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Business News Media
Commercial radio great, says listener survey
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 24 October 2013
Commercial radio is damn fine, is the basic conclusion of a bit of research by Kantar Media into the UK’s commercial radio sector, timed to coincide with the medium’s 40th birthday.
The survey says that of those commercial radio listeners surveyed, 65% reckoned that their station or stations of choice provided a unique service not available elsewhere, 77% said stations kept them informed while 66% said they thought commercial broadcasters had a positive impact.
Though 57% said they thought having presenters with local knowledge was important, which possibly flies against the frequent networking of programmes across multiple regions employed by many commercial broadcasters these days.
The survey also asked respondents what they would be willing to pay to access commercial radio services, with £42 a year being suggested as a fair price, if the medium was ever to go that route over free-to-access ad-funded programming.
Commenting on the research, which was presented to a political audience last night, the stand-in boss of commercial radio trade body RadioCentre, Linda Smith, said: “Listeners believe commercial radio delivers really valuable content that is important to them personally – whether it’s in music, entertainment, news or information – and we’re exceeding expectations across the board. Our message to government and [media regulator] Ofcom is that this value is at risk unless they provide clarity on digital radio and take a fresh look at commercial radio regulation”.
