The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRC) recently released its second Radio Audience Measurements (RAM) for 2018.
This release shows radio listening patterns for the period October 2017 to March 2018. This release also shows radio reach has increased slightly from 90% to 91%.
Top 10 radio stations in SA
The IsiZulu language radio station Ukhozi FM continues to lead as the biggest station in the country, commanding an audience of just over 7.3 million listeners, followed by Umhlobo Wenene with 5.5 million listeners. Metro FM remains the largest commercial station in the country with over four million listeners, while Gagasi is the only regional radio station to feature in the top 10 most listened to stations in the country.
| Station | Audience |
| Ukhozi FM | 7 304 000 |
| Umhlobo Wenene FM | 5 571 000 |
| Metro FM | 4 189 000 |
| Lesedi FM | 3 077 000 |
| Thobela FM | 2 771 000 |
| Motsweding FM | 2 464 000 |
| Gagasi FM | 1 758 000 |
| RSG | 1 339 000 |
| iKwekwezi FM | 1 188 000 |
| Ligwalagwala FM | 1 146 000 |
Top 5 Community Radio Stations
The Soweto-based Jozi FM continues to lead as the most listened to community radio station in the country. The station has for the first time broken the 600 000 listeners barrier, while Vukani becomes the second largest community radio station in the country.
| Station | Audience |
| Jozi FM | 629 000 |
| Vukani | 270 000 |
| Unitra (UCR) | 241 000 |
| Radio Zibonele | 230 000 |
| Kasie FM | 207 000 |
Devices used to listen to the radio
The traditional radio unit continues to remain the primary source that many listeners use to access the radio. Eastern Cape radio station trufm has the most listeners who listen to the station using their cellphones, followed by Capricorn FM.
Listener loyalty
Listener loyalty remains constant in this release, with 63% of respondents listening to only one station. Limpopo province leads with the most loyal listener at 85% and just over half of listeners in Gauteng province listen to one station. The SABC’s three Polokwane-based radio stations Phalaphala FM, Munghana Lonene FM and Thobela FM have the most loyal listeners in the country according to this release.
| Station | Exclusive listeners |
| Phalaphala FM | 87% |
| Munghana Lonene | 77% |
| Thobela FM | 77% |
| Smile 90.4FM | 59% |
| Ligwalagwala | 58% |
Time Spent Listening
The national average time spent listening still remains the same from the previous release at 3h42. The SABC’s PBS radio station Phalaphala FM currently leads as the station whose listeners listen to the longest, followed Munghana Lonene FM and Thobela FM.
| Station | Audience |
| Phalaphala FM | 3h42 |
| Munghana Lonene FM | 3h24 |
| Thobela FM | 3h24 |
| OFM | 3h18 |
| Lesedi FM | 3h06 |
| Ligwalagwala | 3h06 |
| iKwekwezi FM | 3h00 |
| RSG | 3h00 |
Diary-on-diary increases
Only three radio stations showed diary on diary increases, with Gagasi FM showing an increase in audience 25.8% between the Jan ‘17 – Jun 17 and Oct ’17 – Mar ’18 releases.
| Station | Jan ’17-Jun ’17 | Apr ’17-Sep ’17 | Jul ’17-Dec ’17 | Oct ’17-Mar ’18 | Growth |
| Gagasi FM | 1 397 000 | 1 514 000 | 1 680 000 | 1 758 000 | 25.8% |
| RSG | 1 246 000 | 1 259 000 | 1 273 000 | 1 339 999 | 7.5% |
| Radio 2000 | 412 000 | 420 000 | 429 000 | 442 000 | 7.3% |
Phalaphala FM and Ligwalagwala FM have increased listenership in three of the four last diaries, with only marginal declines in one release. Phalaphala FM in particular has shown growth of almost 30% between the Jan ‘17 – Jun 17 and Oct ’17 – Mar ’18 releases.
| Station | Jan ’17-Jun ’17 | Apr ’17-Sep ’17 | Jul ’17-Dec ’17 | Oct ’17-Mar ’18 | Growth |
| Phalaphala FM | 696 000 | 689 000 | 802 000 | 901 000 | 29.5% |
| Ligwalagwala FM | 931 000 | 920 000 | 1 105 000 | 1 146 000 | 23.1% |
| Smile 90.4FM | 164 000 | 162 000 | 169 000 | 192 000 | 17.1% |
| 947 | 913 000 | 900 000 | 958 000 | 1 055 000 | 15.6% |
| Metro FM | 4 084 000 | 4 028 000 | 4 120 000 | 4 189 000 | 3.6% |
| Umhlobo Wenene FM | 5 422 000 | 5 409 000 | 5 506 000 | 5 571 000 | 2.8% |
| Algoa FM | 511 000 | 501 000 | 513 000 | 514 000 | 0.6% |
Source: BRC
Lwazi Mpofu is the 2017 Liberty Radio Awards Bright Star Recipient and is currently the programme manager for the Stellenbosch University Campus Radio Station, MFM. He is currently reading for a Masters Degree in Communication Science at UNISA; he is also an emerging researcher in the fields of media policy and the development of radio in SA.
