RAJAR: BBC Asian Network grows; Sunrise Radio loses

The BBC Asian Network strengthened its position at the No.1 position in the UK Asian radio market, according to freshly published data for Q2/18 by RAJAR.

The popular station delivered a weekly reach of 672,000 listeners – up from 628,000 listeners in Q1/18. The station was also up in terms of listening hours from 5.0 hours to 5.2 hours. The BBC Asian Network has made a number of changes and the numbers seem to reflect that audiences are favouring the work.

The BBC Asian Network is up year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, with a 4.0% surge year-on-year and a 7.0% increase compared to the previous quarter.

Ben Cooper (Controller BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra & Asian Network) said, “I’m delighted that the changes we’ve made to Asian Network are starting to bed in, with the station being up on the quarter and on the year.”

Rival, Sunrise Radio National has witnessed a decline in listeners. The station’s latest weekly reach stands at 330,000 listeners – down from 360,000 listeners. Its listening hours stood at 5.0 hours, down from 5.4 hours in the previous quarter.

Sunrise Radio National in general has had a decline of 8.3% quarter-on-quarter.

Tony Lit, Sunrise Radio MD said, “The release of RAJAR Q2 2018 this morning confirms Sunrise Radio as the undisputed Number 1 commercial Asian Radio Station both in London and Nationally, leading in terms of weekly reach and total weekly listening hours. In fact Sunrise London has over 153% more total weekly listening hours than its nearest commercial Asian radio competitor, and nationally Sunrise has over 77% more total weekly listening hours than its nearest national commercial Asian radio competitor and out of the original radio stations launching on DAB2 in 2016 Sunrise has the second highest total weekly listening hours, just behind Mellow Magic’s lead position. We’ve been working very hard to bring our listeners the music and entertainment they deserve.

Since January we’ve given away flights to the Middle East & South Asia, luxury holidays to the Maldives, Mauritius and Dubai, and currently we’ve teamed up with ICC World Cup Cricket 2019 giving our listeners the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to a World Cup match next year with 4 pairs being given away this August. For your chance to win just tune into Sunrise!”

Greater London
Sunrise Radio continued to lose listeners in the Greater London market with as significant decline in its numbers. The station, which holds the No.1 position in the London market, delivered a weekly reach of 176,000 listeners – down from 210,000 listeners in Q1/18. Sunrise Radio’s listening hours were also down from 6.4 hours to 5.6 hours.

Lyca Radio fetched a reach of 106,000 listeners – down slightly from 107,000 viewers in Q1/18. The numbers do not account for the on-air sound it has made recently. Lyca Radio’s listening hours stood at 3.7 hours – up from 3.7 hours in the previous quarter.

Sister station, Lyca Dilse fel further from 37,000 listeners in Q1/18 to 35,000 listeners in this quarter. However, in little reprieve for the station, it registered the highest listening hours for any Asian station in this quarter. Lyca Dilse’s listening hours were up from 3.0 hours to 6.8 hours, which means the station is being listened for longer intervals.

Other UK based Asian radio stations such as Radio XL in Birmingham, Sabras Radio in Leicester, Asian Sound in Manchester, Sunrise Radio in Yorkshire and other digital and community Asian radio stations do not subscribe to RAJAR.