Comment on the Q3 RAJAR Listening Figures
29 Oct 2009 11:17
Sean Duffy, Head of Technology, Media and Telecoms, Barclays Commercial Bank said:
"The year on year fall in commercial radio station listener figures revealed in today’s RAJAR figures, in comparison with the strong showing by the BBC in the same period, has highlighted the difficulty commercial radio stations are having in competing with the budgets afforded the BBC in a time of recession.
"Advertising revenues remain constrained while the licence fee remains consistent, so this trend may well continue, in the short term at least. However, we are seeing the first signs of new equity returning to the commercial radio market, which is good news for these commercial stations as it will allow them to deleverage and encourage content innovation, platform development and some major national to regional consolidation.
"Free music platforms like Spotify and Last FM will continue to eat away at the edges of traditional media, but these web resources will have an incredible challenge in replacing the radio industry as long as radio continues to be synonymous with relevant, engaging local content and news rich programming."
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