CRA reports growth in radio audiences as COVID-19 restrictions ease
As the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic begin to ease, audiences are growing across commercial radio, with a 7.1% jump over the past four weeks.
New data from Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) shows an increase in commercial radio’s average weekly metro audience of nearly 12m people over the past month.
Commercial radio listens are up according to Commercial Radio Australia
The data comes from the GfK Radio Pulse e-diary survey as the traditional diary measurement methods have been paused during the pandemic. The research shows an increase of 786,000 people per week from the last official radio survey, released in April.
According to the GfK study, commercial radio now reaches 82.4% of Australians, compared to 76.9% in Survey 2 and an average of 77.3% for 2019.
CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner said the survey was good news for the industry.
“Listener numbers increased throughout the day, with breakfast up 1.5%, drive up 5.5% and the afternoon daypart (midday to 4pm) attracting an average weekly audience of nearly 8 million people – the kind of figures usually reserved for breakfast, “ Warner said
“Listening at home continues to be well above trend. Nearly 65% of people listened at home each week and 59% listened in the car.”
Weekend listening has spiked, according to the data, with commercial radio reaching a cume audience of nearly 10m across the two days, up 17% from Survey 2.
The survey was in-field from May 17 to June 13. Victoria announced people were able to leave their homes for recreational purposes from May 13. In New South Wales and Queensland, it was from May 15.
Each metro city saw increases in commercial radio listeners – in Sydney, the cumulative weekly audience was up 343,000 compared to Survey 2. Melbourne audiences increased by 175,000, Brisbane by 77,000, Adelaide by 71,000 and Perth by 120,000.
Across the age groups, commercial radio reached on average 92% of 10-17 year-olds each week, 78% of 18-24s, 81% of 25-39s, 84% of 40-54s, 84% of 55-64s and 79% of those aged 65 and over.
The GfK Radio Pulse involved a representative sample of 2,240 participants who reported their radio listening for each quarter hour via an e-diary using a computer, smartphone or tablet. This differs from the standard radio survey methodology, which comprises a larger sample size, with 70% of participants using paper diaries placed in households and 30% completing an e-diary.
The official radio surveys will resume with Survey 6, which will be in-field from July 26 to September 19, with results to be released on September 29.
