Rajar figures show record numbers tuning in to radio

by Mark Banham, Brand Republic 01-Feb-07, 11:15

LONDON - A record number of more than 45m people, or 90% of the UK population, tuned in to their radios each week in the last quarter of 2006, according to the latest Rajar results for the period ending December 17 2006.

The figure is the highest number of listeners ever recorded since Rajar began its weekly survey in 1992.

Listeners who have access to a digital DAB radio has also slightly increased from 54% in the third quarter of 2006 to 55% in the fourth quarter of 2006. The figure for the number of listeners that have access to a digital radio is 16% of the UK population, up five percentage points compared with the figure of 11% in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Listening to radio via digital television and the internet is up by 9% and 10% respectively year on year. Listening this way has remained stable during the last quarter of 2006 with digital TV listening now standing at 39% and internet listening at 22%.

The Rajar figures also reveal that 7.8% of the UK adult population, aged 15 or over, listens to the radio via mobile phone, up 24% year on year. In addition, a quarter of 15- to 24-year-olds, or 1.6m, mobile phone owners listen to the radio using this platform.

The number of downloaded radio podcasts continues to grow as well. The figures this quarter shows that 2.1m adults now use their MP3 player to listen to podcasts. This is a rise of 15%, from 15.2% in the third quarter to 17.4% in the fourth quarter of 2006.