Brad News Feed

Digital growth drives fourth quarter outdoor revenues

03 Feb 2012 12:32

Outdoor ad revenues increased by 1.4% on the year in the last quarter of 2011, boosted by a growth at several smaller digital media owners, according to the Outdoor Media Centre

UK outdoor ad revenues were £256.4m from October and December 2011, while revenues for the year rose 1% on the year to £886.3m, which were boosted by the digital outdoor sector’s largest ever ad revenue for a quarter in the last period of 2011.

Source: Media Week

Rajar Q4 2011: BBC extends lead on commercial

02 Feb 2012 13:01

BBC radio's share rose on the period, up 1.0% on the quarter to 55.5% for the period from September to December in 2011, as BBC radio stations gained 77,000 listeners, extending its lead on commercial radio, according to the latest Rajar listening figures

Conversely, commercial stations lost 898,000 listeners on the period, totalling 32.821 million listeners, also down on the year from 33.059 million people. Commercial radio’s share was down on the period by 1.1% and on the year by 0.1% to 42.4%.

BBC’s performance was bolstered by strong performances on the quarter from BBC 6 Music (17.4%), and Radio 4 (12.1%). However, Radio 1 and 2, both of which saw yearly gains around 2%, saw quarterly dips around 1%, totalling 11.665 million and 14.267 million listeners respectively.

In commercial radio, Total Absolute Radio remained relatively flat on the quarter, though surged on the year by 16.3% to 1.599 million listeners. Possibly cannibalizing some of those listeners, spin offs Absolute 00s and Classic Rock saw their figures skyrocket on the quarter, up 15.8% and 13% respectively.

However, Magic saw its listening figures rise 0.8% on the quarter to 3.865 million, though dipped 2.0% on the year, while Heart and Classic FM audiences fell both on the period and the year.

After a tough third quarter, Jazz FM's listening figures were relatively flat at 0.8% on the quarter, but surged 14.3% year on year to 512,000. Also ending the year strong, TalkSport’s listenership rebounded on the period by 2.0%, up on the year by 3.5%, to 3.196 million, the highest ever quarter four weekly audience for the sports station.

For more detailed figures on BBC and Commercial share click here

For national radio figures click here

Rajar Q4 2011: Digital continues to rise as total radio listening dips

02 Feb 2012 12:29

The share of digital listening reached 29.1% of all radio listening in the fourth quarter of 2011, but the share of the UK population listening to radio dipped 0.9% on the period, though according to the latest Rajar results

Similarly, 46.7 million UK adults listened to the radio every week in the three months to September, down by 400,000 listeners on the quarter, dipping on the year by 50,000.

However, people listening to radio via a digital platform increased 10% on the year to 23.1 million listeners a week in the fourth quarter, up on the quarter by 300,000. Its share rose on the period by 0.9% to 29.1%, up 4.1% year on year. Digital listening hours rose by 38 million hours on the year to 300 million hours per week, dipping on the period by four million hours.

The rise was aided by a boost in DAB listening share, which climbed from 15.8% last year to 19.4% in the same period this year. The platform is still the most popular device when it comes to listening to digital radio, accounting for 66.7% of all digital hours, though listening via DTV (digital television) and internet are both up on the year, with hours up by 1.8% and 10.2% respectively.

Rajar’s latest figures also revealed that DAB set ownership has grown once again, increasing by 13.0% year on year, as nearly two in five of the population (40%), or 20.9 million claimed to live in a household which has a DAB set. Five years that was figure was only one in five.

Also, 15.1% of UK adults listened to the radio via a mobile phone, up 14.1% on the year, though a slight dip on the period. Those aged 15-24 are especially active in this area, as 32.2% used their mobile phones to listen to the radio, while 11.9% of those aged 25+ listened to the radio via the platform, up from 10% in the same period last year.

For digital radio figures click here

BSkyB to launch internet TV service

31 Jan 2012 15:02

BSkyB is rolling out its own pay-as-you-go internet TV service, offering 13 million households that do not have pay TV the opportunity to view some of its movie and TV content

Taking on LoveFilm and Netflix Sky Movies, the service goes live in the first half of this year, while content will later feature sport and entertainment. The yet-to-be-named service will be on a range of connected devices, such as PCs, Macs, laptops, tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and internet-connected TVs.

In other news for the broadcaster, Sky gained 40,000 TV customers in the last quarter of 2011, and pre-tax profits for the second half of the year increased 18% to £564m, even though ad revenues falling 6%.

Source: Guardian, Media Week

JCDecaux UK revenues up on the year

30 Jan 2012 12:57

JCDecaux's UK full-year revenues rose slightly on the year by 0.1% to €272.1m (£226.9m) in the fourth quarter of 2011, while global revenues totalled €715.9m (£596.9m), rising 3.6% year on year

The outdoor media owner's global organic revenues, excluding foreign exchange variations and change in perimeter effects, were up 3.3% in the fourth quarter.

For last year as a whole, revenues increased 4.8% on the year to €2.46bn, with organic revenues up 5.7%.

Source: Media Week

BBC head to step down after Olympics

27 Jan 2012 12:38

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, has informed senior colleagues that he is "psychologically ready" to quit at the end of 2012 or early in 2013, following the broadcaster's Olympic year and after eight years at helm of the broadcaster

Lord Patten, BBC Trust chairman, has announced that the organisation had already enlisted headhunters Egon Zehnder to look for a replacement.

Source: Guardian

Newspaper Website ABCes (Dec 11) : Independent only newspaper site up during Christmas period

26 Jan 2012 14:22

The Independent was the only newspaper website to boost visitors on the month during the Christmas period, though traffic was up on the year across the board, according to the December figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic

Following a revamp of the site towards the end of October, Independent.co.uk's saw average daily browsers rise 10.56% to 758,524 and monthly visitors surge 16.45% to 15,833,084.

Of its quality paper rivals, Guardian.co.uk saw the largest decline on the month, down 20.61% as daily users averaged 2,937,070, back below the three million mark. Telegraph.co.uk's average daily browsers remained above the two million mark too, averaging 2,156,001, though it was down 8.16% on the month. Its monthly browsers totalled 42,699,603, dipping 4.74%.

On a positive note, all three websites were up on the year for daily average and total monthly browsers from 30% to 50%.

The Mail Online remains the most visited newspaper website, averaging 4,838,140 daily users and totalling 84,172,568 monthly browsers, above the 80 million mark for a second consecutive month. Both figures were well up on the year 58.89% and 56.04% respectively, though both dipped the month.

Also, Mirror Group's website was also well up on the year, as daily visitors averaged 726,653 and monthly browsers totalled 16,311,555, up 44.19% and 46.95% respectively. However, daily users dipped on the month 4.23%, but the total for the month was flat.

The Sun.co.uk, which released its ABCe figures for first time in October since withdrawing them last year, saw its daily average drop 10.44% to 1,339,077, while monthly browsers fell by 8.63%to 22,132,021. Currently no year-on-year comparisons are available.

Click on media owner names for the full ABC Group Product Reports for December.

Associated Newspapers: Mail Online
Daily average browsers: 4,838,140
Month on month change: -5.03% Year on year change: 58.89%
Monthly browsers: 84,172,568
Monthly change: -0.95% Yearly change: 56.04%

Guardian Media Group: Guardian.co.uk
Daily average browsers: 2,937,070
Monthly change: -20.61% Yearly change: 31.45%
Monthly browsers: N/A
Monthly Change: N/A Yearly change: N/A

Independent News & Media: Independent.co.uk
Daily average browsers: 758,524

Monthly change: -10.56% Yearly change: 50.35%
Monthly browsers: 15,833,084
Monthly change: -16.45% Yearly change: 43.40%

Mirror Group: Mirror Group Digital
Daily average browsers: 726,653
Monthly change: -4.23% Yearly change: 44.19%
Monthly browsers: 16,311,555
Monthly change: 0.04% Yearly change: 46.95%

News International: The Sun.co.uk
Daily average browsers: 1,339,077
Monthly change: -10.44%
Monthly browsers: 22,132,021
Monthly change: -8.63%

Telegraph Newspapers: Telegraph.co.uk
Daily average browsers: 2,156,001
Monthly change: -8.16% Yearly change: 36.17%
Monthly browsers: 42,699,603
Monthly change: -4.74% Yearly change: 37.35%

iPhones and iPads sales double Apple profits

25 Jan 2012 12:19

Apple has announced record profits after record sales of iPhones and iPads during the final quarter of 2011, the first since co-founder Steve Jobs passed away

The technology company more than doubled its profits, up on the year from $6bn (£3.9bn) to $13.06bn (£8.35bn). The figures easily surpassed analysts' expectations and have eased the pressure off chief executive Tim Cook, Jobs’ successor.

Apple sold a record 37 million iPhones in the final quarter of 2011, up 128% on the year, while it sold a record 15.4 million iPads, more than double the previous year.

Source: Guardian