UKhozi FM listenership drops by 400 000


By Independent Analyst    05-Dec-2012 20:49 UTC+02:00

If you are a listener of uKhozi FM like me, you may have noticed that lately no DJ has talked about the number of listeners the station has. About two months ago it was reported that the station had a listenership of nearly 7.3 million. Since then we heard the phrase “7.3 million listeners” almost every day.

However, from the beginning of November they stopped bragging about it. I was really impressed, thinking they were being humble. Nonetheless, something told me to do some research to find out where their abrupt humility emanated from. After doing some Googling, I discovered that the number of their listeners actually decreased.

Recent results from the Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS®) conducted by the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) show that there was a significant decrease in the number of uKhozi FM listeners over the past few months. The number decreased by 400 000, from 7 289 000 to 6 889 000. This means they lost 5.49% of their listeners.

Metro FM listenership also decreased noticeably, from 6 252 000 listeners to 6 013 000, meaning they lost 239 000 (3.82%) listeners. UMhlobo Wenene on the other hand gained 101 000 listeners. They previously had 4 013 000 listeners. They now have 4 114 000.

What went wrong on uKhozi FM? Are listeners leaving it for ‘better’ radio stations? May be, may be not. By looking at the numbers carefully, it seems like the decrease is seasonal. The listenership of most radio stations decreased. This is probably because the festive season has arrived. People are out having fun and have less time for radio.

A full list of radio stations and their listenership is accessible from the SAARF website.


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