Following the one-off drop in numbers in the first quarter of 2014 – resulting from leaving national DAB at the end of 2013, a huge cost-saving – JazzFM is showing steady and consistent quarter-on-quarter audience growth this year. The station reports a 1% rise in its weekly audience to 553,000, numbers from the quarterly RAJAR data. Total listening hours were up 5% quarter-on-quarter to 2,282,000.

The audience is male-biased (63%). ABC1’s represent 70% of weekly reach and 73%of listening hours. The audience is also getting younger: 15‐54 age group accounts for is 81% of adult listening hours. An impressive 32% of the audience which discloses how it listens, now receives the station via internet/mobile platforms.

 The station has been working hard on adapting and broadening its playlist, increasing the jazz content, and next quarterly data should show a pick-up as the the new Lynn Parsons breakfast show gains in popularity. UK commercial radio is dominated by just three owners, Global, Bauer and UTV, a context in which JazzFM stands out as one of the few significant independents.

LINKS:
Interview (Feb 2014) with Chairman Richard Wheatly
RAJAR 2014 Q2 data
RAJAR 2014 Q1 data