Radio Scotland’s weekly audience falls by 40,000 over year to September
BBC Radio Scotland’s weekly audience fell by about 40,000 over the year to September and by more than 90,000 from the previous quarter. The decline comes as the BBC makes cuts in Scotland, renewing questions about the station’s direction and whether changes to its breakfast programme have affected listening.
RAJAR figures show weekly reach dropped from 793,000 a year earlier to 753,000, while the station’s audience share fell from 5.7 per cent to 5.3 per cent. The figures cover the whole station, not individual programmes. The BBC says Radio Scotland remains Scotland’s biggest station and that listeners are spending more time with it on average; director Hayley Valentine has said the revamped breakfast show’s audience could recover.
In short
- Radio Scotland’s weekly reach fell to 753,000.
- Its audience share dropped from 5.7 to 5.3 per cent.
- The BBC says listeners spend more time with the station.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The fall in reach and audience share raises a reasonable concern that Radio Scotland’s recent changes, including its breakfast programme, may be making the station less compelling to some listeners. At a time of BBC cuts, the figures strengthen the case for examining whether the station’s direction and resources are serving audiences well.
The case against
A year-on-year fall in the station’s overall audience does not show which programmes or changes drove it, and the figures cover the whole station rather than the breakfast show alone. Radio Scotland remains Scotland’s biggest station, listeners are spending more time with it on average, and the revamped breakfast show may still recover its audience.
Explained simply
BBC Radio Scotland is the BBC’s main radio station for listeners in Scotland, with news, sport, music and speech programmes. Its breakfast programme is a key part of the schedule, bringing listeners news and discussion at the start of the day.
RAJAR is the UK’s system for measuring radio audiences. Weekly reach counts how many people listen for at least some time in a typical week, while audience share measures the station’s proportion of all radio listening.
The BBC is making cuts in Scotland, and changes to Radio Scotland’s breakfast programme have prompted questions about the station’s direction. Audience figures for the whole station show overall listening, but cannot establish how many people tune in to a particular programme or what caused a change.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “BBC Radio Scotland loses 40K listeners in last year”.