Tbo Touch was right! Metro FM suffers major drop in listenership numbers. The Broadcast Research Council (BRC) which introduced fresh measurement instruments released the second radio audience survey report earlier this week and Metro FM numbers are not looking too good.
According to the BRC November report, a daily average cumulative audience (the number of people who listen to a station for at least five minutes during any time period) of 2, 273 000 tuned into Metro FM from January to June, but saw a drop of 75 000 between January and September.
In its one week cumulative audience, Metro FM went from 4, 159 000 to 3, 968 000 from January to June, and January to September, respectively.
According to experts, Metro FM’s 2016 figures are a reflection of the drastic changes in the station’s popular Sunday programming after the introduction of the 90% quota.
“Generations of South Africans grew up on Metro FM’s Sunday programming and until the 90% decision was made, they boasted a highly unusual proposition in that their Sunday listening beat out their weekday drive shows over and over again,” wrote The Media Online and 5FM manager, Justine Cullinan.
Back in November, Tbo Touch tweeted how he’d shut down Touch Central if Metro FM beat him in listenership after a month. He could have the last laugh after all.
