Marketing lifts online listening for Absolute Radio

The Absolute Radio network streamed a record 12.2 million hours in March, up 25% on the month and 54% year on year, following Absolute's above-the-line marketing campaign 'Faces For Radio'.

Absolute Radio: marketing campaign helped to boost online listening figures
Absolute Radio: marketing campaign helped to boost online listening figures

According to figures supplied by the broadcaster, the core Absolute Radio station streamed 5.7 million hours, also the highest figure to date.

Absolute Radio claims to be the only UK radio station to publish streamed or on-demand listening hours, but more detail for the other stations will be available through audience measurement system Rajar later this year.

The 'Faces For Radio' campaign, featuring weekday breakfast presenter Christian O'Connell and weekend presenters Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman, ran across outdoor and digital formats from the end of February.

The Christian O'Connell, Frank Skinner and Dave Gorman shows are also available as a podcast, and each recorded their highest download figures and highest increases, month on month.

Frank Skinner's podcast was downloaded 883,189 times, up 13.2% month on month. Dave Gorman's was downloaded 443,396, up 14.6% month on month, and Christian O'Connell's recorded 105,775 downloads, up 22.3% from February.

Last month, 317,000 new apps were installed into mobile devices and the monthly active-user figure rose to 233,000 – up 5.9% from February 2011, which was the first time Absolute Radio released active-user figures.

The broadcaster has also started to release figures to show how listeners are engaging with the station’s brands on social media, Absolute Radio and its network received a total of 23,600 new "likes" on Facebook in March.

A spokeswoman for Absolute said it had improved the way it measured mobile streaming and was now able to include all apps on all platforms. Absolute Radio streamed 1.2 million hours of live content by a mobile platform in March, 10% of all live streaming.

The increase in online figures contrasts with Absolute's measured audience through Rajar, which has declined significantly since the rebrand from Virgin Radio in December 2008.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, Absolute Radio's core station, available nationally on AM, DAB, online and through digital TV, as well as on FM in London, had an audience of 1.38 million a week, down 7.9% year on year and 16.9% quarter on quarter.

Absolute Radio's owner Bennett Coleman is currently in the process of reviewing the business and has begun the process of speaking to potential bidders about a possible sale.

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