Rajars: Commercial radio loses share to the BBC

In Q2, commercial radio had regained audience share from the BBC, to 42.7%, from 41.6% in Q1.

The fall in commercial radio's share was driven by a surprising drop in local commercial radio's audience. Its share declined to 31.6% in Q3, down from 32% a year earlier and 31.9% in Q2.

National commercial radio's audience share was broadly flat: up 0.1 percentage points from Q2 and down by the same amount from Q3 2008.

The Rajars show radio listening via all digital platforms increased 14% year on year to 21.1% of all listening hours. DAB's share in Q3 was 13.3%, up from 11.3% in Q3 2008. Internet listening, by comparison, was 2.2%, the same level as Q3 2008.

Radio listening via mobile phones continues to grow: 6.9 million adults claimed to do so in Q3, up from 6.4 million Q3 2008.  The 15 to 24-year-old demographic shows a slightly bigger increase of 8.3% year on year, with nearly a third of those in this age group saying they have listened to the radio in this way.

The Q3 Rajar period covers the three months to 20 September.

For full analysis of the Q3 Rajars, read Media Week's 3 November print edition.