The second reporting wave of SAARF RAMS® 2004 is the very picture of stability. Average day individual station audiences are extremely stable, repertoires have remained unchanged, and average daily listenership is similar to that of the previous period.
"The new methodology of flooding is clearly delivering reliable, consistent audience data," says SAARF CEO, Dr Paul Haupt.
While audience figures have, on the whole, remained stable, changes in listening trends have come through, showing the effect of seasonality. Looking at listenership on a quarter-hour basis, listening has been marginally lower between 5:30/6am and 7am on a Monday to Friday, and between 6:30am to 8:30/9am on Saturdays - "Possibly the effect of the colder mornings, with people starting their days that bit later," surmises Haupt.
With seasonality now a factor in the alternate monthly-published radio listenership figures, events during the fieldwork period could also have influenced stations' audiences. Key events which occurred during the fieldwork period for the current survey included:
10 years of democracy celebrations;
The first news of the soccer match-fixing scandal;
Brenda Fassie's coma and subsequent passing away;
The investigation into Iraqi prisoner abuse; and
Sport such as the US Golf Open, the rugby Super 12 and test matches, soccer's Euro 2004 and the 2010 bid win, and the French Open Tennis Tournament.Technical data
The total fieldwork period was from March to May 2004.
Flooding occurred in metros, cities and large towns with a total population of 40 000 or more. As in the first release, the rural component was not flooded, but was drawn from SAARF AMPS® 2003B. Flooding is the new methodology employed for RAMS®, where all adult members (aged 16 years and older) of the household keep diaries.
152 stations were measured, with 134 qualifying for reporting by having 40 or more listeners in the sample.
A total of 16 057 people completed RAMS diaries during the reporting period, up slightly on the previous reporting wave.Time spent listening
32.06 hours per week (stable on 32.00 hours in the first reporting wave).
4.35 hours per day (stable on 4.34 in the first reporting wave).Time spent listening (hours per day) on a provincial level is:
Free State: 5.32 hours
Mpumalanga: 5.20 hours
Limpopo: 5.02 hours
North West: 4.50 hours
Gauteng: 4.47 hours
Western Cape: 4.22 hours
KwaZulu-Natal: 4.10 hours
Eastern Cape: 3.47 hours
Northern Cape: 3.43 hoursRepertoires
Listeners' repertoires have remained unchanged over the first reporting wave. The number of stations listened to in an average week is:
Gauteng: 2.6
Limpopo: 2.3
Mpumalanga: 2.2
North West: 2.1
Western Cape: 2.0
KwaZulu-Natal: 1.9
Eastern Cape: 1.8
Northern Cape: 1.7
Free State: 1.7National radio listening
Radio listening on a national basis has remained stable over the previous reporting wave. There has been a slight decline in listening, but this is consistent with the slight declines in radio listening for this time of year, seen in previous surveys.
Past 7 days: 90.1% of South African adults listen to the radio during the week. Significant downward profile shifts occurred in metros, Durban, Pretoria, and in LSMs 7 and 10.
Average Monday to Friday: Stable on 77.3%, with a significant drop-off in LSM 6+.
Saturday and Sunday incidence remains comparable to the previous reporting wave, with 74% and 72.5% incidence respectively.Station results
There were no significant changes in audience levels on an individual station basis, with listenership remaining stable over the previous reporting wave.
Significant profile shifts over SAARF RAMS® 2004/1 (Feb-March):
94.7 Highveld Stereo saw declines in its LSM 8 listenership, and gains in its LSM 10 listenership, on a past 7 day filter. Monday to Friday listenership was down in LSM 8.
99.2 YFM has lost audience in LSM 6 (past 7 days).
Good Hope FM shed LSM 9-10 listeners (past 7 days).
KAYA-FM 95.9 has lost listeners in LSM 7 (past 7 days and Monday to Friday).
Total Community is down in LSM 10 (past 7 days).
Umhlobo Wenene FM has seen a decline in its cities and large town listeners (past 7 days).Developing trends:
A number of stations are showing signs of either an upward or downward trend. These audience figures' growths or declines are not statistically significant, but may point to a longer-term trend.
94-95 East Coast Radio is showing a downward trend in its past 7 day listenership, from 6.2% in SAARF RAMS® 2003B to 6.0% currently.
99.2 YFM shows a decline from 3.3% in SAARF RAMS® 2003B to 2.9% (Monday to Friday).
Good Hope FM continues its gradual downward trend on a past 7 day level, from 2.0% (SAARF RAMS® 2003B) to 1.8% (SAARF RAMS® 2004(2)).
Ikwekwezi FM shows a downward trend to 4.6%, from 4.8% in the 2003B diary (past 7 days).
Lesedi FM shows a slight decline in its Monday to Friday listenership, from 8.7% (SAARF RAMS® 2003B) to 8.5% in the current survey.
Ligwalagwala FM is on the rise, from 4.9% in the 2003B diary, to 5.1% currently (past 7 days).
Munghana Lonene FM is trending down on a past 7 days filter, from 4.7% in SAARF RAMS® 2003B to 4.1% in the second reporting wave of 2004.
Phalaphala FM is showing a declining trend in past 7 day listening, from 2.8% (SAARF RAMS® 2003B) to 2.4%.
Radiokansel/Radio Pulpit is trending downwards both on past 7 days (from 2.2% in SAARF RAMS® 2003B to 1.9%) and Monday-Friday (from 1.1% in SAARF RAMS® 2003B to 0.9%).
SAfm is trending down from 1.2% to 1% (Monday to Friday).
Umhlobo Wenene FM has been trending down from 16% in the 2003B diary, to 15.2% currently (past 7 days).The next (third) alternate monthly SAARF RAMS® 2004 reporting wave will be released on 17 September 2004.
An abridged Radio Services Report can be ordered free of charge from SAARF on (011) 463-5340, or email . The basic presentation of the latest RAMS results is also available on the SAARF website - www.saarf.co.za.
