666: The Number of the Best

The RAJAR third quarter results are out, with 6Music making a year-on-year leap of over 15% to 1.99m listeners. Again, please remember that the RAJARS can be somewhat entertaining if barked out at high volume in the style of a manic, low rent horse racing commentator.

Elsewhere at the BBC, Radio 1 dipped but not dramatically by 2.5% YoY and 2.3% quarter-on-quarter to 10.55m. God Only Knows why that is the case but for now lets blame pied piper of the holy grail youth audience Nick Grimshaw– In fact, Grimshaw’s weekly reach for the breakfast show hit 5.82m in this quarter, down on the previous one but an improvement on Q3 last year when he hit a record low with 5.6m.

Chris Evans maintained his grip on the nation’s mornings despite dropping 600, 000 listeners, with an overall reach of 9.30m- down slightly YoY from 9.35m.

In terms of overall share, Radio 1 holds 6.9%, Radio 2 at 17% and 6Music at 1.8%.

Sick of BBC stats yet? Let us explore some from elsewhere, then- Bauer’s Absolute Radio Network saw its best ever figures, with over just over 4 million listeners- up by over 18% on the previous year and 6.5% on the previous quarter. Overall, 52% of listening across Bauer stations came from digital.

Group MD of Radio, Bauer Media Dee Ford said: “Bauer is leading the way with 52% in digital commercial listening. With our recently announced radio strategy wrapped around key national brands and an extended local portfolio, these figures provide a great foundation for our ambitions in 2015 and beyond”.

At Global, the Heart network achieved a YoY increase of 20%, jumping to 9.10m whilst the Smooth network’s reach was up 43.9% year-on-year with an average weekly listenership for 4.69m compared to 3.26m in Q3 13. Don’t forget to keep those white knuckles clenched firmly around the rajar rollercoaster until the next quarter!