SAARF RAMS figures for October 2012

Like overall listening, time spent listening was stable - indeed identical - over RAMS Aug 2012.

Unlike that release however, the current RAMS boasts a number of radio stations with significantly improved audience levels, with a handful registering declines.

New small-urban/rural data

RAMS Oct 2012 contains the new small-urban/rural data from January to June 2012. The small-urban/rural database is updated twice a year, in April/May and October, as each new AMPS instalment is released.

The update consists of flooded data, where diaries are obtained from all available adults aged 15+ in the household.

It covers fieldwork done for January to June 2012, and has been merged with the last two large-urban RAMS waves, to produce this national October release.

All RAMS releases will carry this same small-urban/rural component until April/May 2013.

SAARF RAMS June 2012 covers the large-urban period from early May to late August 2012, combined with the new small-urban/rural component for Jan-June 2012.

Listening levels

Total radio

The stability seen in the previous RAMS release has carried through to the current survey. No significant changes were seen in overall listening levels, except on an average Saturday, where listening from 2pm to 4:45pm declined, although not enough to impact on overall Saturday listening.

Listening levels are:

• Seven-day listening: 89.2% weekly listening grew in settlements and rural areas, as well as Limpopo and the North West province. There were declines in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg.
  
• Average Monday to Friday: 68.9% with growth in Limpopo.
  
• Saturday listening: 65.2% growth was seen in settlements and rural areas, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, with declines in metros. Listening between 2-4:45pm was significantly lower than it was in RAMS Aug 2012.
  
• Sunday listening: 65.5% - as with Saturday listening, Sunday listening grew in settlements and rural areas, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, with declines in metros, but with additional declines in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Large-urban listening

Large-urban listening was significantly down on the previous RAMS, both on a past-7-day level, and on Sundays. Year-on-year declines were seen for average Monday to Fridays, and Saturdays. Quarter-hour listening is down slightly in the morning across the week, with lower weekend afternoon levels.

Listening levels are:

• Seven-day listening: down from 88.0% in RAMS Aug 2012 to 86.8% currently.
  
• Average Monday to Friday: stable on the previous survey, at 65.9%, although this level is significantly lower than it was a year ago (67.6%). Decreased listening from 6:15-9:45am was seen, but was not sufficient to affect overall weekday listening.
  
• Saturday listening: stable at 59.6%. (This level is significantly lower however, than it was in the year previous, when listening was 62.5%). Quarter-hour listening was down from 7-10:30am, and again from 2-4:30pm.
  
• Sunday listening: down from 62.4% in the previous survey, to 60.2% currently. There was lower listening from 7-10am, and from 12:15-6pm.

Small-urban/rural listening

The new small-urban/rural sample shows higher listening levels across the week. There is more listening in the morning, with late-afternoon growth bringing audiences close to year-previous levels.

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Listening levels for the new Jan-June 2012 sample are:

• Seven-day listening: 91.6%, up from 90.1% in July-Dec 2011.
  
• Average Monday to Friday: 71.9%. Quarter-hour listening was up between 6-9:45am, to 4:15-8:30pm.
  
• Saturday listening: up from 68.8% to 70.7%.

• Sunday listening: Identical to Saturday's levels, up from 68.8% to 70.7%.

Time spent listening

Total time spent listening (TSL) is unchanged over RAMS Aug 2012: 3h32 per day, and 24h42m per week.

Movements in TSL in large-urban areas and small-urban/rural areas precisely balanced each other out. Over RAMS Aug 2012, large-urban lost seven minutes per day (3h20 per day), while compared to Jul-Dec 2011, the small-urban/rural component grew its TSL by seven minutes (3h44 per day).

May 2012 population update. Please continue to be cautious of making comparisons between surveys prior to and post RAMS May 2012. Updated population figures were introduced in May 2012, using the population estimates provided by IHS Global Insight. The methodology employed in the IHS demographic model differs in a number of technical areas to that used by the previous supplier, BMR.

After a universe update, audience figures in thousands may not be directly comparable with one another.

Who's up, who's down

Only statistically significant differences are quoted in this release, and are based on percentages, not on number of people.

Commercial radio

Four commercial radio stations posted audience levels that were significantly changed over RAMS Aug 2012: two up, and two down (reach quoted is national).

1. BRFM's Monday-to-Friday reach is up from 0.1% to 0.2%, with a listenership of 58 000. Rural listening was up across the week.
   
2. Thobela FM's weekly reach rose from 7.8% to 8.9%, with audience numbers breaking through the three-million mark to settle at 3.119-million. Growth came from settlements and rural areas, Limpopo and the North West province (weekly listening was also significantly improved over the year previous, when reach was 7.9%).
   Monday-to-Friday listening was also up over the previous survey, from 4.2% to 5.4%, with a listenership of 1.884-million. Increased listening in Limpopo and in settlements and rural areas was behind this growth (the current reach of 5.4% is also significantly better than it was a year ago, when it was 4.5%).
   
3. Ligwalagwala FM's weekly reach fell from 4.0% to 3.5%, with losses in rural areas, Mpumalanga, and in the 15-34 age group.
   
4. Weekly reach for Ukhozi FM declined from 20.9% to 19.7%, with losses in large-urban areas and KwaZulu-Natal.
   

Community radio

Twice as many community radio stations as commercial posted significantly changed audience figures over RAMS Aug 2012, with only two of these changes being declines.

The growth of these six stations was not enough however, to boost the total figures for community radio as a sector. Weekly listening to community radio is stable at 25.0%, with gains in listening in the North West, and declines in Limpopo and Johannesburg (reach quoted is provincial, and for a past-7-day period).

1. Alfred Nzo Community Radio (Eastern Cape): up from 5.0% to 7.3%, with an audience of 339,000.
   
2. Vukani Community Radio (Eastern Cape): up from 3.3% to 4.7%, with an audience of 222,000.
   
3. Bosveld Stereo 107.5fm (North West): up from 0.6% to 1.7%, with an audience of 38,000.
   
4. Radio Mafisa (North West): up from 4.7% to 7.5%, with an audience of 173,000.
   
5. Radio NFM (Northern Cape): up from 1.9% to 6.3%, with an audience of 50,000.
   
6. Radio Khwezi (KwaZulu-Natal): up from 2.6% to 3.8%, with an audience of 270,000.
   
7. Jozi FM (Gauteng): down from 4.5% to 3.3%.
   
8. Icora FM (KwaZulu-Natal): down from 2.9% to 1.9%.
   
9. Western Cape station, Bok Radio 98.9 FM, has posted its first audience figure: a weekly reach of 3.1%, with 111,000 listeners (large-urban data only).

The final release of SAARF RAMS for 2012 will take place on 4 December.

For more, download the latest RAMS audience analysis.