Radio listeners are creatures of habit

13 Feb 2012 09:04Media 15

South Africans have shown little change in their radio listening habits, with SAARF’s latest RAMS release showing no significant listening changes over the previous survey.

Key results from RAMS February 2012, the sixth release from the 2011 RAMS programme, are:

Time spent listening

As was the case in RAMS December 2011, time spent listening (TSL) isstable on the previous release, and is one minute lower than it was a year ago.

Currently, TSL is three hours and 38 minutes per day.

Total listening

In total, radio listening levels are stable across the entire week.
• Past 7 day listening: 88.1% (lower listening in Durban)
• Average Monday to Friday: 68.3%
• Saturday listening: 64.8% (levels are up in Kimberley, but down in metros and in Durban). Listening in the evening is lower than it was in RAMS February 2011.
• Sunday listening: 64.8%, with declines in listening in Pietermaritzburg. Listening on a Sunday afternoon is slightly higher than a year ago, while evening listening is somewhat down.

Individual station changes

Only stations showing statistically significant audience changes are reported on here. For a full list of audience figures, visit www.saarf.co.za, and click on “RAMS^® (radio)”.

While no individual radio station showed any movement this RAMS release over RAMS December 2011, five commercial stations and a number of community stations have significantly improved audience levels compared to RAMS February 2011.

• BRFM and Radiokansel/Radio Pulpit’s average Monday to Friday listening levels are at 0.2%, an improvement for both on their levels of 0.1% a year ago.
• Metro FM: looking better than it did a year ago, with weekly listening at 17.3%, compared to 16.2%.The station has however, lost listeners in cities and large towns on a past-7-day level, versus RAMS Dec2011.
• Radio 2000: now at 2.6%, compared to 2.1% in RAMS Feb 2011.
• Ukhozi FM commanded 18.4% of all weekly radio listeners in Feb 2011. Now, its national reach is 19.5%.

The community radio sector is stronger now than it was a year ago, reaching 24.3% of South Africans each week (compared to 23.0% in February 2011), and 12.4% on an average Monday to Friday (compared to 11.6% a year ago).In the short term however, the sector is showing declined listening in metro areas both across the week and on an average Monday to Friday, versus RAMS Dec2011.

Community stations whose improved year-on-year reach contributed to the sector’s stronger position are: