Classic FM recovers slightly as BBC Radio 3 and Scala Radio lose listeners
Classic FM has recovered slightly, BBC Radio 3 listeners are down, and Scala Radio has recorded losses for 8 consecutive quarters, according to new figures from RAJAR (Radio Join Audience Research). Released today, the figures cover the fourth quarter of 2023.
Classic FM has lost 785,000 listeners since the start of the pandemic, but today saw a slight increase in its audience. The station gained 220,000 listeners from September 2023 rising 5.0% to 4.69 million. This is Classic FM’s fifth lowest audience since RAJAR figures began.
Although recovering slightly, Classic FM has struggled recently, having posted record lows for seven of the last ten quarters, including dropping under 5 million listeners for the first time. Classic FM has lost 785,000 listeners from its pre-pandemic audience of 5.48 million in March 2020, a drop of 14.50%.
(RAJAR did not report quarterly figures between March 2020 and September 2021 due to the pandemic).
After a strong previous quarter, BBC Radio 3 has lost 227,000 listeners since September 2023, a decrease of 11.3% to 1.76 million.
BBC Radio 3’s audience has historically fluctuated between 1.7 million and 2.1 million. This quarter sees BBC Radio 3’s audience drop 205,000 since the start of the pandemic, a decrease of 10.35%.
Scala Radio fell 2,000, from 201,000 to 199,000, a decrease of 1.0%. It has lost over a third of its audience from before the pandemic, dropping 35.8% from 310,000 before the pandemic. Scala Radio has now posted loses for 8 consecutive quarters.
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