The latest GfK Survey 8 revealed a record 12.2 million people listened to commercial radio each week according to figures from Commercial Radio and Audio.
CRA says this is the ninth consecutive rise in cumulative audience growth.
Time spent listening to commercial radio increased across all younger demographics. On average, Australians aged 10-24, tuned in an extra 1 hour and 48 minutes each week across the five major metro markets, bringing their total average listening to 10 hours and 54 minutes.
The number of people listening to commercial radio via streaming soared by 46%, to close to 3.7 million#.
Commercial DAB+ station listeners also increased 18.5% YOY to over 2.7 million*.
CRA chief executive officer, Ford Ennals, says young audiences were driving the increase in streaming-era commercial radio listening habits.
He says, “We’re delighted that commercial radio has delivered a record-breaking set of numbers. The latest survey indicates close to 950,000 more people are listening to commercial stations each week compared to last year.
“The data also 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. This is fuelling the growth in streaming with people mixing their listening between broadcast and online options.”
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 recorded significant growth, reaching nearly 8.7 million Australians. This is an increase of over 18% from the same time last year. And weekend commercial radio listeners jumped up 1.4 million this year, or 16%, 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.
Source: GfK Radio Ratings, SMBAP S8 2022 compared with S8 2021, Commercial Stations (Simulcast & DAB+), Cume (000’s), Mon-Sun 12mn-12mn, Breakfast Mon-Fri 0530-0900, Afternoon Mon-Fri 12md-1600, Drive Mon-Fri 1600-1900, Evening Mon-Fri 1900-12mn, Weekend Sat-Sun 0530-12mn, All People I0+ (unless otherwise stated); ^Time spent listening (h:mm), *Commercial DAB+ Stations via DAB+ device, streaming or other; #streaming listening includes mobile phone, smart speaker and PC/tablet.