Commercial radio in Australia achieved another best-ever result in GfK Survey 5, with weekly listeners up 8% year on year to more than 12 million people across the five metro capitals, according to industry body CRA.
The survey shows listenership received a boost from in-car listening and younger listeners. The growth in post-lockdown driving saw time spent listening to commercial radio in-car climb by 35 minutes to five hours and 21 minutes per week compared to a year ago.
At the same time, audiences in the 18–24 age group increased by 9% or 113,000 people, and those aged 25–39 jumped by 13%, or 387,000.
“These are fantastic figures and show that radio remains fresh, stimulating and relevant, with strong audience growth across all age groups,” said CRA chief executive Ford Ennals.
“It’s no surprise that young people continue to find radio an important part of their day — 81% of 18-24’s and 89% of 10–17’s tune in weekly. This reflects the quality and increased choice of content available, and augurs well for establishing radio as part of a long-term media habit.”
Overall, 81% of Australians aged 10+ listened to commercial radio each week across the five metros during the survey period. Nearly 70% listened via AM and FM, 26% via DAB+ and 23% via streaming. Streaming listeners rose by 27% to a record high of 3.4 million.
Commercial DAB+ stations, which include 80s, 90s, hip hop, country and heavy metal music formats, enjoyed a 41% year-on-year increase to 2.6 million weekly listeners.