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The total hours of radio listening increased by nearly 9 per cent

in the 12 months to 31 March, according to the latest set of Rajar

results.

The figures provide the first year-on-year comparisons since the Radio

Advertising Bureau launched its new methodology last year.

The Bureau’s managing director, Justin Sampson, said a strong factor in

the increase was due to a growth in internet usage and the compatibility

of the two media.

’The numbers are starting to demonstrate that people are listening to

the radio while they are on the internet,’ Sampson said.

’Ninety per cent of all adults listen to the radio, but this climbs to

95 per cent when you focus on all internet users. Furthermore, more than

3 per cent of adults have listened to radio stations over the net and

that is particularly strong among men aged between 15 and 34, in which

case it’s more like 10 per cent.’

talkSPORT suffered a year-on-year drop in market share from 1.8 per cent

to 1.4 per cent, while total hours fell from 16.9 million to 14.2

million. But Kelvin MacKenzie, the chairman and chief executive of the

Wireless Group, pointed out that the station has strengthened its core

audience of males aged between 35 and 54 and that 67 per cent of the

station’s audience is now male.

Virgin Radio suffered a drop in reach, share and hours year on year,

although quarter on quarter it has pulled itself up, with a rise in

hours from 24.7 million to more than 27 million.

Classic FM has recorded its best figures, with a weekly reach of 6.26

million, adding a further 255,000 listeners quarter on quarter. It has

also reached a record market share of 4.4 per cent in the past 12

months.

UK RADIO LISTENING (QUARTER ENDING 26 MARCH 2000)

                         Weekly      Weekly          Total     Listening

                          reach       reach          hours         share

                         (’000)         (%)         (’000)           (%)

BBC Radio 1              11,316          24        103,332             

9.9

BBC Radio 2              10,593          22        138,503          13.3

BBC Radio 4               9,057          19        112,876          10.9

Classic FM                6,259          13         45,597           4.4

BBC Radio 5 Live          6,185          13         45,757           4.4

Virgin Radio (AM)         3,311           7         20,910           2.0

talkSPORT                 2,378           5         14,204           1.4

BBC Radio 3               2,143           4         14,063           1.4

Atlantic 252*             1,670           3          7,520           0.7

All BBC                  31,346          65        530,622          51.0

All commercial           31,766          66        490,085          47.1

All radio                43,358          90      1,040,009         100.0

Source: Rajar/Ipsos-RSL

* The majority of Atlantic 252’s listening takes place within its

defined Total Survey Area, which covers approximately 66 per cent of the

population.