Commercial radio listeners in Australia jumped by 7.6 percent in 2021 to reach a record weekly audience of 12 million, a survey has shown.

The GfK Survey showed that commercial radio gained 844,000 listeners last year. Overall 80 percent of Australians aged 10+ tuned into commercial radio each week across the five capital cities.

Nearly 5.8 million people listened to commercial radio via digital platforms (DAB+ and streaming), up 24 percent on 2021.

“This is an outstanding result with a record number of Australians listening to commercial radio, almost 850,000 more listeners than last year,” Ford Ennals, CEO of the industry body Commercial Radio Australia, said.

“Commercial radio growth is being driven by radio’s digital evolution with the number of people listening via digital streaming up 34 percent year on year and via DAB+ up by 27 percent.”

“There was increased listening to commercial radio across all ages with a solid increase in younger listeners with 79 percent of 18-24s tuning in weekly.”

Breakfast and afternoon audiences rose by 7 percent, morning audiences (9am to midday) by 11 percent and weekend audiences by 12.2 percent.