Radio’s Sonic Boom
2023 JNLR figures show real growth
Thursday saw the release of the Irish radio listenership figures for 2023, and it brought good news to most radio stations.
Partly because of Ireland’s growing population, the number of people listening to radio in Ireland has grown, by about 190,000 over the last twelve months, which means 3.4 million people are listening to radio daily, and 91% of the population listens weekly.
It’s a pretty good number for a medium that was due to be killed off by video, then by the CD, then by streaming and social media. It’s interesting too that Ireland which hasn’t embraced DAB, is still showing growth in radio, even though there have been no new stations launched for over a decade.
And with podcasting and music streaming as active competitors, it is truly impressive that radio continues to hold its own.
Life in the old dog yet
The key to success for radio for me, is twofold. Firstly, it’s a companion medium, so it can be consumed alongside other activities, although presumably not podcasting. It fulfils a desire for company, it provides news, entertainment and social currency to a wide audience.
The second enduring strength for radio is it’s position in the car, and this is one of the areas which could potentially hold the greatest threat for the future.
I also think that the Smart Speaker, which wasn’t really designed for radio, has become critically important for the accessibility of radio in kitchens all around the country. It’s an elegant way for people to stay in touch with their favourite station, even when the whole world of audio is just a voice command away.
JNLR Listenership trends
I should mention that I’ve just recently joined the JNLR Committee, as an IBI (Independent Broadcasters of Ireland) Representative, and so have had an opportunity to see the care and attention that goes into the gathering and processing of the JNLR data.
As part of an exercise, we’ve also been looking at various other methodologies around the world and the message generally is that radio is in a really strong position as a medium.
I think that may come partly from the pandemic era. As the nation went into lockdown mode, radio was quick to adapt, pushing ahead with makeshift home studios and remote broadcasting in a way that probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
The notion of pristine audio and studio quality shifted somewhat, and the content and the connection between the audience and the presenter became much more central. The adoption of voicenotes by radio also had a significant effect in the way that radio spoke to it’s listeners.
On Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio, we’ve really leaned into the voicenote, and it’s extraordinary to hear people communicate directly with the station, without the formality of a phone call, or a filtering process where “we’ll call you back”. It gives a range of voices and personalities on the air that changes the way you hear the station, and it always surprises me how many different voices will respond to different topics.
I think radio’s place in the home was secured during the pandemic, although you can see a shortening of the listening day, with 9am to 5pm becoming the core and less available audience outside of that time. I’d hazard a guess that people sat in the kitchen or home office with the laptop on and the radio or smart speaker streaming through the day. When the laptop closed, so did the smart speaker.
But, that companionship and shift in how radio thinks about content has carried on into the post pandemic world, driving a better level of engagement and also changing radio’s content for the better.
Print vs Radio
I was intrigued to see a piece in the Irish Examiner, on Friday, which was quite sceptical of radio’s numbers, suggesting that it simply couldn’t be that the medium was gaining popularity, and wondering out loud about whether or not any young people listen to radio.
The link is here – it’s behind a paywall.
Irish Examiner "Radio Silence: Why the JNLR numbers do not add up"
The author is Conall Ó Móráin, well respected business journalist, podcaster and former colleague at Today FM. The gist of his argument is that young people simply don’t have time or interest in radio, and that casts a doubt across the JNLR as a whole.
Perhaps inadvisably, he carried out his own survey on Linkedin, and with a sample of 92 people concluded that young people don’t listen to the radio (the vote was 67% for Don’t Listen).
He’s not correct in his assumption, but there is a grain of truth in the question about how much the younger audience listens to radio
I’ve done some research to highlight the level of listening from three sources – firstly the JNLR (which is one of Ireland’s largest and longest running surveys and provides an incredible depth of data), secondly from the UK’s MIDAS study, as part of RAJAR, which focuses on listening patterns amongst the UK audiences, and finally from the Edison Share of Ear research in the US, which has some interesting insights into how younger audiences split their time.
Even in the US market, where radio has less compelling content and more format driven music options, radio still remains ahead of YouTube.
In the UK, Live Radio performs really well against it’s competitors – but you can clearly see a lower level in the younger end…
And in Ireland, the JNLR demonstrates that 66% of 15 – 24 year olds are listening to radio, and when I dig into the 15 – 19 numbers, almost 60% (59.4%) are listening daily.
Radio has an enduring appeal, again, partly because of the way it engages audiences, and partly because it’s easy to consume while doing other things, like commuting, or scrolling through social media. But the industry does need to pay close attention to the younger demographics and maintain appeal for the medium.
The Battle for Market Share
Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio had a good book by the way, overtaking RTE 2FM in our Multi City region for the first time, on Weekly Reach, Daily Reach and Market Share.
Radio Nova (who I also work with) had a very strong book in Dublin, rising to No. 2 on Market Share amongst the music competitors.
The battle for Market Share in Dublin is truly fascinating, I’ve included a graph below to show just how tight the struggle is between the various music stations. Back in the day, FM104 and 98FM used to be a considerable distance ahead of any of their competitors, with 104 in particular maintaining a share well above 10% for many years.
Now, it’s a much tighter, and the movement much more dramatic, with a few more twists and turns to come, I’d bet.
This has been the 33rd official edition of the RAudio Newsletter.
Apart from writing newsletters, I also consult to radio stations and podcasts, so if you have a question, or a project you need help on, drop me an email – liamathompson@gmail.com
I’m also attending RadioDays in Munich, so let me know if you’re going and we can catch up.
You can also send feedback, questions or potential topics – you can also get me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamthompsonconsulting/ or on Twitter @Maxliam