Absolute Radio is the first radio group to hit the 50 per cent national digital listening penetration target set out in the Digital Britain report earlier this year.
According to RAJAR, the station recorded 51.5 per cent of the station’s national listening on a digital platform, compared to the industry average of just 21.1 per cent.
Nationally, Absolute Radio posted a drop of 6.2 per cent in reach and recorded a small drop in hours quarter on quarter. Year-on-year the station has lost nearly a third of its listeners and a quarter of its hours, although this is a comparison between Virgin Radio and Absolute.
talkSPORT increased its national audience by 69,000 and showed a healthy growth in listening hours quarter-on-quarter of almost 1.5 million. Meanwhile Global Radio's Classic FM suffered from a weak set of figures, dropping over 270,000 listeners and over 3 million listening hours.