Talksport’s Audience Continues To Grow
talkSPORT has announced an increase of listeners year on year, with a reach of 3.1 million in Q4, according to industry figures released by RAJAR.
talkSPORT has seen a 9% increase of ABC1 men year on year, with 48% of the total station audience in this category. The station also posted the highest percentage of male listeners at 84%.
talkSPORT’s ‘Drivetime’ has posted its highest ever listener figure for Q4, with 1.2 million tuning in every week – an increase of 5% on the quarter and 9% on the year.
The evening football show ‘Kick Off’ has also increased listeners by almost a fifth (19%), as it nears a million listeners. The Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast also continues to draw 1.3 million listeners per week.
The channel is also launching talkSPORT 2, a new 24-hour sports radio station, which will become part of the UTV Media brand portfolio when it launches on the 15th March 2016.
The channel will cover live sport, including rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, football and horseracing, plus some US sport and announced it had secured the global audio rights to Aviva Premiership Rugby for the remainder of the campaign and 2016/17 season.
Calum Macaulay, talkSPORT’s managing director, said: “These numbers round off another excellent year for talkSPORT. With more live football commentaries than ever and the launch of talkSPORT 2 about to expand our output across a wide range of sports, we continue to be the destination for sports fans looking for the very latest news, views and big name guests. These figures stand us in great stead as we look to the future and what will undoubtedly be a huge shift in gear for commercial radio in the UK.”
UTV Media has also announced the launch of two additional brands, talkRADIO and Virgin Radio, both of which will be on air in March 2016.
