Radio Stations
October 20, 2010
For our course work we were tasked with comparing two PSB radio stations (Regional and National) and two Commercial radio stations (Regional and National). The difference between the two being PSB (Public Service Radio) broadcasts news and other similar affairs with no adverts, and in the case of the BBC, is impartial and strives to inform, educate, and entertain. Commercial Radio is mainly just for entertainment and to make a profit, it has adverts. The difference between Regional and National is that regional is broadcast to only one specific area whereas national is broadcast to the entire country.
To compare two PSB radio stations I chose BBC Radio 1 for my national station and BBC Radio Northampton for my regional station.
| Station | Survey Period | Population | Reach (000’s) | Reach Percent | Average Hours Per Head | Average Hours Per Listener | Total Hours (000’s) | Listening Share In TSA% |
| BBC Radio 1 | Q | 51,618,000 | 11,810 | 23 | 1.9 | 8.1 | 95,821 | 9.30 |
| BBC Radio Northampton | H | 481,000 | 103 | 21 | 2.3 | 11.0 | 1.127 | 11.70 |
Obviously the population and reach is higher for the national station because it broadcasts to more people however is seems that the individual listeners of regional radio, although lacking in numbers, listen more then national radio.
The two Commercial stations I chose where, Classic FM (National) and Galaxy Birmingham (Regional)
| Station | Survey Period | Population | Reach (000’s) | Reach Percent | Average Hours Per Head | Average Hours Per Listener | Total Hours (000’s) | Listening Share In TSA% |
| Classic FM | Q | 51,618,000 | 5,684 | 11 | 0.7 | 6.8 | 38,643 | 3.80 |
| Galaxy Birmingham | H | 2,110,000 | 383 | 18 | 1.1 | 6.1 | 2,327 | 6.30 |
Again The Population and reach are obviously higher for the National Radio but interestingly the reach percent is smaller. Also there are more ours per head for the regional station and very close average hours per listener with the national station slightly in front.
In conclusion It seems that although National radio get more listeners, the listeners regional radio does get, listen longer and more often.
