Australian commercial radio growing across all audio platforms

Commercial Radio & Audio has released the latest listenership surveys for Australia’s five major metros — Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne. According to the GfK Radio Survey 6, released Oct. 5, Australians continue to tune into commercial radio in increasing numbers, with more than 12.1 million listeners across the five major metro markets. An additional 66,000 people tuned in this year compared to last year’s survey. Meanwhile, both breakfast (up 2.6% year-on-year) and afternoon drive grew their audiences (up 1.2% year-on-year).

Survey 6 also shows commercial radio continuing to attract younger audiences, with those aged 18-24 adding 2 hours 25 minutes listening per week compared to the same period last year, tuning in for more than 12 hours per week.

“Commercial radio continues to show outstanding growth and remains an important part of the daily lives and routines of Australians, with over 12.1 million people tuning in,” said Ford Ennals, CEO of CRA. “The evidence of that is in the fantastic results for breakfast, with an increase of 220,000 listeners to 8.6 million, as well as afternoon drive, which grew 88,000 to 7.3 million.”

As more Australians return to the office post-pandemic, Survey 6 shows healthy growth for in-car listening — up 1.6% this survey to 9.7 million — which accounts for a third of radio listening. Time spent listening in-car also increased.

What about streaming and digital?

Streaming radio remains a popular choice and accounts for 26.3% of commercial radio listeners, while time spent listening grew by eight minutes per week. The figures indicate more people are listening to their favorite commercial breakfast shows via streaming, with a 10.9% lift in listeners to more than 1.2 million.

“Commercial radio and audio continuously evolve to suit the needs of listeners — from listening on the go through apps, digital streaming or podcast content,” Ennals said. “Younger audiences are continuing to listen to commercial radio in big numbers and are leading the charge to streaming, with 35.1 % of those aged 10-24 listening that way.”

Commercial DAB+ continues adding listeners via streaming, up 5.9% (52,000) compared to last year.

CRA will celebrate the ongoing success of Australian commercial radio and audio at the ACRAs with a gala event at the ICC in Sydney on Oct. 14. CRA says the event will be the biggest ACRAs yet as it celebrates the centenary of commercial radio in Australia.

CRA conducts eight surveys each year across the country’s five metro markets. You can see a breakdown of each survey for 2014 through to 2023 here.