Commercial Radio Australia’s latest annual listening summary shows that weekly audiences rose 1.3% to a record 11.2 million listeners in the five metropolitan capitals in 2021.
CRA based its figures on an average of the eight official GfK radio surveys conducted in 2021.
“Radio remained a mainstay for news and entertainment throughout 2021, with trends that commenced during 2020 continuing, including more Australians tuning in from home and a growth in the number of listeners during the morning and afternoon periods,” CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner said.
“The summary once again highlights that radio is an effective channel to reach Australians, with its high levels of engagement and influence providing a strong call-to-action medium for advertisers.”
Encouraged perhaps by Covid-19 restrictions, an average of 6.5 million Australians listened to commercial radio at home each week in 2021, increasing 9% compared to 2019. Listening to radio in the car remained popular, with 8.8 million Australians tuning in while on the road.
Commercial radio reached 76.3% of all Australians aged ten or older in the five major metro markets. Listening to radio remained high across all age demographics: 85% of people aged 10–17 each week, 73% of those aged 18–24, 75% of 25–39-year-olds, 79% of those in the 40-54 age group, 80% of 55–64-year-olds and 68% of those aged 65 and over.
Warner said that commercial radio gained nearly 140,000 listeners in 2021 across multiple platforms. Morning audiences picked up 54,000 more listeners to 6.3 million people, and afternoons increased by 80,000 listeners to almost seven million each week, overtaking drive with 6.7 million. Breakfast radio remained a popular time to listen with 7.5 million listeners.
Audiences spent a total of 12 hours and 53 minutes listening to commercial radio each week.