Commercial radio has performed strongly in another COVID-impacted year, with weekly audiences up by 1.3 per cent to a record 11.2 million listeners in the five metropolitan capitals in 2021.
The figures from Commercial Radio Australia’s (CRA) annual listening summary are based on an average of the eight official GfK radio surveys conducted in 2021.
“Radio continued to be a mainstay for news and entertainment throughout 2021, with trends that commenced during 2020 continuing, including more Australians tuning in from home and growth in the number of listeners during the morning and afternoon periods,” said CRA chief executive officer, Joan
Warner.
“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.”
Warner also said upwards of 140,000 listeners were gained in 2021 across multiple platforms.
While COVID restriction continued across the year, an average of 6.5 million Australians listened to commercial radio at home each week, with the share of listening at home increasing to 50 per cent, up
9 per cent from 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 per cent of all Australians aged 10+ in the five major metro markets.
Listening to radio remained high across all age demographics – radio reached 85 per cent of people aged 10-17 each week, 73 per cent of those aged 18-24, 75 per cent of 25-39 year olds, 79 per cent of those in the 40-54 age group, 80 per cent of 55-64 year olds and 68 per cent of those aged 65 and over.
Morning and afternoons recorded growth during the year, with morning audiences picking up 54,000 more
listeners to 6.3 million people listening and afternoons increasing by 80,000 listeners to nearly 7 million listeners each week, overtaking drive on 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.
