Record number of Aussies tune in to radio in 2019

Commercial Radio Australia has reported that a record number of Australians listened to commercial radio each week in 2019.

10.891 million people tuned in across the five metro markets, up 1.4% on the prior year.

CRA’s annual listening summary, provided in collaboration with GfK, also found that listening has increased by 9.7% in the last five years.

Commercial radio reached 77.3% of Australians aged 10+ in the five metropolitan capital cities in 2019.

In terms of demographics, the highest percentage of listeners was between the ages of 25-39 (26.7%).

10.4% are aged 10-17, 11.6% are aged 18-24, 22.5% are aged 40-54, 12.6% are aged 55-64 and 16.2% are aged 65+.

Audiences have increased across all age groups, with the biggest increase coming in listeners 65+ (26.8%).

The average listener spent 13 hours and 23 minutes tuned in.

Commercial Breakfast radio (Monday to Friday) averaged 7.8 million listeners, while Drive found 6.9 million listeners.

“Australian commercial radio retains its exceptional reach and enduring popularity, with commercial radio consistently delivering informative, entertaining, relevant, live and local content of a high standard – a fact appreciated by our audiences and underpinned by increasing listener numbers,” said CRA’s chief executive officer Joan Warner.

“In spite of increased competition and choice, we saw younger listeners in the 10-17-year-old age group spending 9 hours and 23 minutes listening to commercial radio each week in 2019. That’s 26 minutes more than they did five years ago.”

The most common area of listening was in-car (64.2% of listeners). 42% listened at home, 13.8% at work and 8% listen elsewhere.

DAB+ listening continues to grow, with a 107.9% increase in people listening to DAB+ in their cars over the past five years.

49% of all households now have access to DAB+ in their car, workplace or home.

Those numbers are expected to grow, with a planned roll-out of DAB+ digital radio on the Gold Coast in 2020, following the 2019 rollouts in Hobart, Darwin, Canberra and Mandurah.