ANALYSIS

Virgin scrapes first base

cessThe juryof Virgin is still out1215 after public pro- third quarter ii Commercial radio in tum weeksfirst Rajar of being resuit. surveyed After seven the Richard Skinner ofaccounted the total for listening more than audience 40% station has hit most of its mod- is fulfilling its promise ofy play- irgm year.most Butimportant a look at radio three battle- of the for the first time if Virgin's fig- est targets - but only just. -, .7 , grounds - London, Manchester uresAtlantic are included. 252 lost listeners 2 RunawayTrain-SoulAsylumWhafsUp?-4 Non Blondes 3,28mIts totalexceeded weekly its prédictionreach of songsinclude releases'eek s CplayhsttS Such andshows how (see below) - while boosting its share of lis- 3 IBelieve-Robert Plant by 2,000, but its 7.2% reach of is The Poppies, Ginni ?., tion's. figures diverseare. Its strengththe sta- tening and Classic FM 54 DreamOfMe-OMDFieldsofGoId-Sting the total population is short of andadding Juliana that the Hatfield station's Three, list of challengedm Birmingham is sure to be improvedIn London, on both Kiss counts. boosted its 76 World-NewOrderDelicate-TerenceTrentD'Arby the 8%launch estimated. publicity, And, its despite 2.2% most played tracks (see table, group programmeCapital director Radio sharewhile Jazzof listening FM lost 52% a quarter to 3.5% of 8 Tm GonnaSootheYou-Maria McKee share of total radio listening is right) includes names such as Richard Park continues hi its audience, recording a week- 910 HumanBehaviour-BjorkEverything'sRne-IbeSurfingBrides achievedlower than by theClassic 2.8% FM, figure the 4 NonAccording Blondes to andCampbell Bjork. it is revarap of BRMB. ly reach of495,000. " La Tristesse Durera-Manie Street other newcomer, last autumn. Radio One FM that has lost wonBBC an localextra and 890,000 régional listeners radio Melody lost 10% of its week- 12 Persuasion-TimRnn Preachers In part this can be blamed most heavily to Virgin. BBC during the second quarter, at a itsly audience share of listeningand GLR byimproved almost 1413 IDidn'tKnowlwasLookingHavelToIdYouLately-RodStewart For Love- quency,on the rockthough station's Virgin AM chief fre- headSue Stoessl of broadcasting défends Oneresearch FM, time when BBC network radio Everything ButTbe Girl executive David Campbell however, suggesting that lostSue 983,000. Stoessl points out that Black music specialist 1615 LordsOfTheNewChurch-TasminBusyBee-UglyKidJoe stresses the station knew what Virgin's impact has been two-thirds of the population forChoice a FM,London-wide which is applyinglicence, 17 Wide River-Steve Miller BandArcher it wasNo doubtapplying the for. station hopes greateras on in broadcasters the London area.such still listens to a BBC station at recorded an impressive 52% 18 IWishlWcreBlind-Bruce that the £500,000 télévision Overall, Onj FM's share has theleast corporation once a week, lost but 415,000 overall increase in its weekly audience campaign launched last week slipped margmally for the listeners. monthssince it ago.was last surveyed sixH A TALE 0F THREE CITIES

Capital fM 16.6% Radio One FM 17.7% Radio One FM 22,5% Radio Two 11.6% Piccadilly Key FM 162% 1 Radio Two 13.5% Radio Four 11. Radio Two 15.7% XTRAAM12.7%[WBi Radio One 10. Piccadilly 11.6% 1 Capital Gold 8.7% Radio Fourl0,4% 1 BRMB 11.71 LondonTalkbackLBCNewstalk5.0% 4.5% GMR 52% 1 BBC Radio WM 9.81 Melody 4.4% Radio Four 71 Kiss FM 3.5% Atlantic 252 3.9% ■1 Beacon Radio 5.01 Classic FM 2,7% Classic FM Z8% M Radio WABC 2.81 Radio Five 1.9% BBC Radio Merseyside 2.3% u Classic FM 2i1 Radio Three 1.7% g] Radio Rve 2.1% m GLR1.6% City FM 12% 1 Jazz FM 1.2% ^□ Radio Three 0.9% 1 other 14.7% others 10.0% nd Virgin 1215 i il'lld:!:! J'ItlilhltliLI.IP.PIJirtTTÎffininU H BBC local radio Radio Aire Group weekly reach299 ('000) listening27.3 share% Métro TyneTees weekly reach1204 COOO) I 432 TotalBeacon Capital Radio Radio Group 3907483 25.322.7 GreatYorkshireMetroYorkshire Radio 1230532 22492 Total Chiltern Eastem 198605 1359.7 Total MidlandsMid Anglia Radio Radio 1506234 122 TotalChoice Chiltern FM Western 215 4.9 Northsound Radio 136 33.021.3 Total Radio City 974696 41.020.3 TotalOrchard Piccadilly FM Classic Radio HHs 1045102 27.821.8 TotalDowntown Radio Radio/CoolClyde FM 497 27,8 Red Dragon FM/Touch AM 311 23.7 EastAngllan Radio Group 413 23.3233 Total SignalRed Rose Radio Radio 272398 25.4 Total EssexRadio ForthRadio 478403 30,3 Total Southern Radio 1180 24.5127 Fox FM 248 20224.4 SunriseSpectnim Radio International 102195 820.7 JazzTotal FM GWR 495510 12 Swansea Sound 174 16.4 Kiss FM 857144 13.93.5 TotalRadio 210 Tay 231182 21.130,4 TotalUnes LBC FM 1378 9.5 Total 2CR 287 24.0 Marcher Sound 168 11.8 West SoundCountry Broadcasting 275116 28.621,6 RadioMelody Mercury Radio FM/ 275834 13.34.4 Radio Wyvem 112 15.9 'StationsCounty Sound with 100,000+weekly AM reach. SourcniRajer MUSIC WEEK 14 AUGUST1993 25