Commercial radio in Australia performed strongly in 2021, with audiences up 1.3 percent to a record 11.2 million in the five metropolitan capitals.

The figures from the industry body Commercial Radio Australia’s annual listening summary are based on an average of eight official radio surveys conducted in 2021 by the data provider GfK.

Morning and afternoons both recorded growth during the year. Morning audiences picked up 54,000 more listeners to 6.3 million people listening and afternoons increased by 80,000 listeners to nearly 7 million listeners each week, overtaking drive on 6.7 million. Breakfast radio remained a popular time to listen with 7.5 million listeners.

The CRA’s chief executive, Joan Warner, said nearly 140,000 listeners were gained in 2021 across multiple platforms.

“Radio continued to be a mainstay for news and entertainment throughout 2021, with trends that commenced during 2020 continuing, including more Australians tuning in from home and growth in the number of listeners during the morning and afternoon periods.”

Because of the pandemic, the share of listening at home increased to 50 percent, up from 9 percent in 2019.

Audiences spent a total of 12 hours and 53 minutes listening to commercial radio each week.