000 in Q2 to 1,002,000 in Q3 and up 12.8% in weekly reach from 156,000 to 176,000.

Staying in the south, Global’s Smooth Radio Essex increased its reach by 28.6% up from 63,000 listeners in Q2 to 81,000 in Q3. Meanwhile, Bauer will be happy with the performance of Greatest Hits Radio Sussex, which saw an increase in reach of 27.8% quarter on quarter from 133,000 to 170,000.

Heading further north, Capital East Midlands is up 11.3% in weekly reach from 407,000 in Q2 to 453,000 in Q3 and up in total hours by 10.9% from 2,338,000 to 2,592,000.

Hits Radio Cumbria saw an 18.2% increase in reach since last quarter, up from 11,000 to 13,000 listeners and a whopping 95.1% jump in hours quarter on quarter from 41,000 total to 80,000. Hits Radio (East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire) also saw a 31.6% quarter on quarter increase in hours and a 9.7% increase in reach from 145,000 to 159,000.

For the second quarter in a row, we doth our flat cap to Heart Yorkshire. It’s up 11% in reach to 568,000 weekly listeners and up 21% in total hours to 3.2 million.

Meanwhile, even further north, Clyde 1 (Glasgow & The West) continues to keep the Central Belt of Scotland entertained. It’s increased its reach by 6% to 747,000 in Q3. Clyde now has a stunning 18.7% share of listening in its TSA and with the re-branding of West FM as Clyde 1 (Ayrshire), the Clyde 1 brand is stronger than ever.

Summary

This RAJAR survey over the summer of ’24 has delivered another solid set of results for Commercial Radio.

The entire radio industry continues to work hard to create great content that informs and entertains whilst providing company to listeners.

This means that agencies and their advertisers have access to over 40 million pairs of ears each week to help them communicate both brand and direct response messages.

When the world is facing challenging times on all fronts, people turn to radio to stay in touch, so right now, there’s never been a better time for advertisers to use radio.

For a quick overview, take a look at our infographic and if you’d like to know more about the Q3 2024 RAJAR or any other aspects of radio and digital audio advertising, please get in touch.

Previous Post

Related Posts