Two in five Brits prefer local radio stations

People who enjoy local stations over national ones are more likely to listen to commercial radio and less keen on podcasts than the average person, according to a YouGov poll.

Some 38% of Brits tend to (29%) or definitely (9%) agree that they prefer local radio stations to national ones.

A closer look at those who definitely agree shows that their media habits in general differ from the wider population.

Two in five (39%) said they listened to commercial radio in the last week when surveyed, compared with three in ten Brits (30%) overall. They also read regional (12% vs 8%) and local (15% vs 11%) newspapers more frequently.

Local radio fans are less keen on watching TV than the average person. While three in five people (60%) watched non-commercial TV on average in a week in the last 12 months, this compares to only 48% of local radio enthusiasts.

The same pattern is true for commercial TV although the gap is smaller (56% of local radio fans vs 60% of all Brits).

Podcasts have not had the same success with this segment as with the rest of the country. About one in seven Brits (15%) had listened to a podcast in the last week when surveyed, compared with only 9% of local radio fans.

The concentration of local radio fans is highest in Scotland (14%), North West (12%) and North East (11%). It’s lowest in inner and outer London (6%). East of England and the South East also have comparatively few local radio lovers at 8% each.

Local radio fans are more likely to be women (57%). And a higher proportion are aged 35 to 54 (37%) compared with the wider population (33%).