Manx Radio and 3FM - listening figures

[Gagster]

The latest RAJAR listening results were published today. Some observations for Manx Radio v 3FM make interesting reading.

https://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

Looking at the last three quarters… Manx Radio continues with a downward trend, while 3FM enjoys an upward trend. However, what jumps out the most is that the stations are getting closer to being equal, or even 3FM ending up with a larger audience:

 

MANX RADIO

March 2023 - 30,000

June 2023 - 28,000

Sept 2023 - 26,000

 

3FM 

March 2023 - 22,000

June 2023 - 23,000

Sept 2023 - 24,000

 

The question is of course, and you knew 20 seconds ago that I would ask: can the increasing subvention be justified if listenership is decreasing. 

For the year 2021/22, this subvention was £1,078,722, an increase from the previous year's total of £995,000 (an 8.4% increase).

In 2015/16, the subvention was £875,000. In June 2015, RAJAR reported Manx Radio’s listening audience was 47,000.

With a decreasing audience, commercial revenues will take a dip as airtime will not be as valuable as perhaps in times past. Will this trigger requests for even further increases in subvention levels in order to compensate for decreased revenue? Does government even take the listening figures into consideration?

How can the Manx Radio business model work - with public funding increasing, while listening audience is decreasing? And with 3FM seemingly showing them up!

We’re aware of the pitfalls of the RAJAR process, however this is the industry standard and Manx Radio offer no other alternatives - and were happy with it in the good old days when their audience was something to be proud of.

Edited October 26, 2023 by Gagster
Formatting

[The Voice of Reason]

Whilst I would never listen to Manx Radio in my youth ( well 20’s or 30’s) I do make a point of listening to it occasionally now,some decades on.

Mainly for the local news or an amusing listen to the Mannin line. Weather and travel information is often useful. 
I won’t listen to it on a Thursday or Friday morning as it is dominated by shit about this stupid imaginary horse racing nonsense.

But I have tried to listen to Energy and 3 FM. Can’t tell the difference. Both rubbish but that may be me getting old.

OK the subvention to Manx Radio costs me a few quid as a taxpayer but I don’t begrudge it. There’s far more wasting of my money

[HiVibes]

 

2 minutes ago, The Voice of Reason said:

There’s far more wasting of my money

Are you paying for oxygen?

[CrazyDave]

9 minutes ago, The Voice of Reason said:

Whilst I would never listen to Manx Radio in my youth ( well 20’s or 30’s) I do make a point of listening to it occasionally now,some decades on.

Mainly for the local news or an amusing listen to the Mannin line. Weather and travel information is often useful. 
I won’t listen to it on a Thursday or Friday morning as it is dominated by shit about this stupid imaginary horse racing nonsense.

But I have tried to listen to Energy and 3 FM. Can’t tell the difference. Both rubbish but that may be me getting old.

OK the subvention to Manx Radio costs me a few quid as a taxpayer but I don’t begrudge it. There’s far more wasting of my money

Where else do goverment give money directly to an organisation that is competing with other private business?

There is no way Manx Radio justifies the HUGE amount of money they get from us.  They could start by massively reducing their headcount and save a fotune that way.

 

[HiVibes]

7 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

Where else do goverment give money directly to an organisation that is competing with other private business?

Not many, just Villa Marina, Gaiety, Broadway Cinema, NSC Gym, swimming pools, welcome centre (sells gifts), sawmil ( sells garden furinture),, Bus vannin compete with Taxis and coach companies, meat plant sells meat, government holds mortgage on Comis hotel, the Sefton, so not that many really.

[Stu Peters]

As I’ve opined in the past (when I did have a dog in the fight) you’re comparing apples and oranges. 3FM and Energy do a great job of playing chart hits (and I’m a fan of Energy’s leaning to EDM) but there’s no requirement for them to do anything else, and it’s easy generic FM programming. I don’t know but I suspect much of their output is voice-tracked (I.e. pre-recorded links compiled for play out in software. Nothing wrong with that, and of course it’s much cheaper.

Manx Radio is much more community based with lots more live talk (more expensive), news, current affairs and specialist programming. The million quid you’d save by closing it down would disappear with no tangible benefit, the other alternative is that it drops all the speech and specialist stuff and simply becomes another jukebox.

The answer is to fund it from the TV licence fees paid to the UK.

[Gagster]

1 hour ago, Stu Peters said:

As I’ve opined in the past (when I did have a dog in the fight) you’re comparing apples and oranges. 3FM and Energy do a great job of playing chart hits (and I’m a fan of Energy’s leaning to EDM) but there’s no requirement for them to do anything else, and it’s easy generic FM programming. I don’t know but I suspect much of their output is voice-tracked (I.e. pre-recorded links compiled for play out in software. Nothing wrong with that, and of course it’s much cheaper.

Manx Radio is much more community based with lots more live talk (more expensive), news, current affairs and specialist programming. The million quid you’d save by closing it down would disappear with no tangible benefit, the other alternative is that it drops all the speech and specialist stuff and simply becomes another jukebox.

The answer is to fund it from the TV licence fees paid to the UK.

As Manx Radio has a much reduced audience than in some of your days, is there enough of a demand for such a service? 47,000 listeners in 2015, but now 26,000.

I’ve made no suggestion that it should be closed, but think the business model needs adjusting. If audience drops to less than 20,000, for example, will the annual subvention keep rising further?

 

Some ideas…

Should the news team but run by the BBC, at their expense? The BBC has remit to cover the Isle of Man, and takes revenue via the TV License fee.

Should the whole thing be run by the BBC? The BBC have previously estimated it would cost between £1.3 million and £1.7 million to run a station. Manx Radio currently costs £2.2 million.

Could Manx Radio run with less presenters? BBC locals run with no more than 3 between 6am and 6pm weekdays. By my count, Manx Radio has at least 7 during the same period.

Should some of the TV License fee be retained for the island? At least the proportion that would normally be assigned to local radio in the UK.

Does Manx Radio need to keep revamping their on air “the nation’s station” jingles via using full on orchestras at Abbey Road?

Re. Energy and 3FM, you are incorrect about their requirements. Over and above the playing of music, both are in fact required to provide local news as part of their broadcast licence agreements. I’m sure as a journalist you would have known that!

If we’re looking at apples and oranges, if government funds the oranges but less and less people actually want them, why would government keep increasing the funding?

Edited October 26, 2023 by Gagster

[asitis]

I make sure I switch on just to listen to Gawne, worth every penny of the subvention !

( warning may contain sarcasm) 

[Non-Believer]

3 hours ago, asitis said:

I make sure I switch on just to listen to Gawne, worth every penny of the subvention !

( warning may contain sarcasm) 

How much is Gawne paid, if anything? If it's anything, it's too much. In fact, we should be paid to listen to him.

[asitis]

30 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

How much is Gawne paid, if anything? If it's anything, it's too much. In fact, we should be paid to listen to him.

To be fair we're going to be paying for Gawne for many many years !

[Derek Flint]

I think the underlying elephant in the room is the BBC should be providing this service but cussed nationalist stubbornness means we'd rather pay for it.

[2bees]

(Oh dear, I feel like a positive stalker 😂)

That’s a great idea Derek & you’re probably right. 
 

Manx radio is good for the news and the Mannin line is a fun thing for a game of “how long can I listen to the radio show without smashing my radio?”. 
 

Obviously less people listen to radio now as we have things like the internet where we can listen to music we like, without interruption. The rave show, brass show, folk show and jazz show are all pretty pointless because people with specific taste can choose their own music on the internet. 

[Twitch]

9 hours ago, CrazyDave said:

Where else do goverment give money directly to an organisation that is competing with other private business?

There is no way Manx Radio justifies the HUGE amount of money they get from us.  They could start by massively reducing their headcount and save a fotune that way.

 

Does Love IOM (£££££££ to Gef) qualify? When Finest.im was doing a perfectly reasonable job. Or the private hire buses (subsidised)?

[Banker]

I listen to Manx Radio news most days & mannin line if at home, 3FM in car . Manx Radio does provide good local news output but is expensive.

[Beelzebub3]

9 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

As I’ve opined in the past (when I did have a dog in the fight) you’re comparing apples and oranges. 3FM and Energy do a great job of playing chart hits (and I’m a fan of Energy’s leaning to EDM) but there’s no requirement for them to do anything else, and it’s easy generic FM programming. I don’t know but I suspect much of their output is voice-tracked (I.e. pre-recorded links compiled for play out in software. Nothing wrong with that, and of course it’s much cheaper.

Manx Radio is much more community based with lots more live talk (more expensive), news, current affairs and specialist programming. The million quid you’d save by closing it down would disappear with no tangible benefit, the other alternative is that it drops all the speech and specialist stuff and simply becomes another jukebox.

The answer is to fund it from the TV licence fees paid to the UK.

I personally would rather listen to a jukebox than to hear the likes of Ashford granny farming at every opportunity as soon as I hear his voice I ask alexa to play 3FM he does get rather a lot of airtime as a non important back bencher, he had his time to shine as a minister in 2 departments and to be fair results from his tenure were disasterous, another voice that grates is Barber she likes the sound of her own voice although has done nothing to improve anything during her term as minister. Carnaby street on a Saturday morning is probably the best listening for me and occasionally the Mannin line during lunch.