South Africans have shown little change in their radio listening habits, with SAARF’s latest RAMS release showing no significant listening changes over the previous survey.
Key results from RAMS February 2012, the sixth release from the 2011 RAMS 
programme, are:
Time spent listening
As was the case in RAMS Dec 2011, time spent listening (TSL) is stable on the previous release, and is one minute lower than it was a year ago.
Currently, TSL is three hours and 38 minutes per day.
Total listening
In total, radio listening levels are stable across the entire week.
- Past 7 day listening: 88.1% (lower listening in Durban)
- Average Monday to Friday (ave. M-F): 68.3%
- Saturday listening: 64.8% (levels are up in Kimberley, but down in metros and in Durban). Listening in the evening is lower than it was in RAMS Feb 2011.
- Sunday listening: 64.8%, with declines in listening in Pietermaritzburg. Listening on a Sunday afternoon is slightly higher than a year ago, while evening listening is somewhat down.
Individual station changes
Only stations showing statistically significant audience changes are reported on here. For a full list of audience figures, please visit www.saarf.co.za, and click on “RAMS® (radio)”.
While no individual radio station showed any movement this RAMS release over RAMS Dec 2011, five commercial stations and a number of community stations have significantly improved audience levels compared to RAMS Feb 2011.
- BRFM and Radiokansel/Radio Pulpit’s average Monday to Friday listening levels are at 0.2%, an improvement for both on their levels of 0.1% a year ago.
- Metro FM: looking better than it did a year ago, with weekly listening at 17.3%, compared to 16.2%. The station has however, lost listeners in cities and large towns on a past-7-day level, versus RAMS Dec 2011.
- Radio 2000: now at 2.6%, compared to 2.1% in RAMS Feb 2011.
- Ukhozi FM commanded 18.4% of all weekly radio listeners in Feb 2011. Now, its national reach is 19.5%.
The community radio sector is stronger today than it was a year ago, reaching 24.3% of South Africans each week (compared to 23.0% in Feb 2011), and 12.4% on an average Monday to Friday (compared to 11.6% a year ago). In the short term however, the sector is showing declined listening in metro areas both across the week and on an average Monday to Friday, versus RAMS Dec 2011.
Community stations whose improved year-on-year reach contributed to the sector’s stronger position are:
Stations showing lower audience figures compared to the year previous (RAMS Feb 2011) are:
Some stations have seen listeners from various demographic groups adjusting their listening habits, but not enough to affect the overall reach of these stations. Demographic shifts over RAMS Dec 2011 were seen for:
- Gagasi 99.5 FM: more LSM 8 listeners across the week.
- Kaya FM 95.9: fewer LSM 8 on a Monday to Friday.
- Lesedi FM: more listeners in large urban areas, Gauteng, and in LSM 8 (past 7 days), and more listeners in Gauteng and on the Reef on an average Monday to Friday.
- Motsweding FM: fewer LSM 7 listeners across the week.
- SAFM: more listeners from the Western Cape (past 7 days)
- Trufm: lower listening levels in large urban areas (past 7 days)
The schedule for 2012’s six RAMS waves is:
- Wave 1: 11 May 2012
- Wave 2: 21 June 2012
- Wave 3: 16 August 2012
- Wave 4: 31 October 2012
- Wave 5: 4 December 2012
Wave 6: Mid-February 2013
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