National radio listening trends
Radio listening for individual stations is stable on the previous survey. On average, people listen for 27.5 hours per week, or 3.9 hours a day. The pattern of quarter hour listening is stable, mirroring that of quarter hour listenership in past surveys.
Average day radio listenership in total however, has declined significantly over the previous period, continuing a downward trend from SAARF AMPS 2000A.
Monday to Friday listenership is down on the previous period from 79.5% to 78.3%, especially amongst females and those aged 50+. Saturday listening has declined from 75.6% to 74% of the population, with significant changes occurring amongst the rural, KwaZulu-Natal, female, and 35+ demographics.
Sunday listening is also down, from 73% to 71.9%, particularly amongst Limpopo listeners, females and those aged 50+.
On a station level, there have not been many significant changes in listenership from SAARF RAMS 2001A to 2001B. There have however, been a number of significant year on year changes, looking back to SAARF RAMS 2000B.
Demographic shifts
Growing trends
A number of stations are showing upward trends in listenership. East Coast Radio is trending up on Mondays to Fridays, YFM 99.2 in its Monday to Friday, and Sunday listenership, and 94.7 Highveld Stereo from Monday to Saturday.
Thanks to Gauteng's 44 radio stations, the province still has the highest average repertoire of stations - 2.32 per person. Gautengers tune in, on average, on 5.81 days of the week, for an average number of 29.31 hours a week.
Overall radio listenership in Gauteng was stable throughout the week, with no significant changes. There is however, a downward trend developing across the four periods, from SAARF AMPS 2000A to SAARF AMPS 2001B. The current survey shows 78.5% listenership from Monday to Friday, 72.9% on Saturdays, and 70.5% on Sundays.
Community radio in the province is stable, although an upward trend across the week is developing.
Ups and downs in Gauteng
Only two stations showed significant changes over the last period.
Kaya FM 95.9 grew its Sunday listenership from 3% in SAARF RAMS 2001A, to 5.1%. Its listenership also grew significantly year on year for Monday to Friday (from 4.2% to 5.9%), and on Saturdays (from 3.9% to 5.9%).
The second significant change was in community station Rainbow FM 90.7's listenership, which grew from 0% to 0.2%, with 9 000 listeners.
Three stations show significant audience losses in Gauteng when comparing SAARF RAMS 2001B with SAARF RAMS 2000B:
Demographic changes in Gauteng
Stations showing significant changes to their audience profiles were:
Gauteng's radio shares
The top 10 Gauteng stations, based on percentage of gross ¼ hours, average Monday to Friday are:
1 Lesedi FM (14.8%)
2 Ukhozi FM (10.6%)
2 Metro fm (10.6%)
3 94.7 Highveld Stereo (9.8%)
4 YFM 99.2 (9.0%)
5 Jacaranda 94.2 FM (5.9%)
6 Motsweding FM (5%)
6 Community radio (5%)
7 Kaya-FM 95.9 (4.6%)
8 Thobela FM (4.2%)
Listenership by age in Gauteng
The top five stations in the 16-34 age group are: Metro fm, with a penetration of 21.3%, followed by YFM 99.2 at 19.3%, Lesedi FM at 12.4%, Ukhozi FM with 11.6%, and in fifth position, 94.7 Highveld Stereo at 10.6%.
In the 35+ group, the top five are: Lesedi FM (17.1%), Ukhozi FM (13.3%), 94.7 Highveld Stereo (7.8%), Metro fm (7.2%) and Motsweding FM with 6.5% penetration.
There are 18 radio stations in KwaZulu-Natal. The average number of stations listened to per week is 1.64. On average, people tune in on 6.03 days of the week, for 25.21 hours a week (up from 24.72 hours).
Listening is stable across the week, except for Saturday listening, which is down significantly over the last survey period (from 79.8% to 76.9%). A significant drop in female listeners has occurred from Monday through to Saturday. On Sunday, significantly fewer people aged 35-49 are tuning in.
Community radio in total is down significantly on the last survey - from 5.5% to 3.5% penetration.
Ups and downs in KwaZulu-Natal
P4 Radio KZN 98-100fm has had significant year on year grow across the whole week. Its Monday to Friday listenership is up from 1.3% to 2.6%. Saturday figures are up from 1.2% to 3.1%, and Sunday is up from 1.3% to 2.6%.
Ukhozi FM experienced a significant listenership change over the last period. This was for its Saturday listenership, which dropped from 59.6% in SAARF RAMS 2001A, to 56.5% currently. Its Saturday listenership was also down for rural audiences, and year on year. Significant year on year on year declines were also seen in Ukhozi's Monday to Friday, and Sunday listenership.
Other losses seen from SAARF RAMS 2001A to SAARF RAMS 2001B, were community stations Radio Khwezi (from 1.4% to 0.8%), Radio Maritzburg (from 1.1% to 0.4%), and Radio Phoenix (from 0.9% to 0.4%).
Two stations show significant audience losses in KwaZulu-Natal when comparing SAARF RAMS 2001B with SAARF RAMS 2000B:
·bUmhlobo Wenene FM is down from 3.1% to 2.2% on Saturday, and from 3.4% to 2.0% on Sunday, year on year.
· Metro fm has seen significant audience fall-off on Sundays in KwaZulu-Natal, going from 13.6% in SAARF RAMS 2000B, to 11% in the current survey.
KwaZulu-Natal's radio shares
The following are the top five KZN stations, based on percentage of gross ¼ hours, average Monday to Friday. .
1 Ukhozi FM (65.7%)
2 ECR (11.8%)
3 Metro fm (8.9%)
4 Lotus FM (3.8%)
5 P4 Radio KZN 98-100fm (2%)
Listenership by age in KwaZulu-Natal
The top five stations in KwaZulu-Natal, in the 16-34 age group are: Ukhozi FM, with a penetration of 62.5%, followed by Metro fm at 17.1%, East Coast Radio at 13.4%, P4 Radio KZN 98-100fm with 3.8%, and in fifth position, Umhlobo Wenene with 3.3%.
In the 35+ group, the top five are: Ukhozi FM (54.8%), East Coast Radio (10.3%), Lotus FM (6.4%), Metro fm (5.3%) and community radio with 2% penetration.
Twenty six stations were measured in the Western Cape, two less than in the previous period. The average number of stations listened to per week remains stable at 1.8. The average number of days on which people listen to radio is 5.5 per week, which equates to 23.45 hours a week (up from 23.35).
Listening patterns in this province are extremely stable, with only one significant change coming through, for Bush Radio, which grew its audience from 1.1% to 2% over the last period.
One demographic shift came through, for Kfm 94.5 which has grown its rural audience on the previous survey period.
Two stations are trending upwards - Metro fm in it's Monday to Friday audience, and Radio 786/Voice of the Cape in its Saturday audience.
Western Cape's radio shares
The top 10 Western Cape stations, based on percentage of gross ¼ hours, average Monday to Friday are:
1 Kfm 94.5 (19.1%)
2 GHFM (16.2%)
3 RSG (14.5%)
4 Community radio (13.1%)
5 Umhlobo Wenene FM (12.8%)
6 Metro fm (5.2%)
6 5fm (5.2%)
7 P4 Radio Cape Town 100-108fm (4.6%)
8 SAfm (2.4%)
9 Cape Talk (2.3%)
Listenership by age in the Western Cape
The top five stations in the Western Cape, in the 16-34 age group are: GHFM (22.4%), Kfm 94.5 (15.4%), Umhlobo Wenene FM (12%), Metro fm (9.8%) and community radio (9.2%).
In the 35+ group, the top five are: RSG (17.1%), community radio (15.3%), Kfm 94.5 (15.2%), GHFM (11.5%), and 5fm (9.5%).
South African adults watched an additional 18 minutes of television, taking their average time spent watching to 24.9 hours per week, with an average of 3.6 hours a day.
The pattern of quarter hour viewing is stable, mirroring that of quarter hour viewership in past surveys.
TV viewership in general is very stable across the week, though trending slightly upwards for Monday to Friday, and Sunday. Patronage currently stands at 64.9% from Monday to Friday, 63.6% for Saturday, and 62.7% on Sundays.
On a station level however, there has been considerable movement. e.tv continues to grow its patronage, as it has done over the last four periods. It is now within two percentage points of being the second biggest station in South Africa.
It now commands 19.4% of viewers on a Monday to Friday, up from 16.7% in SAARF AMPS 2001A. These figures correlate well with TAMS data. e.tv's audience has grown in the Western and Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, and North West, as well as in Cape Town and Kimberley, and in the 16-49 age group.
E.tv's Saturday audience is also up, from 17.8% to 20.1%, with increases in its Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, North West, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, and 16-49 year-old markets. Sunday viewership is up from 14.8% to 17.6%, again with a number of demographic gains (urban, Western and Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Cape Town, Reef, and 16-49).
M-Net has seen a significant decline in its Monday to Friday viewership over the last period, from 6.7% to 6.1%, especially in metros. M-Net's audience has also declined on a Sunday (from 7.9% to 6.6%), but remains stable on a Saturday. DStv viewership is stable on the weekend, except for an increase in Afrikaans viewers on a Sunday.
The top 10 channels watched through DStv are, in order of audience size:
1. SuperSport 1 on DStv (1.4%)
2. Movie Magic (1.2%)
3. M-Net channel on DStv (0.9%)
4. Discovery channel (0.9%)
5. Movie Magic 2 (0.8%)
6. SABC 2 on DStv (0.8%)
7. SuperSport 2 on DStv (0.7%)
8. SABC 3 on DStv (0.7%)
9. SABC 1 on DStv (0.6%)
10. BBC Prime (0.5%)
SABC 1's Monday to Friday viewership is stable. During the week however, SABC 2 and 3 have both seen significant decreases. SABC 2 is down to 21.2% from 22.3% in the last survey. Declines are seen especially amongst males and English speakers. SABC 3 has dropped from 15.4% to 14.4%, with declines in its metro, female, and Afrikaans audiences.
Weekend viewing of SABC 1 and SABC 3 is stable, with a decline in English viewers for the former on Saturday. SABC 2 sees declines over both Saturday and Sunday, from 25.8% to 23.3%, and from 24.8% to 23.2%. These declines have occurred in the channel's urban, 16-24, and 50+ viewership groups, and in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria. Shifts in Sunday viewers can be seen in its metro, Western Cape, small towns and villages, Reef, female, and the 16-24 and 50+ markets.
Bop TV is stable across the whole week, with a decline in 16-24 year-old viewers on a Saturday.
Channels' share
Television shares, based on percentage of gross ¼ hours, average Monday to Friday, have remained constant on the previous diary period.
The top channels according to share of time viewed are:
1 SABC 1 (50.3%)
2 e.tv (16.4%)
3 SABC 2 (14.4%)
4 SABC 3 (9.5%)
5 M-Net (total) (4.8%)
6 DStv (3.8%)
7 Bop TV (0.8%)
