Radio for breakfast
In spite of the breakfast door shutting on TV3’s Sunrise show last week, it seems breakfast shows on the radio spectrum are doing just fine and dandy, if the results of the latest radio survey (available on The Radio Bureau site) are anything to go by.
The survey, conducted by Research International, shows that on a national scale, radio’s core dayparts of breakfast (Monday to Friday 6.00am to 9.00am) and drive (Monday to Friday 4.00pm to 7.00pm) grew their cumulative audience by an overall total of 35,400 AP (all people) listeners aged 10 and over.
In Auckland, breakfast audiences have increased by 17, 300 listeners overall and by 8, 500 for the ‘household shoppers with kids’ group.
The drive-time department has been kind to Wellington, contributing largely to its 4,800 new listeners aged 10 and up.
But in the competitive world that is radio, which stations can bathe in the glory of increased audience and station share numbers?
Newstalk ZB retains its status as the number one breakfast show in New Zealand by both AP aged 10 and over cumulative audience and station share.
The survey bodes well for mainstream youth brand radio, with The Rock, The Edge and ZM all growing their AP aged 10 and over Station Share and Cumulative Audience.
The Edge has the most cause for celebration, adding 39,500 listeners aged 10 and up. The station now holds the prestigious title of most listened to network in New Zealand with 434,600 listeners every week.
“This fantastic result is testament to a great team who work really hard to deliver great radio to their listeners,” says Leon Wratt, programme director for The Edge.
Following closely behind in the numbers ranks, fellow youth station ZM also had strong growth adding 30,000 listeners aged 10 and up, increasing its weekly audience to 403,000.
The Rock and The Edge remain first and second respectively in both station share and Cumulative Audience against the competitive AP 18-34 demographic.
And just in case you don’t know how it all works, the survey is conducted twice yearly to measure audiences as part of the radio industry’s commitment to accountability and fair pricing for advertising.
This latest survey sampled a total of 15, 169 people in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. No fancy technological gizmo’s were used to measure the audiences, just good ‘ole pen and a diary which participants filled out over a week. The Radio Network. Media Works and the Radio Bureau all pay towards the survey.
The numbers used in this story come from The Radio Bureau (TRB). Their figures are based on 6am–12 midnight. TRB results may differ from those of other parties using different dayparts.
David Ricquish
April 13, 2010
What's sad about these figures and results is the almost entire emphasis on Auckland based network stations. Where are the stations originating local programs in breakfast and drive? More? Breeze? Classic Hits? We know about economies of scale in the 4.5m NZ market, but network DJ comments about traffic delays on the North Western are getting tiring south of the Bombays.