THE Glasgow-based commercial radio stations, Clyde 1 and Clyde 2, have each suffered a double-digit percentage drop in their average listeners compared to 12 months previously.
According to the radio listening audit body, RAJAR, the reach for Clyde 1 (‘reach’ defined as an adult listening for at least five minutes per week) was down 10.7 per cent between the first three months of last year and the first three of this. Translated, that amounted to a year-on-year drop from 579,000 listeners, on average, to 517,000.
But it was even worse for its sister station, Clyde 2, which suffered a year-on-year percentage drop in its average reach from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012 of 28.1 per cent; in other words, from 256,000 listeners to 184,000.
The reach drops were reflected in the stations’ respective share (of available population) figures: down from 14.4 per cent to 12.1 per cent for Clyde 1 and down from 5.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent for Clyde 2.
Says a media statement on behalf of owners, Bauer Media Scotland: “Clyde 1 dominates Glasgow and the West of Scotland with a weekly audience of 517,000. 72,000 more than its nearest commercial competitor.”
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, stations Forth One and Forth 2 – also owned by Bauer – enjoyed dramatically contrasting fortunes, with the former seeing its year-on-year reach increasing by 18.4 per cent (from 299,000 listeners to 354,000) and the latter suffering a 20 per cent drop (95,000 listeners to 76,000). The net effect in terms of share for the two stations was a year-on-year increase from 18.7 per cent to 20.3 per cent.
Among the non-Bauer commercial stations, Aberdeen-based Original 106 enjoyed a 11.1 per cent hike in reach (from 45,000 listeners to 50,000), while its sister station, Dundee-based Wave 102, was down 15.6 per cent (from 32,000 to 27,000).
GMG Radio-owned Smooth Radio Glasgow also had a 11.1 per cent year-on-year increase in its reach (from 261,000 to 290,000 listeners).
And BBC Radio Scotland saw its year-on-year reach down 38,000 from 1,045,000 during the first quarter of last year, equivalent to 3.6 per cent down. The reach was up five per cent quarter-on-quarter, however (from Q4 last year to Q1 this year), from 959,000 to 1,007,000 listeners.
In a BBC statement, head of Radio Scotland, Jeff Zycinski, is quoted, as saying: “It’s always good to see our reach surpass that magic million mark. I’m sure the constitutional debate and the twists and turns of the Rangers story brought more listeners to Good Morning Scotland and Sportsound.
“Our programme makers across Scotland contribute to a distinctive schedule of speech programmes and specialist music for BBC Radio Scotland, but they are also making their mark with the programmes they produce for the BBC’s UK radio network stations.”
