Bauer Media has delivered a solid set of listening figures in today’s RAJAR results, with 12.5 million listeners now tuning into a Bauer Radio Network station each week. Around the network, we produced 110 million hours of excellent programming and enjoyed a market-leading position in 21 out of 25 of the areas we serve.
Magic 105.4, the ‘more music, less talk’ station has maintained its number 1 position in the commercial radio market in London delivering the biggest audience for the 11th consecutive quarter. Q3 results have seen Magic 105.4 deliver a 6.6% rise in listeners year on year and continues to be the only commercial station in London to have over 2 million listeners.
Neil Fox’s Breakfast Show illustrated the Magic 105.4 success by increasing its reach by 5.6% year on year, securing 773,000 listeners in the morning.
Kim Wilde’s Sunday morning show on Magic 105.4, Secret Songs, has delivered a strong performance for the station securing the show as the commercial market leader in the 10am-2pm slot in London.
Kiss 100, London’s dance music station, has increased its reach by 2.1% on the year and now has over 1.5 million Londoners tuning in. This follows a strong summer of events and festivals with the Kiss Does Summer campaign seeing the station partner with key summer events such as Wireless Festival in Hyde Park and Notting Hill Carnival.
Rickie & Melvin’s flagship breakfast show continues to be a highlight in the strong Kiss 100 line up, with the reach increasing year on year to an impressive 611,000 listeners tuning in every morning, a 4.9% increase.
Both Magic and Kiss Networks delivered strong year on year results with a rise in reach of 7.9% and 10.6% respectively and a combined listenership of 3.13m giving Bauer Media a 10.1% share of the whole London market.
Steve Parkinson, MD of Bauer Radio London said: “It is fantastic to see Kiss and Magic both up in reach and hours year on year in such a fast moving market. To see this success replicated by their networks across the UK is even more impressive and shows the strength of these brands. Kiss 100’s share of the commercial London market is now only 0.2% behind Heart, proving that Kiss is a station that never stands still and is a strong contender for a top 3 position.”
Elsewhere in the Bauer Media portfolio:
The Big City Network has delivered its best ever market share since December 2006 with 14.1% and delivered 4.5 million listeners a week, reaching more listeners than Radio 1 and Radio 2 in its market.
Performing particularly well were Rock FM in Preston, Viking FM in Hull, Metro in Newcastle, and Northsound in Aberdeen.
Cool FM in Northern Ireland delivered a 19.3% market share, up 14.9% on the year. Cool FM and Downtown again increased reach and posted a combined audience of 553,000.
In Scotland, our Big City stations attracted 1.7 million listeners every week proving the group’s dominance across Scotland. In the lucrative 25-44 demographic, Bauer Media has seen an increase of 40,000 listeners year on year and 9,000 quarter on quarter.
Graham Bryce, Managing Director of Bauer Radio Scotland, said:
“I’m delighted to be able to reveal another fantastic set of results for our stations. The fact that we are number one in seven of our eight Scottish markets is fantastic and I’d like to thank all teams at each and every station for their hard work over the past quarter.
“The increase in numbers across our portfolio increasing is mainly due to our compelling programming and great news and entertainment the teams at each of our stations consistently deliver.
“We feel as strongly about localness as our listeners do and we will continue to create station’s listeners enjoy and are proud of.”
In the heart of England, Kerrang! now has more listeners in the West Midlands than BRMB and Galaxy.
Along with our local stations, we continue to lead the way in digital with heat Radio, Q Radio, The Hits and Smash Hits! all in the Top Ten. Smash Hits! is second only to its stablemate The Hits in the whole digital Radio market.
heat Radio boasted their highest ever RAJAR for the second successive quarter with more listeners - 623,000 - tuning in for longer - 3.7million hours (up 100%), underlining its position as the most complete celebrity cross-platform brand in print, on air and online.
Dee Ford, Group MD of Radio, Bauer Media commented:
"This is a solid book, delivering fantastic figures in London and the best Big City listenership for almost three years.
“Over the quarter, ‘Kiss does Summer’ has been a real audience builder for us, and I am sure that the return of ‘Magic’s Mystery Voices’ will drive further engagement for Magic 105.4. Across BCN, Bauer Media was the natural exclusive partner for U2 and our five hour broadcast of their 360 degree tour from the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield was carried on our stations across Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and online to a potential audience of over 6 million people.
“As we continue to deliver world class events and seek to capture more listeners and greater audience share, I am sure Ric Blaxill’s recent appointment as Head of Music, BCN, will add unrivalled insight and wealth of experience.”
“Across the UK, commercial radio continues to hold audience against the BBC. We remain committed to providing the UK’s best loved radio stations and are passionate about delivering the best programming and engagement with our audiences.”
“Source: RAJAR / Ipsos-MORI / RSMB, period ending September 2009, all stations and groups results are reported on their specified reporting period and TSA.”
Download RAJAR Data in PDF
ENDS
For more information about:
Magic and Kiss
kissmagic@braben.co.uk or 0207 566 2990
Big City – North of England and Northern Ireland
bigcity@bisslancaster.co.uk or 0161 236 2277
Big City - Scotland
Kate McCheyne at the BIG Partnership on 0141 333 9585/07766076469 or email kate.mccheyne@bigpartnership.co.uk; OR Gillian Hamilton, at The BIG Partnership on 0141 333 9858 / 07734 656 676 or email Gillian.hamilton@bigpartnership.co.uk
All other enquiries to: Sarah Ewing on 002 7859 8411 or 07740 110 788, or sarah.ewing@bauermedia.co.uk
