Commercial radio beats BBC in race to attract listeners

MORE Britons are listening to commercial radio than BBC stations consistently for the first time in nearly a century of broadcasting, according to figures from the media regulator.

Ofcom said that commercial radio reached 64.7pc of the population in the 12 months to the end of March.

It compares with 64.3pc for the BBC’S portfolio of national and local stations, which has dominated since the first broadcasts of the early Twenties. The figures signal a decisive shift in listening habits partly driven by increased ownership of digital radios. Commercial radio has been in front in quarterly figures before, but the report reveals an entire year in the lead.

The greater choice of national stations available on DAB has led to a boost in listening for commercial broadcasters. Government plans to switch off analogue signals next year have been dropped over slow sales of digital radios, but most households now have at least one. Stations that were previously confined to London by their analogue licences have expanded nationwide. For instance, LBC and the pop music station Capital have been able to reach wider audiences.

LBC’S owner Global Radio said it had reached an all-time high audience of two million a week in the latest radio industry ratings.

Ofcom’s figures show that national commercial stations now reach more than 35pc of the population, up from 31pc four years ago. The growing market has attracted the attention of Rupert Murdoch, whose News UK publishing company last year paid £220m for Wireless Group, the broadcaster behind Talksport.

The BBC has suffered a decline at national and local level. Over the same period, the reach of its national stations fell 0.6 percentage points to 59.1pc. Local BBC stations have fared worse, losing more than a 10th of their reach.