Commercial radio listener numbers grow

Industry body Commercial Radio and Audio says it’s  delighted that commercial radio has delivered a record-breaking set of numbers.

The latest GfK Survey 8 revealed a record 12.2 million people listened to commercial radio each week. This was the ninth consecutive rise in cumulative audience growth.

Time spent listening to commercial radio increased across all younger demographics. On average, Australians aged 10-24, tuned in an extra 1 hour and 48 minutes each week across the five major metro markets, bringing their total average listening to 10 hours and 54 minutes.

The number of people listening to commercial radio via streaming soared by 46%, to close to 3.7 million#. Commercial DAB+ station listeners also increased 18.5% YOY to over 2.7 million*.

Commercial Radio and Audio Chief Executive Officer Ford Ennals says young audiences have been driving the increase in streaming-era commercial radio listening habits.

“The latest survey indicates close to 950,000 more people are listening to commercial stations each week compared to last year.”

“The data also debunks a myth that radio listening is on the decline for young Australians, with people aged 10-24 listening to radio an extra 20% compared to last year. This is fuelling the growth in streaming with people mixing their listening between broadcast and online options.”

The number of commercial radio listeners in the car grew by 947,000 and share of listening in the car accounted for close to a third of all listening, indicating people are back on the roads after the impacts on commuting patterns through 2021 during the height of the pandemic.

The number of commercial radio listeners at breakfast time recorded significant growth, reaching nearly 8.7 million Australians. This is an increase of over 18% from the same time last year. And weekend commercial radio listeners jumped up 1.4 million this year, or 16%, to nearly 10 million total listeners.

This is the final GfK Radio Ratings survey for the year. After the Christmas and summer break, a new hybrid Radio 360 system will be introduced by GfK from Survey 1 in March 2023.