After numerous relaunches and lineup changes, GMG Radio's 102.2 Smooth Radio finally has something to shout about, with the best hours of any commercial radio station in London. Real Radio Scotland is now more listened to than Capital, while there were losses for both Century stations.
In London, 102.2 Smooth Radio's reach has remained steady at 475,000 listeners a week but the station's share has increased from 1.3% to 1.7%. Average hours have 7.9 hours a week — almost two hours more than the previous quarter, and the best average hours of any commercial station in London, including Heart, Magic and Capital 95.8.
Real Radio Scotland continues to dominate audience figures for GMG. The regional station now has more listening hours (10.37million) than Capital 95.8 (10.06 million) and records a reach of 30%. While Real Radio in Wales lost reach but improved market share, Real Radio Yorkshire recorded their second lowest reach at 302,000 and a share below 6%.
There were also loss in reach for GMG's Century stations. Century North West lost nearly 160,000 listeners as the station continued its yo-yo trend of recent quarters. Century in the North East lost 35,000 listeners, the majority of which were in the South of the station's TSA. Century lost the rights to live commentary of Middlesbrough FC – which they had held for 11 years – last June.
Rock Radio continues to prove the popularity of a local specialist format. Paisley's AC station QFM was relaunched by GMG last year as Rock Radio, it is now posting the license's best market share (3.4%) since March 2003.
[i]Please note: Any figures compared year-on-year are subject to further investigation due to the introduction of a new survey by RAJAR from June '07.[/i]