In a trading statement for the year ending March 31, the radio group said that underlying group revenues for the year are forecast to be down 0.6%, excluding the impact of disposals during the year, and total group revenues are forecast to be down 1.1% year on year.
The crash in revenues at Classic FM follows its most recent rise in listening share, which was up by 0.2% in the recent Rajars. However, it was unable to back this up with encouraging reach figures. Classic FM's year-on-year reach fell to 6.7m.
Classic FM has hired a number of new presenters, including Katie Derham and Stephen Fry, as part of its strategy to appeal to younger listeners. The station's weekly reach dropped to 6.657m from 6.698m last year.
For the quarter ending March 31, GWR reported UK radio revenues on a like-for-like basis are forecast to be in line with expectations. It said it reflected a strong performance last year, when the Easter weekend fell in March.
"We are particularly pleased with the ongoing strong performance by our team selling national radio revenues for the local radio group, where revenues for the quarter are forecast to be up 8.7% year on year," GWR said in its statement.
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