Radio Plymouth - Ofcom Licensing

RADIO PLYMOUTH
Whichever figures one takes, it appears that the radio advertising market in Plymouth is relatively
under-developed.
Conclusions relevant to Radio Plymouth:
Plymouth’s population is increasing: and for a new radio station that creates the happy situation of
more potential listeners and more incentive for advertisers to reach them. A city with a younger
profile to the national average is served well by the existing commercial radio station. But even
above the age of 24, which our quantitative survey shows is a fall-off point for Plymouth Sound,
Plymouth’s population has a higher proportion of people in each ten-year age segment apart from
35 – 44. The radio advertising market in the city is also relatively under-developed.
b) RAJAR
We have compared the latest published RAJAR results, for the period ending September 2005, with
those for the period ending September 2001 – the first corresponding period for which Pirate FM
East only data was released.
In the period under review, total radio listening in the Plymouth Sound area has dropped by 13%,
from 8.9 million hours a week to 7.8 million hours a week. The upside for existing commercial
stations is that market share has risen slightly: from 15.5% to 15.6% for Plymouth Sound and from
3.4% to 3.7% for Classic Gold. But these are small victories in what is currently a market in decline.
97FM Plymouth Sound has seen weekly reach slip from 38% to 34%. Classic Gold’s reach has also
slipped from 8% to 7%.
A similar scenario is apparent in the Pirate FM East area. Here, total radio listening has fallen by
12%, from 8.7 million hours to 7.7 million hours a week. Within this declining market, Pirate FM
East´s reach has moved from 23% to 24%, while total hours listened have declined by 28%. These
changes in total hours are shown below.
Change in Total Hours (000 hours)
97FM
Plymouth Sound
Classic Gold Pirate FM East
Sept ‘01 1379 305 1083
Sept ´05 1211 290 784
% Change -12 -5 -28
(source: Rajar/Ipsos-RSL)
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