Magic 105.4 retains crown despite listener loss

Magic 105.4, the Bauer Media-owned London station, has retained its crown as the capital’s number one station despite its audience slipping below the 2 million mark, according to the latest listenership report.

The Rajar figures for the third quarter of the year show that Magic has 1.8 million listeners, which is a 7% dip year on year and a 6% fall on the previous quarter. It has a 5.8% share of the London market with rival Heart 106.2 FM just behind with 5.7% share. Heart has reported a slight increase – 0.4% – on the quarter to 1.78 million listeners but an 8.6% fall year on year.

The Global Radio-owned 95.8 Capital FM has held its third spot in the market but has reported falls on the quarter and the year. The station now has 1.59 million listeners, a 1.1% fall on the previous quarter and a 6.9% drop on the same quarter last year.

Bauer’s Kiss, which briefly moved into third place earlier this year, has reported an 8.3% increase on the quarter to 1.53 million listeners but it is down 3.8% on the year.

Elsewhere in London, Xfm, the Global-owned “alternative” station, has continued to see its audience drop, falling by 16.9% year-on-year to 463,000 listeners, which is also a 17% drop on the quarter. Virgin Radio, which was rebranded to Absolute Radio last month, has also seen its audience fall to just over 1 million – a 10.4% drop year on year and 5.4% on the previous quarter.

Smooth Radio London, meanwhile, has reported a 12.8% rise year-on-year taking it to 538,000 listeners.