Radioplayer, the online listening platform for radio, this month celebrates its six month anniversary with 6.7 million unique users in August*. Some 282 stations are now live in Radioplayer, including all BBC national and local stations, the major commercial radio groups, and a growing list of community and student stations.
Data collected by Radioplayer in the six months since its launch provides a snap-shot of listening across the entire radio landscape, showing what kind of events and guests drive traffic, with some clear themes emerging.
Listeners use Radioplayer heavily during the working day, with a peak at 9am, (later than ‘normal’ radio listening which peaks around 8am), then a drop-off at the end of the working day, with another weekday evening peak when people arrive home. There are noticeable dips in traffic at weekends, bank holidays and across holiday periods when people aren’t at work.
Music related events show a big effect on listening, with stations doubling or tripling their normal traffic for special guests. Real Radio in Manchester saw three times their normal Radioplayer traffic when One Direction visited, after the band tweeted to alert their huge fan- base.
Big news stories have a similar effect – London talk station LBC saw six times its normal traffic during the recent riots, with BBC Local Radio stations in affected areas picking up five times their normal traffic, BRMB in Birmingham four times, and BBC Radio 5 Live doubling its normal Radioplayer traffic during the riots. The data suggests that these are largely new listeners, on top of the habitual Radioplayer listenership.
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Sport appears to be another big driver of traffic at weekends, across both BBC and commercial, as well as national and local stations. The effects of football coverage are very visible, with overall Radioplayer traffic rising by 5-10 percent at the start of the season.
Radioplayer was recently rolled-out via a Facebook app launched two weeks ago, meaning users can now listen to the radio while chatting with their friends, and early indications show a strong take-up of the app.
Radioplayer’s success now looks set to go global, following several inquiries from overseas companies looking to replicate its ground-breaking model. Radioplayer has issued an ‘Expression of Interest’ request to look for potential international licensing partners.
Michael Hill, Managing Director of Radioplayer, who will be sharing some of the data insights at the nextradio conference on September 15 said “’Attracting 6.7 million users in August is testament to the strength of the UK radio industry, combined with the simplicity of putting ‘UK radio in one place’. We’ll see further peaks and troughs, but I’m really proud of what we have achieved so far.”
Andrew Harrison, Chairman of Radioplayer added: “Radioplayer has gathered some real momentum in its first six months, establishing a strong base of users, as well reaching out to new audiences via innovations like the Facebook app.”
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