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RAJAR results: 6 Music hits biggest ever audience

Mark-Radcliffe-and-Stuart-006_0

BBC Radio 6 Music recorded its biggest ever audience of nearly 2 million listeners, according to the official RAJAR listening figures out today.

The MediaCityUK-based station also saw a record 27% of listening via online or smartphone and tablet apps – more than four times the industry average of 6.4%.

It’s now more than tripled its audience since the BBC announced plans to close the station in 2010 until an audience backlash forced a rethink by the BBC Trust.

6 Music's Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie 6 Music’s Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie

A number of its presenters, including Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s afternoon programme, enjoyed record audiences in the last quarter.

“The brilliant figures for Radio 6 Music shows the network continues to go from strength to strength, cementing its position in the digital space,” said Bob Shennan, controller Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and director, BBC Music.

“I’m thrilled that Shaun Keaveny, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie are all reaching record audiences – with Lauren Laverne leading the charge as the most listened to show on the station.”

5 live suffered a 5.2% drop in reach with 5 live Sports Extra sinking 20% over the year, although it was up quarterly by 32.3% after a busy summer of sport.

On a more local level, BBC Radio in Manchester, Merseyside, Stoke and York were the only BBC stations in the North to increase their share of listening over the quarter.

Andrew Bowman, assistant editor of BBC Radio Manchester, said: “I’m really proud that we’ve not only got more listeners but also that they’re listening for longer. We’ve had some really big journalism in the last few months including following all the developments in Syria and Iraq. We’ve worked hard to give listeners in-depth coverage and perspective on how the global story relates to them in Great Manchester.”

Smooth Radio Network – which re-branded Gold stations as Smooth – recorded an increase of 22.8% over the year. The network was up 2% in quarter three and now has a total weekly audience of almost 4.7m.

UTV Media’s talkSPORT, after recording its highest audience ever in the second quarter, saw a 6.8% drop in the third quarter but was up 5.3% year on year.

Bauer Radio’s total portfolio reached a record 17.1m listeners, up 11.3% year on year, with its Place Local Portfolio now reaching 9.5m.

See all Northern station RAJAR results below:

2014 Quarter 3 Summary
23 Jun – 14 Sep
2014 Quarter 2 Summary
31 Mar – 22 Jun
   
  Survey Pop’n Total Hours Share of Pop’n Total Hours Share of
  Period ‘000 ‘000 Listening % ‘000 ‘000 Listening %
BBC Radio 5 live Q 5809 38953  3.8% 6276 42408  4.1%
BBC Radio 5 live (inc. sports extra) Q 6132 44141  4.3% 6442 45554  4.4%
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra Q 1216 5187  0.5% 919 3145  0.3%
BBC 6 Music Q 1994 18332  1.8% 1891 16252  1.6%
BBC Radio Cumbria H 122 1207  13.8% 123 1126  13.9%
BBC Radio Humberside H 183 1629  10.0% 211 1982  12.0%
BBC Radio Lancashire H 194 1449  6.8% 197 1594  7.0%
BBC Radio Leeds H 195 1298  4.4% 207 1441  5.0%
BBC Radio Manchester H 207 1846  4.4% 189 1689  4.0%
BBC Radio Merseyside H 310 4719  13.6% 339 3888  11.4%
BBC Radio Newcastle H 277 2202  9.1% 278 2276  9.1%
BBC Radio Sheffield H 238 1669  6.6% 254 1856  7.3%
BBC Radio Stoke H 119 1275  9.9% 127 1253  9.7%
BBC Radio Tees H 122 842  5.6% 138 1013  7.0%
BBC Radio York H 95 779  7.4% 88 649  6.4%
Gold Network (UK) H 1032 7999  0.8% 857 6959  0.7%
Heart Network (UK) H 9075 67403  6.6% 9069 66251  6.4%
Smooth Radio Network (UK) H 4692 36251  3.5% 4602 36872  3.6%
talkSPORT Q 3148 22304  2.2% 3376 22726  2.2%
Bauer Rock Portfolio H 1861 11750  1.1% 1845 10878  1.1%
Bauer Place – North East H 747 5179  13.1% 720 5780  14.5%
Bauer Middlesbrough H 221 1848  11.8% 214 1572  10.5%
Bauer Newcastle H 529 3331  13.2% 508 4208  16.4%
Bauer Place – North West H 1361 10827  10.6% 1413 10382  10.1%
Bauer Liverpool (inc. City Talk) H 512 4534  11.9% 521 4296  11.2%
Bauer Liverpool H 481 4287  11.2% 494 4066  10.6%
Bauer Manchester H 557 3709  7.9% 611 4174  8.9%
Bauer Preston H 315 2584  9.7% 319 2142  7.5%
Bauer Place – Yorkshire H 863 7096  11.5% 843 7016  11.4%
Bauer Hull H 286 2297  11.7% 274 2204  11.2%
Bauer Leeds H 170 1349  7.4% 167 1367  7.5%
Bauer Sheffield H 419 3481  13.9% 416 3487  13.8%
Bauer Place – North East FMs H 606 3735  9.4% 589 4227  10.6%
Metro Radio H 446 2500  9.9% 436 3311  12.9%
TFM Radio H 163 1234  7.9% 154 916  6.1%
C.F.M (Bauer Carlisle) Y 112 1140  21.1% 111 1044  20.4%
Bauer FM Liverpool H 434 3501  9.2% 468 3438  9.0%
Total City Talk/Magic 1548 H 175 1279  3.4% 138 1088  2.8%
City Talk 105.9 H 77 247  0.7% 68 230  0.7%
Bauer Place – North West FMs H 1206 8810  8.9% 1281 8728  8.7%
Radio City 96.7 H 400 3255  8.5% 439 3208  8.4%
Key 103 (Manchester) H 507 3041  6.4% 558 3535  7.5%
97.4 Rock FM H 284 2268  9.4% 293 1985  7.7%
Bauer Place – Yorkshire FMs H 675 4808  8.7% 663 4685  8.5%
96.3 Radio Aire H 98 593  5.1% 99 566  5.0%
Hallam FM H 352 2678  10.7% 346 2528  10.0%
96.9 Viking FM H 230 1536  7.8% 226 1592  8.1%
Magic Network – North H 672 5749  2.8% 622 5538  2.7%
Magic Network – North East H 194 1444  3.6% 193 1554  3.9%
Magic 1152 (Newcastle) H 114 831  3.3% 102 898  3.5%
Magic 1170 (Teesside) H 80 613  3.9% 92 656  4.4%
Magic Network – North West H 217 2017  2.0% 183 1654  1.6%
Magic 1548 (Liverpool) H 101 1032  2.7% 79 858  2.2%
Magic 1152 (Manchester) H 82 668  1.4% 73 639  1.4%
Magic 999 (Preston) H 35 316  1.5% 32 157  0.7%
Magic Network – Yorkshire H 261 2288  3.7% 246 2330  3.8%
Magic 828 (Leeds) H 92 755  4.2% 83 801  4.4%
Magic AM (Sheffield) H 102 804  3.2% 105 959  3.8%
Magic 1161 (Hull) H 77 760  3.9% 66 612  3.1%
Total Cheshire Radio Y 69 417  5.9% 64 415  5.8%
Cheshire’s Silk 106.9 Y 29 192  5.5% 26 196  5.5%
Chester’s Dee 106.3 Y 40 225  6.3% 39 219  6.2%
Total CN Radio Y 256 1951  12.3% 263 1995  12.8%
The Bay Y 112 943  15.5% 107 905  15.5%
Lakeland Radio Y 20 150  12.6% 20 152  12.7%
Communicorp UK H 3346 25339  7.6% 3252 25403  7.6%
Capital Scotland H 523 3216  6.9% 523 3691  7.7%
Capital South Wales H 208 1258  6.1% 184 981  4.8%
Heart Yorkshire H 447 4226  7.3% 370 3323  5.7%
Heart North Wales H 72 423  2.6% 67 281  1.8%
106.1 Real XS Manchester (was 106.1 Rock Radio) H 123 627  1.1% 148 676  1.2%
Smooth Radio North East H 475 3521  8.7% 443 3519  8.7%
Smooth Radio North West H 1146 8801  8.1% 1165 9366  8.6%
Capital Manchester H 523 2727  4.9% 526 3324  5.9%
Capital North East H 500 2571  6.6% 473 2727  6.9%
Capital Yorkshire H 1052 7246  8.3% 1044 7747  8.9%
Gold Manchester H 73 617  1.1% 66 576  1.0%
Smooth Radio North West and Wales H 73 563  2.7% 31 249  1.2%
Capital North West and Wales H 178 929  4.4% 198 1155  5.7%
XFM Manchester H 298 1659  3.0% 231 1437  2.6%
Dearne FM Y 47 391  9.1% 50 379  8.6%
KCFM 99.8 Y 92 950  9.4% 89 775  7.5%
Ridings FM Y 44 378  5.9% 43 366  5.6%
Rother FM Y 30 283  6.5% 35 269  6.1%
Trax FM Y 87 755  9.6% 89 785  9.9%
The Local Radio Company Group Total Y 536 4125  10.7% 533 4306  10.9%
2BR Y 56 496  14.4% 58 545  15.6%
Minster FM Y 59 388  7.0% 62 401  6.9%
Star North East Y 54 326  4.6% 51 385  5.2%
97.2 Stray FM Y 48 331  10.7% 49 321  10.2%
Sun FM Y 75 630  13.4% 72 560  11.5%
Yorkshire Coast Radio Y 53 419  17.3% 53 493  19.9%
Radio Mansfield 103.2 Y 37 338  10.5% 38 326  9.7%
Heart North West H 565 5039  4.6% 531 3825  3.5%
Heart North East H 313 2207  5.5% 243 1534  3.8%
Heart North Wales H 72 423  2.6% 67 281  1.8%
Heart Yorkshire H 447 4226  7.3% 370 3323  5.7%
96.2 The Revolution H 33 187  2.0% 25 222  2.3%
The Bee Y 55 462  5.5% 52 497  6.1%
107.6 Juice FM H 207 1513  6.6% 228 1895  8.5%
Peak 107 FM Y 98 957  11.2% 106 973  11.0%
Radio Wave 96.5 FM Y 76 523  10.8% 75 655  13.8%
102.4 Wish FM Y 56 251  2.7% 63 383  4.3%
107.2 Wire FM Y 54 357  6.8% 51 237  4.6%
107.4 Tower FM Y 37 272  3.4% 45 307  4.0%

 

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