Britons increasingly prefer commercial radio stations to the BBC, according to the latest figures from Rajar, which also reveal how Amazon’s Alexa is changing listening habits.
The Guardian reports the long-term trend towards favoring commercial radio has been exacerbated by the popularity of smart speakers in British homes, which are prompting people previously loyal to a single station to try niche digital-only outlets.
While, traditionally, people might tune a radio to their favorite station and leave it there, listening on devices such as Amazon’s Alexa involves asking for a channel each time – so there are more opportunities for convincing people to try something different.
Ford Ennals, the chief executive of Digital Radio UK, said: “These speakers are now in over 26% of all homes and are good news for the radio sector with most people using them to listen to live radio.
“Smart speakers also make it easy for people to listen to the increasing range of digital stations and have helped propel the growth of new innovative digital stations such as the new number one digital-only station KISSTORY.”
Figures released on Thursday by Rajar (Radio Joint Audience Research) show the BBC’s combined share of UK radio listening fell below 50% in the three months between April and June, breaking a symbolic barrier. The corporation’s radio stations had already been overtaken by the commercial sector in terms of the overall number of people listening in a given week.
However, the BBC has insisted it was no longer chasing traditional radio listening figures and was instead prioritizing investment in podcasts via its BBC Sounds app to appeal to younger listeners.
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