Newry Radio Listenership Survey Summary Report of Findings August 2013

Transcription

1 Summary Report of Findings August Prepared by: Supported by:

2 Table of Contents Page 1. Executive Summary 3 2. Definitions 4 3. Introduction & Background 5 4. Methodology 7 5. Statistical Analysis of Newry & Mourne LGD 8 6. Key Findings Based on Analysis by Age, Location & Status 9 7. Conclusions & Recommendations 13 Appendix One: Survey Template 1

3 1 Executive Summary 1.1 The purpose of this research is to establish: 1. The popularity of analogue radio stations broadcasting to Newry City & District 2. The weekly reach of analogue radio stations broadcasting to Newry City & District 3. The listenership of IUR-fm. 1.2 The research was commissioned by Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency under the EU Tradelinks Programme and conducted independently by BTW Consulting The results outlined below relate specifically to IÚR-fm, the only fulltime community radio station for Newry City & District, Ofcom Licence Number CR046. IÚR-fm 101.4FM Listenership: Total Listenership in past 12 month (16+) Percentage Listenership Weekly Reach: Total Weekly Reach (16+) Percentage Weekly Reach Station Popularity: 41, % 28, % 27.7% Percentage of those surveyed who identified IÚR-fm as the station they listened to the most. Population: Population (all ages) Population (16+) Survey Sample Eligible Sample Survey Period 64,577 49, Yearly 1.5 Of those who listen to IÚR-fm in the average week, 45.3% listen for up to an hour a day and 16.8% listen for more than an hour a day. 1.5 IÚR-fm is the most popular radio station among year olds and years olds. 2

4 2 Definitions Survey Period This is the period that the survey questions and results cover. Similar to other listener research this is generally expressed as being Quarterly, Half Yearly or Yearly. Survey Sample This is the total number of respondents in the survey. Eligible Sample is the number of people in the survey who fall within the target broadcast area of a station. Population The number of people who live within the target broadcast area of a station. Figures are expressed for the total population and the population aged 16+. Weekly Reach The number of people who tune to a radio station over the course of a week for a defined period. Similar to other radio listenership research, this defined period is a minimum of 5 consecutive minutes. Percentage Weekly Reach The number of people who tune to a radio station over the course of a week expressed as a percentage. Listenership The number of people who have listened to a station over the Survey Period. Percentage Listenership The number of people who have listened to a station over the Survey Period expressed as a percentage. Station Popularity This is the percentage of respondents who identify a station as the one they listen to the most. 3

5 3 Introduction & Background Community broadcasting plays an important and distinctive role in the media as the third broadcasting sector. Community radio stations broadcast live for around 80 hours per week on average, and, in general, broadcast a further 10 hours per week of original pre-recorded material. 3.4 IÚR-fm is Newry & Mourne's only Community Radio Station. (Reference removed for reasons of commercial confidentiality) IÚR-fm s overarching community ethos provides free Community Announcements across all programmes. The charities, groups and organisations that have benefitted from free promotion on IÚR-fm include the Southern Area Hospice; Newry City FC; Down County GAA and local GAA clubs; Cancer Research; the Confederation of Community Groups, local community festival committees; Invest NI & Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency; Newry Lions Club; Parish Groups; Church Groups; Polish Groups; Newry Speakers Group; Southern Health & Social Care Trust; the Loughs Agency; NI Leukaemia Research and many more. Live interviews take place according to the availability of guests and the station tries to facilitate these across the schedule as a key objective is to provide the local community with a voice. IÚR-fm strives to ensure that scheduling remains flexible so that the station can continually respond to community demand; offer an alternative to other stations (LCR & PSB) and provide a wide spectrum of volunteering opportunities. As Newry s only Community Radio Station, IÚR-fm provides a unique service dedicated to the community of Newry City & District which features exclusively local people. 3.8 IÚR-fm aims to maintain a high profile, engagement and listenership in the local area it serves by broadcasting exclusively from within the area. The station does not carry networked programming and all presenters either live, work or study locally or have a defined attachment to the local area. In, IUR-fm opened a new permanent studio in the local Buttercrane Shopping Centre from which it broadcasts live 3 days per week. The Centre has an average footfall of 106,000 per week which greatly enhances the public awareness of the station with an expected subsequent increase to listenership

6 4 Methodology 4.1 In August, BTW Consulting was commissioned under the EU assisted Tradelinks Programme to complete an independent survey of radio listenership in Newry City & District. This research is a follow-up to similar research carried out in The research conducted was primarily quantitative in seeking to ascertain how many people listened to a variety of stations locally rather than why they listened to those stations. 4.3 The research was conducted by means of face-to-face surveys of a sample of 501 people aged 16 and over without a focus on any particular target group. The main surveying program was conducted on in August at key hubs in Newry City. Direct Contact Street Surveys were identified as the most appropriate and robust research method as a diary based system was felt to be too reliant on the diligence of participants to accurately and honestly record each and every incidence of radio listening. A telephone or mail response survey was not chosen due to the low levels of response to these forms of survey and to ensure a broad representation across all age groups. 4.3 The survey (see Appendix 1) was developed so as not to identify IÚR-fm in early stages of the interview process, which would have encouraged a positive feedback invalidating the independence of the research. 4.4 The opening question asked which station a subject listened to most, in preference to other stations providing an indication of popularity. The subsequent questions in the survey focused on specific listenership trends and latterly on awareness and listenership of IÚR-fm Total Survey sample size was 501. This is a high sample to population ratio compared with other listener surveys which can be as low as 500 subjects for a population of 300,000 persons aged 16+. Accordingly the sample size is sufficiently substantial and equally robust to be extrapolated across the total population coverage of the station. 4.7 In determining population, it was considered that the most accurate data would be the official census figures published by NISRA and limited to the 3 electoral districts of Newry Town, Fews and Crotlieve. While there are areas within these where the station signal is weak there are equally areas in other electoral districts (Gullion, Mourne) as well as areas in Banbridge District Council, Craigavon Borough Council and Louth County Council where the broadcast signal is strong and it is felt that these balance out across the district. The most up to date figures were used which are the 2011 Census figures. 4.8 Some other listener surveys estimate population by postcode but no official population statistics are produced which accurately reflect postcode areas and therefore this method of population calculation was rejected as not being sufficiently robust. 4.9 The participant sample of 501 people was first analysed to identify participants who did not live, work or study in Newry and therefore fall outside the target broadcast area. 11 surveys were discounted from the remaining analysis (i.e. the Eligible Sample size is 490 people). This figure was broken down into categories based on age and four categories based on location and status. 5 5

7 6 Key Findings Based on Analysis by Age, Location & Status 6.1 The participant sample of 501 people was first analysed to identify participants who did not live, work or study in Newry. The 11 respondents who did not live, work or study were discounted from the remaining analysis (i.e. the Eligible Sample size is 490 people). This figure was broken down into four categories based on age and four categories based on location and status as set out below. 6.2 Population Chart 1: Gender Profile of Respondents (%) 6.2 Chart 2: Age Profile of Respondents (%) Station Popularity Chart 3: Station Popularity Iur FM is the most popular station, identified by 27.7% of those surveyed. The second and third most popular stations are (Reference removed for reasons of commercial confidentiality) (20.8%) and (Reference removed for reasons of commercial confidentiality) (15.5%). Iur FM is most popular among males (29.6%), followed by (18.1%) and (Reference removed for reasons of commercial confidentiality) (16.8%). Female listeners also prefer Iur FM (25.8%), with following with (23.5%) 6

8 Chart 4: Station Popularity by Gender (%) Iur FM is the most popular radio station identified by year olds (37%) and among year old is equally popular with (Reference removed for reasons of commercial confidentiality). Chart 5: Station Popularity by Age (%) 6.3 Weekly Reach 490 people identified 1371 instances of listening to ten identified radio stations. Chart 6: Weekly Reach (more than 5 minutes per average week) 7

9 Chart 7: Weekly Reach by Gender (more than 5 minutes per average week) Chart 8: Weekly Reach by Age (more than 5 minutes per average week) Chart 9: Listening Habits 62.1% of those surveyed identified that they listen to Iur FM for more than one hour per week of which 16.8% listen for more than an hour per day. Chart 10: Listening Habits by Gender More females (58.6%) listen for more than 1 hour per week than males. 8

10 Chart 11: Listening Habits by Age Listening to Iur FM for more than 1 hour per week is most popular among year olds while listening for more than an hour per day is most prevalent in persons aged Listenership 283 people out of the Eligible Sample identified that they listen to Iur FM weekly and 129 listened over the Survey Period. This equates to 84.1% Listenership. Chart 12: Total Listenership (%) Chart 13: Listening Habits and Awareness by Gender (%) Chart 14: Listening Habits and Awareness of Blast 106 by Age (%) 9

11 6 Conclusions & Recommendations 6.1 Conclusions: IÚR-fm 101.4FM Listenership: Total Listenership in past 12 month (16+) Percentage Listenership Weekly Reach: Total Weekly Reach (16+) Percentage Weekly Reach Station Popularity: 41, % 28, % 27.7% Percentage of those surveyed who identified IÚR-fm as the station they listened to the most. Population: Population (all ages) Population (16+) Survey Sample Eligible Sample Survey Period ,577 49, Yearly Recommendations: IÚR-fm should repeat this independent research on an annual basis. 6. Coverage Map IUR-fm 10