RAJAR: Local radio continues to grow

Local radio is continuing to thrive, with many stations seeing a large increase in listeners on FM in the last 12 months.

In Ipswich, Town 102 has almost doubled its audience, Eagle Radio sees a large quarterly hours increase and JACK fm Oxfordshire gains its highest ever reach, hours and share.

JACK fm Bristol is also continuing to report a higher audience than it ever did as Orignal 106 – with a steady 19% reach compared to 5% two years ago, and Island FM 104.7 now has an impressive 54% reach – its best in almost 10 years.

In Wales, Nation Radio posts one million listening hours for the first time – an increase of 63% quarter on quarter, and in Scotland Original 106 has its biggest reach yet.

Along the South, Fire Radio also has it’s biggest audience in four years – with 9.3 average hours (it was 5.6 last year) and 43,000 listeners. And in the Midlands we see that Beacon records its highest figures in four years with over a quarter of a million listeners each week.

At UKRD, Sun FM in Sunderland is enjoying a 31% reach – its highest in a decade – and Pirate FM in Cornwall is also enjoying a higher audience than of late, now with 34% reach.

On AM and DAB, a number of Gold stations have seen an increase this quarter too, with Gold Essex and Gold East Anglia on the up. In fact, Gold Essex now has twice the number of listeners it did two years ago.

First Radio Sales, which represents 120 local stations now reports that six million adults tune into one of their stations for an average 8.7 hours per week. FRS tell us Signal One in Staffordshire has increased total listening hours by 27% quarter on quarter to over 3 million and The Breeze West has doubled its listenership since last quarter and increased hours by 88%.

The Vodafone Big Top 40, syndicated each Sunday by a large number of local stations, is still the UK’s biggest chart show, now listened to by 2.6 million people each week.

It’s not all good news though, as re-launched East Midlands regional Gem 106 has lost audience and hours again, whilst Kestrel FM Haslemere (formerly Delta FM) is down to its lowest audience in over five years. BRMB is also down, now at its lowest hours ever and down 57,000 listeners.

How has your station done? Email us and let us know.