Radio Plymouth - Ofcom Licensing

RADIO PLYMOUTH
Census data for Radio Plymouth’s coverage area reveals a younger profile than the British average,
largely because of the thriving – and unusually high - student population.
Almost one in ten people (9%) living in Plymouth on census day were registered as either school
pupils or full-time students, almost double the England and Wales average of 5%.
But Plymouth’s “youth” profile is remarkably broad: the census figures show that there are more
people in every 10-year age group until 54 years, with the sole exception of 35 to 44 year-olds, as
the table below shows.
25
20
15
%
10
5
0
(Source: Census 2001, ONS)
Coverage area age demographics versus UK
15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 65+
45
Coverage Area
With Plymouth Sound most successful at attracting listeners under 24, as we will show in a moment,
there is a growing audience in the market aged 25 and above.
The advertising cake
Total display advertising revenue in the South West ITV region in the year ending 31 August 2005
was £70.2 million. Radio accounted for £9.2 million (13.1%) of the total (source: Neilsen Media
Research).
The adult (15+) population of the South West ITV region is 1.42 million. As such, the population
within the predicted Radio Plymouth coverage area of 200,000 represents 14.1% of the ITV
population. Applying this factor to the region´s total revenue means that the Radio Plymouth area
generated £9.9 million. Assuming radio in Plymouth reflected the national average of 13.1% of this
figure, the medium generated £1.3 million.
However, the total advertising market is worth almost double the display market. Indeed, total
advertising expenditure in the UK in 2004 was £18.4 billion (source: Advertising Association).
UK