FIGURES published by RAJAR today [Thursday] demonstrate the continued success of The Scottish Sun radio stations as they show audience figures doubling in the past six months, with listeners tuning into the stations for longer.
The figures – the second such set since The Scottish Sun stations were launched on New Year’s Day this year – show that the stations achieved a weekly reach of 27,000 listeners in the six months between April and September, with each listener spending an average of seven-and-a-half hours a week tuning into the stations.
This compares to 13,000 weekly listeners spending an average of six hours a week during the first six months of the year. All in, 205,000 hours each week was spent listening to Scottish Sun radio stations, an increase from 78,000 for the period between January and June.
News Scotland and Wireless launched the new DAB and online music radio stations on New Year’s Day, broadcasting in central Scotland under The Scottish Sun brand.
Today’s figures show growth across all three stations, each of which are targeted at a different audience demographic, and outperforms a total radio market reach which remains flat quarter on quarter. All radio listening hours have grown by four per cent in areas that transmit either Scottish Sun Hits, Scottish Sun 80s, or Scottish Sun Greatest Hits.
The Scottish Sun stations will continue to go from strength to strength, bringing listeners music and interviews from the biggest names in music. For example, the Flashback 40 show hosted by David ‘Kid’ Jensen was launched on Greatest Hits in August, featuring classic charts from years gone by, while some of the hottest names in music, including James Arthur, Little Mix, Olly Murs, Rak-Su and Sigrid have joined Elliot Holman on the Total Access show on Scottish Sun Hits.
Welcoming the figures, Richard Bogie, managing director of News Scotland, said: “We are delighted with these figures, which show that we have built on the early success we enjoyed in the first half of the year, and this gives us momentum as we press ahead with exciting plans for its future. We are focused on delivering entertaining content for listeners and ensuring that we entice more and more people to tune in and enjoy all that our stations have to offer.
“The Scottish Sun radio stations are a strong addition to our print and digital offering for readers, listeners and advertisers and are a growing part of our strategy. The increasing reach of our brands across platforms is creating excellent new opportunities for commercial partners.”
Terry Underhill, group programme director for Wireless, added: “What a great day for radio in Scotland.
“We always knew that the there was a gap in the market for some new and exciting radio stations, and the results we’ve received today confirm how popular our Scottish Sun stations are.
“To see these stations doubling in audience in just 12 weeks gives us great confidence to grow still further. Whether it’s the fantastic breadth of music on Scottish Sun Greatest Hits, the newest music on Scottish Sun Hits or the hugely popular Scottish Sun 80s, all stations are performing spectacularly well.”
ENDS
Source: RAJAR/Ipsos MORI/RSMB RAJAR Weeks 14 2018 – 37 2018 (2nd April 2018 – 16th September 2018), reporting Total Scottish Sun audience which is made up of Scottish Sun 80s, Scottish Sun Greatest Hits and Scottish Sun Hits. Base: Total Scottish Sun TSA.
Notes for editors:
RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research and is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the commercial sector.
New Scotland publishes The Scottish Sun, The Scottish Sun on Sunday, The Times Scotland and The Sunday Times Scotland.
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