24/07/2008

A radical overhaul of Edinburgh’s all-speech radio station, talk107, appears to have reaped its rewards, with big hikes in their listening figures. But the celebrations may be tempered, somewhat, with the news that one of their star presenters has decided to leave tomorrow.

Says audit body, RAJAR - which has just published its radio listening figures for the second quarter of this year, ie April, May and June - the station’s weekly reach is up to 41,000, compared to 26,000 this time last year.

‘Weekly reach’ is defined by the number of adult listeners who have tuned in for at least five minutes during the week. For talk, its reach - from an albeit low-ish baseline - was up 57.7 per cent, year on year, and 24.2 per cent between the first three months of this year and the following three.

But the news that Dominik Diamond is leaving will put a dampener on celebrations, since he was key to the changes at the station, which saw the departure of presenters, less reliance on phone-ins and a less confrontational style of presenting.

One change had also been dispensing with producers - to, for instance, line up guest interviewees - which led to Diamond choosing to hire his own. It’s understood his co-presenter, Marisa de Andrade, is staying on, at least in the meantime.

allmediascotland was unable to contact him.

The ‘Rajars’ did not bring particularly good news, either, to BBC Radio Scotland, which saw its weekly reach down to 824,000 - equivalent to its share of the available market standing at 7.5 per cent. This time last year, it was 909,000 and eight per cent. Between the first quarter of this year and the second, its reach was down 18.3 per cent.

For the station, the quarter began with its broadcasting of Scottish Premier League football enjoying a nail-biting climax to the season, before its summer break. However, TV coverage of this year’s European Championships may have drawn a sizeable crowd away from their radios.

However, for less clear possible reasons, there was a decrease too in the number of people listening to the flagship news programme, Good Morning Scotland. That said, it still brings in the peak audience - at 8am, it is around 141,000. It’s understood, however, that the dip may be just over ten per cent, year-on-year.

Elsewhere, Real Radio Scotland's market share of 16 per cent was down on the quarter and on last year. Its reach - across the whole of Scotland’s central belt - of 727,000 was down year-on-year, but up very slightly on the quarter. 

With 554,000 listeners, Clyde 1 was once again the market leading commercial radio station in Glasgow and the west of Scotland, with a share of 15 per cent. But this time last year, it was 586,000.

Presenters such as George Bowie on breakfast, Suzie McGuire on drivetime and Colin Kelly on mid-morning have all added new listeners, with George adding 42,000 and Suzie and Colin both adding 19,000 to Clyde 1’s figures.
 
Clyde 2 remains the best performing AM station across Scotland, with 227,000 listeners and has had three consecutive market share increases.

Meanwhile, sister stations, Forth One and Forth 2, together accounted for an audience of 317,000 and a market share of 18.9 per cent in Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife - representing an increase of 26,000 listeners in the last three months. But Forth 2’s reach was down 11.2 per cent on this time last year.

Forth One was responsible for 19,000 of those extra listeners. Boogie and the breakfast team have increased their audience year on year and have more listeners at breakfast than any other station in the area.

Among the biggest fallers, XFM Scotland (East) saw a 39.3 per cent drop in its reach, compared to this time last year, and a 12.8 drop between the first and second quarters of this year. Equivalent figures for 96.3 Rock Radio are 23.5 per cent and 15.2 per cent. Northsound One also saw drops: of 11.9 per cent and 3.3 per cent.

But one of the more impressive climbers was Dundee-based Wave 102 FM. Under new ownership, it saw its year-on-year reach increase by 18.5 per cent, and its quarter-on-quarter figure also rise: by 14.3 per cent.

Comment: And don't forget Radio Borders which now has a reach of 57% (6% higher than any other UK station), plus a huge increase in hours listened and a market share of 32.6% (the highest in mainland UK). The latest UK Radio Guide shows that Radio Borders also has (in terms of reach) the UK's No.1 Breakfast and Drivetime shows. All in all, pretty impessive! Hugh Brown


* Send your Scottish media news and gossip, in the strictest confidence, to  info@allmediascotland.com