Radio, TV: no gain over world cup

This stability was also seen in radio. The August 2010 listening levels are comparable to June's and remain lower than they were in the previous year. Similarly, as in June 2010, this fourth release of for 2010 shows little movement in individual stations' audience figures over the previous survey, while a number of stations continue to show lower audience figures than the year previous.

Radio listening in total

Total radio listening remains stable over the earlier part of 2010, with listening levels unchanged since February 2010. As in the previous release however, listening is still down on the same period in 2009.

The large urban sample covers fieldwork done from mid-March to the beginning of July 2010, and the small urban/rural sample covers July-December 2009 with a sample size of 25 809.

Time spent listening

Radio listeners have shaved off two minutes of radio listening from their daily schedules, compared with June 2010. Daily average listening is now three hours and 45 minutes. The effect on weekly listening is a decline of 12 minutes, from 26 hours and 30 minutes in June 2010, to 26 hours and 18 minutes currently. This is a 23-minute decline on the weekly listening times seen in August 2009.

Individual station changes

Only stations showing statistically significant audience changes are reported on here.

• Changes over June 2010 - On an individual station level, there has been very little significant movement over the previous survey. No station was able to extend its reach over this period, although two stations showed lower listenership levels. 99.2 YFM's weekly audience declined over June 2010, dropping from 5.0% to 4.3% currently. The declines were seen particularly in Gauteng, metros and in LSM 8. The community station Thetha FM 100.6 lost audience over the previous survey, declining from 3.6% to 2.6% across the week.
• Changes over August 2009 - Despite no positive movement over the previous release, a number of stations are nonetheless still in a better position now than they were a year ago. 5FM reached 5.6% of the nation's adults each week. Currently, it reaches 6.3%. North West FM's weekly audience is currently 2.2%, up from 1.1% a year ago, and on an average Monday to Friday, the station's audience is up from 0.6% to 0.9%. As in the previous release, Radio 2000 is still enjoying higher listening levels than a year ago. Currently, weekly reach is 2.3%, up from 1.5% in August 2009, and on an average Monday to Friday; its reach is currently 0.8%, up from 0.5%. Three community stations continue to show healthier listening figures than they did a year ago. Currently, Alfred Nzo Community Radio 98.3/93.8 fm reaches 6.4% of the Eastern Cape's adult population (past 7 days), while in August 2009 it reached 0.7%. In KwaZulu-Natal, Izwi loMzansi 98.0 fm's weekly reach is currently 2.4%, up from 1.5% in the year previous, while RADIO KHWEZI's weekly reach of 2.0% a year ago is now 3.5%. ICORA FM's reach is up from 2.2% in August 2009, to 3.3% currently.

Many stations however, while showing stable audiences over the previous period, have yet to return to the higher levels of a year ago.

The fifth RAMS release of 2010, which will use the new small urban/rural sample taken from AMPS 2010A, is scheduled for 26 October 2010. For a full list of audience figures, go to www.saarf.co.za, and click on "RAMS (radio)".