The Radio 4 Blog Feed

Rajar figures (April - June 2013) and Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra

2013-08-01T16:35:48+00:00

Chris Hutchings (Research Manager for Radio 4, 4 Extra and Audio & Music Interactive) discusses the latest Rajar results, which cover April - June 2013.

Rajar figures

The latest RAJARs are in, this time for April-June 2013. The overall headline number is really good for Radio 4 – we saw a record 11m tuning in to the station each week, that's over 120,000 more than our previous highest audience this time two years ago. However, there is a watch out on how long people listen for, with the average figure down slightly to 11 hours and 22 minutes. That said, across a typical week a staggering total of 125m hours of Radio 4 are listened to.

Geographically we've seen some interesting patterns, with growing audience numbers in the Midlands, the North of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. And in terms of how many of us tune in to the different types of programmes, we see 9m listen to news on Radio 4 each week, 7m to drama and 6m to comedy.

Looking at sister station Radio 4 Extra, we continue to see healthy numbers tuning in each week. The latest figure of 1.6m is down slightly on January – March, but this is the 9th successive set of figures that have been at or above 1.5m. And in terms of how long we're listening to Radio 4 Extra for, the average figure crept up above 6 hours (6 hours 2 minutes) for the first time in almost two years.

Chris Hutchings is Research Manager for Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra and Radio & Music Interactive at the BBC.

From the BBC Media Centre: RAJAR Q2 2013: Record figures for Radio 4, Radio 2 and Asian Network
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.

Latest RAJARs for Radio 4 & 4 Extra

2013-05-16T12:15:40+00:00

Another Rajar day – and another good quarter for Radio 4 in the latest set of figures, which cover January - March 2013. I’m delighted that Radio 4’s unique flagship programmes such as Desert Island Discs, In Our Time and Woman’s Hour are getting record audiences and enticing more and more listeners each week to such brilliant broadcasters as Kirsty Young, Melvyn Bragg, Jenni Murray and Jane Garvey.

Sian Williams and Richard Coles have seen the extended Saturday Live attract increasing audiences. It’s also clear that the twists and turns of The Archers are keeping our listeners hooked on life in Ambridge!

Congratulations to all our talented teams and keep listening...

Here’s what the Radio 4 Audiences team told me:

Overall it’s another strong set of results for Radio 4 with 10.76m adults tuning in each week – this is the station's 5th highest reach figure since the current RAJAR methodology. We also had a record share of 12.8% this quarter, and with 21% of the population of this country tuning in each week, we’ve started the year pretty much where we left 2012. Radio 4 Extra also had another solid quarter, with 1.642m adults tuning in each week (down only slightly by -43k on last quarter), and record share at 0.95%. Our listeners this quarter were tuning in for longer, with an average 5.58 hours per listener per week – a new record for the station.

Once again, Radio 4 has the most loyal listeners of any network station with the average Radio 4 listener tuned in for 12 hours and 17 minutes a week in Q1 2013 – up by 13 minutes from last quarter and stable on last year.

News continues to be hugely popular amongst our audiences with 9.2m listening each week (slightly down on last quarter but up on last year) and our drama audiences were up both last quarter and last year at 7m. The Archers saw its strongest weekly reach since the record breaking Q2 2011 with 5.08m listeners each week and Radio 4’s comedy listening remained relatively stable, with 5.7m tuning in.

A number of Radio 4's flagship programmes have seen their numbers grow this quarter with Desert Island Discs getting record reach and share (3.08m and 13.0%), Woman’s Hour and In Our Time both saw record reach (3.66m and 2.26m respectively), and Saturday Live’s 9am-10.30am slot also saw its highest reach since at least Q3 2005 (2.44m).

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra

From the BBC Media Centre: RAJAR Q1 2013: Radio 2 scales new heights as BBC digital stations show long-term growth
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.

RAJAR listening figures for Q3 2011: "In an average week 10.83m adults listen to Radio 4..."

2012-02-02T10:00:00+00:00

I have been waiting for my usual Rajar Day telephone call - this time it is long distance as I am on holiday.

It is rather good news so congratulations to everyone who has contributed to our programmes. Chris Hutchings is our new audience guru here on Radio 4 so I thought I would pass you onto him for a more detailed analysis of who has been listening to what and for how long.

Chris Hutchings writes:

The latest RAJAR figures are in for Radio 4 and overall it's good news. In an average week 10.83m adults listen to Radio 4, that's 280,000 more than last quarter, 515,000 more than this time last year and tantalisingly close to the best ever figure of 10.85m. We've also seen a strong performance in terms of share of listening, with the current figure of 12.5% the equal highest that Radio 4 has seen.

News, drama and comedy all continue to attract large audience numbers. Each week 7.15m of us tune in to the Today programme, whilst just under 5m tune in to The Archers.

4 Extra also continues to perform well, attracting 1.55m listeners each week and retaining its position as the UK's No.1 Digital-only station (despite some impressive audience numbers for 6 Music and I Xtra).

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra

The Sun: Chris Moyles' war with John Humphrys of Radio 4
From the BBC Press Office: RAJAR: Radio 6 Music and Radio 1Xtra break records in anniversary year
More about the RAJARs on the BBC Radio 4 blog
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.
Picture, 28 January 2009, by Adam Bowie, used under licence.

RAJAR listening figures for Q3 2011

2011-10-27T12:20:00+00:00

http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

Yesterday on my way out of Broadcasting House to have lunch with Libby Purves, I met George Soros in the lift - he had just been a guest on Stephanie Flanders' new series Stephanomics. Before I left the office I listened back to Umberto Eco (what a voice; what books) interviewed for Front Row with Kirsty Lang.

Midweek included Terry Wogan (and he sang); last week Michael Morpurgo told Libby that he first got to see his real father on TV playing Magwitch in Great Expectations; and the week before featured a hero of mine (and Libby's it turns out), Albie Sachs, the former high-court judge and an architect of the South African constitution.

Oh, and if you haven't heard them already, don't miss Stephen Fry and Daniel Digby as Marengo and Copenhagen - the war horses of Napoleon and Wellington - in Warhorses of Letters which started this week.

Our Rajar figures are 10.55m - up by some 187k when compared with last year, although down on last quarter's record of 10.85m. It's worth noting that this quarter includes the summer hols in which listening often dips. Share is 12 per cent - up slightly compared with this time last year when it was 11.8 per cent, but again down on last quarter which was 12.4 per cent (share is about the share of listening to all radio that Radio 4 enjoys).

The average hours that listeners spend tuned to Radio 4 each week is up a tad this quarter and up some 19 minutes on the year at 12 hours and 17 minutes.

So on average ten and a half million people listen to Radio 4 for over twelve hours a week.

Oh and a small record or two - for Woman's Hour Drama, the Afternoon Play, as well as You and Yours - and FOOC on Saturday has done particularly well.

Radio 4 Extra's reach is much the same as last quarter at 1.52m (it was 1.53m). It is significantly higher than last year - up 46 per cent. Share is a record 0.9 per cent and total hours spent with the station each week hit a record of 9 million+, thanks to average time spent per listener of just over 6 hours. We hope this means that listeners have now found some programmes they enjoy on Radio 4 Extra and are staying with us to listen to them.

Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to the last three months of programmes.

Our audience guru, Alison Winter, tells me that on Radio 4 and 4 Extra we are seeing a pattern of long term growth. She said she would add a few lines to this note from me for those who might prefer to go to the tutored source as it were.

Alison Winter writes:

"You may recall seeing the headlines 3 months ago when Radio 4 enjoyed a record audience of 10.85m, riding on the tide of good news for radio that saw more people (47.6m, 15+) listening to more radio (just over 1 billion hours every week) than ever before.

So, as we pondered what the results for Q3 might have in store we expected to see a decline, given that Q3 includes the summer months of July and August, when normal routines can be disrupted and people are apt to spend more time out of the home and workplace. And indeed most radio stations have seen declines on the quarter, Radio 4 being no exception. But there is also a pattern of longterm growth as audiences are, by and large, higher than they were a year ago. In the case of Radio 4, the weekly audience has remained above 10 million (with only one exception) since mid-way through 2009, routinely attracting 1 in 5 of the UK population every week.

Gwyn has already highlighted some of the particularly good performances across the network this time round but another one I've found is the relative strength of DAB as a listening platform among Radio 4 listeners: as much as 26% of all Radio 4 listening is through DAB, versus the industry average of 18%. Maybe this explains the good news for 4 Extra, maintaining almost all of those who tuned in last quarter as it launched, and reaching record hours of listening each week."

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra

You can read the press release (PDF) and view the Q3 2011 quarterly summary on the RAJAR website.
From BBC Press Office: RAJAR - BBC Radio listening highest for three years
BBC News: BBC Radio 4 audience falls from record listenership
The Drum: Rajars reveal that digital radio accounts for nearly a third of all listening figures
RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.
Picture, 28 January 2009, by Adam Bowie, used under licence.

Thinking Allowed: Dirt

2011-06-08T16:43:00+00:00

Editor's note: This episode of Thinking Allowed is now available to listen to on the Radio 4 website - PM.

'Nice to see you in the flesh' said the man in front of me in the Wellcome Collection buffet queue.

'Oh well, it's nice to be here', I said hoping to stave off the usual remarks which follow evidence of my incarnation.

'You're a bit older than I expected' said my new friend, selecting a slice of lemon cake.

'Well', I said amiably 'That's rather what they said when they interviewed me for the job on Thinking Allowed. They said "you've got a good face for radio"'.

My new friend nodded as though he'd heard the joke before and turned to more practical matters.

'You're doing the debate in the big auditorium.'

'That's right', I told him, as we waited for our coffees to gurgitate. 'It's a discussion based on the present exhibition. The one over there in the main hall. "Dirt. The filthy reality of everyday life". '

'What's to discuss?' said my friend.

'Well', I said. 'There's the whole question of how you define dirt. Whether you, for example, agree with anthropologist Mary Douglas that dirt is defined by its inability to fit into customary categories, that it is nothing more or less than "matter out of place".'

I paused while my friend ordered the cold milk to go with his Americano.

'And then, of course, there's the association between dirt and hierarchy and the historical changes in our attitudes to cleanliness and hygiene, and the present-day ecological problems of waste disposal.'

We moved away from the till together and I wondered if it might now seem discourteous to abandon my companion.

'I hope you'll forgive me not being sociable', I said, 'But we record the programme in half-an-hour and I need to write brief introductions for the panellists - for historian Amanda Vickery, anthropologist Adam Kuper and cartoonist Martin Rowson. And I also need to check over my questions. To tell the truth I'm a bit worried about the manner in which the historical and the anthropological perspectives are going to come together: And there's also the slight problem of whether or not to treat the hygiene movement as genuinely progressive or regard it as a movement which can be readily appropriated by groups such as German national socialists who used it as a way to stigmatise "uncleanly others". '

'Well', said my friend 'Let's hope it's a good programme. There's one thing for sure.

'What's that?' I said.

'Whatever happens, you won't be short of words.'

I smiled and looked through the tables for my escape avenue. 'Well, nice to have met you', I said moving away.

'And you', he said. 'Especially in the flesh'.

Join me and my three guests for that discussion at 4pm today or after the midnight news on Sunday or on our readily downloadable podcast. You won't find us short of words.

Laurie Taylor presents Thinking Allowed.

On the Thinking Allowed website you can sign up for Laurie's newsletter (on which this post is based) and listen to and find out more about this episode.
Find out more about the exhibition Dirt at the Wellcome Collection.
There are also over 200 earlier episodes of Thinking Allowed available to listen to online.

Afternoon Play: The Big Broadcast (or Tap Dancing on the Radio)

2011-06-01T14:59:00+00:00

Editor's note: Neil Brand is a highly experienced radio playwright and award-winning composer/lyricist who with director David Hunter is responsible for today's Afternoon Play: The Big Broadcast which you can hear online for the next seven days. Here Neil relates the evolution of The Big Broadcast from idea to recording in front of a live audience in the BBC's Radio Theatre. And if that weren't enough for one person to be getting on with, Neil is also a pianist for silent film and worked with Paul Merton on his recent TV series about silent movies - PM.

I've always loved musicals.

It seemed the right time, from the depths of one recession, to be looking back at the Hollywood/Broadway view of the Great Depression of the 30s and using radio to celebrate... well, radio.

My friend Timothy Brock lent me some original US radio shows from the 30s to listen to and Radio 4 came back on my and David Hunter's proposal with the suggestion of a live recording in the Radio Theatre incorporating the BBC singers, starry names and the wonderful Radio Rep company who had all, it turned out, done time in West End musicals.

Recording a radio play can be an insular experience - eight-hour studio days in a windowless space or a control room listening intently to voices inches away from microphones. Musicals, on the other hand, are there to be belted out, songs and scenes alike, and throughout the writing process the characters in my head were on a stage, making stage entrances and playing to please a crowd.

I tried to write lines Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn would enjoy delivering, waspish put-downs, sly in-jokes and Chicago gangster-patter. I indulged in my favourite musical pastiches knowing the performers' voices would match the spirit of the times. Above all I wanted to make the story gripping for the listener, make them feel involved in the plot as well as the fun in the hall, and pay tribute along the way to the songwriting teams of Golden Age Broadway whose lyrics danced one minute and broke your heart the next.

How, exactly, would they write a love song at gunpoint whilst going through a messy divorce?

When it came to the performance, our company assembled in its entirety for the first time at 2pm on recording day, after only a day of rehearsals. The wonderful stars Josie Lawrence and Nigel Harman lived and breathed the text and songs as if they'd been playing them for weeks. The actors loved having the BBC singers producing the sound of a massive, close-harmonising chorus from only four voices; the singers really enjoyed the adrenalin and theatricality of the other performers.

The microphone movements were blocked, the brilliant Colin Guthrie, our on-stage live spot-effects operator, announced he was satisfied with his huge assembly of door-slams, wind machines and tap-shoes - we ran through the show once, then headed backstage and waited.

The last half-hour before hitting a live audience with something new is always muted - people prepare quietly, there's not much chat - too much to try and hold in one's head. One by one the cast appeared in smart costumes, scripts and scores in hand. On the call we all mounted the stairs to the stage and heard the buzz of a packed Radio Theatre - and I saw the performers bridle like racehorses at the sound of a full house - smiles, deep breaths and on we went.

I hope you like the result. I am enormously proud of it and hugely grateful to the BBC and everybody involved.

Neil Brand wrote and composed The Big Broadcast.

Of the video clip (above), director David Hunter says: "The Big Broadcast's audience and the listeners have a story of love gone wrong, of gambling and hoodlums and a cheesy soap opera. But the piece de resistance is studio manager Colin Guthrie, actors Jane Whittenshaw and Stuart McLoughlin throwing caution to the wind and, borrowed tap shoes on hands, creating rhythmic toe-tapping choreography for the radio. Tap dancing on the radio."
You can listen to The Big Broadcast on the Radio 4 website for the next seven days.

Rather fabulous - the Q1 Rajars are in

2011-05-11T23:01:00+00:00

http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

"Rather fabulous" - she really did say that a moment ago on the phone. I am referring to our Radio 4 audience guru, Alison Winter. It was a momentary lapse as she is, as you might expect when it comes to figures, well... measured... Thus you will gather that the first quarter RAJAR listening figures for Radio 4 are cheering: a record reach in fact of 10.8 million. This means that 10.8 million people have listened to Radio 4 for at least five minutes a week in the last three months. This time last year the figure was 10 million. So congratulations to all programme-makers.

The previous all-time highest reach of 10.4 million was in the second quarter last year. Our best guess then was that this was because of the general election and the interest that generated. There has been no general election this time so it could be that once those listeners found us we managed somehow to hang onto them. Perhaps instead they have become entranced with the Arab Spring and our coverage of the Middle East... Or perhaps they just love John Humphrys - reach to the Today programme was a record 7.03million.

Share for Radio 4 too is slightly up at 12.3 per cent which makes it broadly consistent with last year when it was 12.2 per cent. (Share is the proportion of all listening to all radio in the UK) I find this heartening as it means that people are continuing to listen to Radio 4 for rather a considerable length of time- in fact they listen for around twelve hours a week. Given the explosion of choice in the media and the seemingly relentless demands on our time this commitment from our audience feels significant and privileged.

Among specific audience groups, we now have more women listening to Radio 4 than ever before - 5.49 million every week (vs. just under 5.34 million men). There are high figures among our core, very loyal, older audiences but at the same time we have more under-35s listening to Radio 4 than at any point since 2003.

And then there is Radio 7, now transformed into Radio 4 Extra. Weekly reach there too is a record 1.159 million. These record figures are in tune with the trend for radio which is something to celebrate but my personal view is that the greatest value they bring is to give all of us at Radio 4 the confidence to set them aside and concentrate on making the best programmes we can for our cherished and discerning audience.

UPDATE 2pm, May 12th: I have more news on this record quarter - and all credit to Radio 4's production teams. We have record listening figures for the following: comedy programmes across the week (5.22 million), our drama throughout the week (7.1 million), The Archers (2.49 million for lunchtime listening and 5.01million across the week); You and Yours with 3.33 million - and along with her Sony Gold Special Award, Jenni Murray and the Womans Hour team can celebrate a record listening figure of 3.56million across the week.

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4 Extra

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.
The RAJAR figures for 'linear listening', not including on-demand listening or podcasts, in a table.
Read 5 Live Controller; Adrian Van Klaveren's analysis of his network's figures..
Read the BBC's press release and download the official RAJAR quarterly press release (PDF).
Picture, 28 January 2009, by Adam Bowie, used under licence.

RAJAR listening figures for Q3 2010

2010-10-28T07:00:00+00:00

http://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

I missed the much-discussed phonecall yesterday about the three-monthly Rajar figures so I went looking for Alison Winter, the Radio 4 audiences guru. We found a quiet corner and whispered the headlines to and fro. It's all rather good - actually I think very good. So congratulations to the programme-makers and to Mark Damazer. Radio 4 reach this quarter is 10.37 million. That means that 10.37 million people have listened to Radio 4 for at least 15 minutes a week in the last three months.

Last quarter Radio 4 got its highest figures ever - and our best guess is that that is because of the general election and the interest it generated. Those figures for our all-time highest reach were 10.40 million - so this quarter compares rather well. Now it could be that people are still fascinated by politics, but we might reach towards the more appealing notion that perhaps we have managed to retain some of the new listeners we drew in; let's hope we continue to hang onto them. The rather lower share figure might bear this out. Share is the proportion of all listening to all radio in the UK.

And that measure for Radio 4 this quarter is 11.9 per cent. This time last year it was 12.4 per cent. Down, slightly, in this case because, overall, people are listening for a marginally shorter length of time to Radio 4. It could be then, taking the positive view, that we have retained new listeners and that these new listeners still need to be persuaded to listen longer... Today continues to attract a very large audience to Radio 4 - just over 6.5million every week (Mon-Fri) - and drama too is up this quarter on last.

Among specific audience groups, we now have more men listening to Radio 4 than ever before - 5.4 million every week (vs. just under 5 million women). There are also record figures among our core, very loyal, older audiences but at the same time we have more under 35s listening to Radio 4 than at any point since 1999.

And then there is Radio 7. Weekly reach is the second largest ever at 1.045 million.

So a cheery first Rajar experience for me. Please will Tim Harford, from More or Less- a Radio 4 programme launched (I am proud to say) while I was Head of Radio Current Affairs, now tell me what I have got wrong. And what it all really means. Watch this space...

Gwyneth Williams is Controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7.

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.
The RAJAR figures for 'linear listening', not including on-demand listening or podcasts, in a table and the official quarterly press release (PDF).
The Controller of BBC Radio 5 Live; Adrian Van Klaveren has also blogged about his station's figures.
"RAJAR 2010 Quarter 3: BBC Proms boosts Radio 3 by 300,000: BBC Press Release
Picture, 28 January 2009, by Adam Bowie, used under licence.

More good RAJAR news

2009-10-29T09:29:07+00:00

Well - the latest figures for Radio 4 are very, very gratifying. Indeed they are the best since a new measuring methodology was introduced a decade or so ago - and it's not possible to compare them with what happened before.

Briefly, 10.22 million people listen to at least 15 minutes a week - but lest you think they only listen for 15 minutes a week before rumbling around for Planet Rock or daytime television - they listen on average for 12 and a quarter hours.

Radio 4 listening accounts for 12.4 % of the radio market. That's close to a record too. The figures neither include podcasting nor do they capture the listening to programmes after they've been broadcast on the iPlayer. So overall consumption of Radio 4 is a bit higher than the RAJAR figures.

I need to say (not, I know, for the first time) that RAJAR figures alone go nowhere near determining how we are doing. Radio 4 is about quality and range. Excellence (subjective as it is) matters more than anything. But it is obviously good that more people are tuning in.

I don't think there is a single reason for the growth in the numbers... but I do think that it is the particular demands and nature of the audience that drives us all on. We know that the listeners want intelligent conversation, argument, debate, drama and wit. The many producers who successfully make programmes for Radio 4 - both in-house and from independent companies - know that the audience expects quality with no short-cuts. In other words - the audience raises our game.

The individual programme figures take a bit of time to digest - but we do know that our biggest programme, Today, with 6.6 million listeners across the week is steaming along and there are terrific figures too for Woman's Hour and You and Yours.

Mark Damazer is Controller of BBC Radio 4

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) is jointly owned by the BBC and commercial radio trade body the Radio Centre. Participating listeners are asked to record their radio listening in quarter-hour time blocks for one week.
The RAJAR figures for 'linear listening', not including on-demand listening or podcasts, in a table and the official quarterly press release (PDF).
The Guardian's RAJAR story leads on Radio 4's performance
The picture (by Stan Was) shows Jenni Murray presenting Woman's Hour in front of an audience at Derby University. The RAJAR figures show that Woman's Hour is doing particularly well.

Now Show geography

2009-08-20T15:47:30+00:00

I went to the recording of The Now Show last Thursday night - the last of the current run. It's recorded at the Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. Free - and a very jolly evening can be had. The News Quiz also records there - as do a lot of other BBC shows. Click here to find out how to get tickets. In the previous week's podcast (but not on air) the team asked listeners outside the UK to email with their (personal) big news. We got a lot back - and used some of it in this week's show. I am indebted to the producer - Ed Morrish - for the geographical breakdown.

When The Now Show asked for news from listeners around the world, 621 podcast subscribers replied, from 72 different countries. The most remote was South Georgia (lumped together with the Falklands on the map) and furthest away Stewart Island, New Zealand, 11,828 miles from the Radio Theatre.
We used Many Eyes to visualise the geographic data. The visualisation is here and the raw data here (CSV file). Many Eyes doesn't recognise Antarctica, Easter Island, South Georgia or Tibet as separate countries, although listeners from all four emailed the programme).
The Now Show is off-air at the moment but you can still listen to the most recent episode and subscribe to Radio 4's Friday Night Comedy podcast.