Global Radio records highest ever audience while Bauer crosses 50% digital listeners line in Rajar Q2 figures
Global Radio recorded its highest ever audience figure at 23.2 million per week in Q2 of 2014, latest Rajar figures show, while Bauer Radio recorded more than half (50.8 per cent) of its listening via digital channels.
RAJARs: Global recorded its highest ever audience
Global Radio’s Capital London recorded more than a quarter of a million more listeners in the last three months, taking the station to a reach of 2.2 million, while the station’s breakfast show with Dave Berry and Lisa Snowden pulled in nearly 200,000 more listeners, taking its audience share from 4.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent.
In addition, Smooth London increased its audience by 216,000 listeners in Q2, taking its number to 781,000, and the network now reaches 4.6 million people, its highest number to date.
At Bauer Media, which owns channels such as Magic 105.4, Liverpool’s Radio City and Edinburgh’s Forth 1, more than half of listeners (50.8 per cent) tuned in through digital, its highest ever number and higher than the industry average of 36.8 per cent. More than three quarters (82 per cent) of Absolute Radio listeners tuned in via digital.
Its total portfolio reached 16.8 million people in Q2, a 12 per cent increase year-on-year, and digital-only brands such as Absolute 80s and Kisstory increased their audiences. The company now owns six of the top 10 digital-only national stations, with the rest among the BBC’s portfolio of stations.
Ashley Tabor, founder and executive president of Global, said: “It’s an immensely special day for the team at Global with our best RAJAR ever, leading the pack in the fiercely competitive London market with Capital, Heart and Smooth all enjoying phenomenal success.
“Overall, Global’s brands are reaching more people than ever. A staggering 23.2 million people are listening each week in the UK – these figures reflect the hard work and dedication of every single person working at Global.”
Richard Dunmall, group MD of advertising, London Lifestyle & Radio at Bauer Media, said the company was particularly pleased with its digital performance.
“We are particularly pleased with the strong digital growth that underpins this performance,” he said. “We will continue to develop innovative ways of trading with our commercial partners, delivering a valuable, engaged and mass market audience.”
Bauer’s Kiss UK also increased its reach by six per cent year-on-year to 4.6 million, while Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show rose to a network reach of 1.5 million.
Meanwhile, UTV sport station Talksport also recorded its highest ever audience figure at 3.4 million, boosted by coverage of the World Cup and an increase in its London auidence of more than a third (34 per cent) year-on-year. Calum Macauley, Talksport managing director, said it was a "fantastic day" for the station.
He added: "We continue, through brilliant sports content, to attract a young and very upmarket audience with an ABC1 male profile higher than 5 Live. We have also seen our position in the London market grow significantly. It’s great news for the station and our advertisers."
Global Radio recently joined forces with Bauer to launch the Digital Advertising Exchange (DAX), an advertising platform giving media buyers access to brands from both companies in a bid to maximise advertising opportunities in the UK radio sector.