Young audiences are driving the increase in streaming-era commercial radio listening habits, according to the latest GfK Survey 8 from Commercial Radio & Audio.
The survey across all five of Australia’s metro capital cities revealed that time spent listening to commercial radio increased across all demographics under the age of 55. However, on average, young Australians aged 10–24, tuned in an extra one hour and 48 minutes each week, bringing the total average listening to 10 hours and 54 mins.
“The data debunks a myth that radio listening is on the decline for young Australians, with people aged 10–24 listening to radio an extra 20% compared to last year,” said Commercial Radio and Audio Chief Executive Officer Ford Ennals. “This is fuelling the growth in streaming with people mixing their listening between broadcast and online options. The latest survey indicates close to 950,000 more people are listening to commercial stations each week compared to last year.”
The figures reveal growth across the board, with a record 12.2 million people having listened to commercial radio each week. This was the ninth consecutive rise in cumulative audience growth.
The number of people listening to commercial radio via streaming soared by an impressive 46% to almost 3.7 million, while commercial DAB+ only station listeners increased 18.5% year on year to over 2.7 million.
The number of commercial radio listeners in the car grew by 947,000 and share of listening in the car accounted for close to a third of all listening, indicating people are back on the roads after the impacts on commuting patterns through 2021 during the height of the pandemic.
The number of commercial radio listeners at breakfast time also recorded significant growth, reaching nearly 8.7 million Australians. This is an increase of over 18% from the same time last year. Weekend commercial radio listeners also jumped up 1.4 million this year to nearly 10 million total listeners.
This is the final GfK Radio Ratings survey for the year. After the Christmas and summer break, a new hybrid Radio 360 system will be introduced by GfK from Survey 1 in March 2023.
