Broadcasting
Authority Press Release
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Press Release 56/08
RADIO AND TELEVISION AUDIENCE ASSESSMENT
APRIL-JUNE 2008
As from 1st October 2007, the Broadcasting Authority resumed the Continuous Audience Assessment.
Again, from this date, the number of interviews to be carried out on a daily basis was doubled when
compared to that of the previous assessments having the desired target of 20 daily interviews – the
questions used for the previous audience assessment period of October 2006 to September 2007
were maintained.
The data collected by the National Statistics Office for the quarterly period April-June 2008 was
forwarded to the Department of Research and Communications of the Broadcasting Authority. After
due analysis, the finalized report for the whole period is being published with this press release on the
Authority’s website.
1. RESPONSES AND SAMPLE PROFILE.
Considering that interviews were made through the telephone, the response rate was that of 57.1% of
all those contacted, resulting in a sampling base of 1790 interviewees. With this response rate and a
95% confidence level, the results have a margin of error of ± 2.29%. The sample taken was evenly
distributed throughout this period and the differences by age groups, gender and region between the
sample and the population as published on 11th July 2008 by the National Statistics Office in News
Release 128/008, are as follows:
BY WEEKDAY FREQUENCY PERCENT Age Sample Population Difference
Mon 257 14.45 12 - 14 4.2% 4.40% -0.2%
Tue 255 14.51 15 - 24 17.0% 16.10% 0.9%
Wed 256 14.29 25 - 29 7.4% 8.50% -1.1%
Thu 259 14.45 30 - 49 29.2% 30.90% -1.7%
Fri 257 14.12 50 - 64 25.7% 24.30% 1.4%
Sat 251 13.90 65 - 79 13.1% 12.20% 0.9%
Sun 255 14.29 80 + 3.4% 3.60% -0.2%
TOTAL 1790 100%
Gender Sample Population Difference
BY MONTH FREQUENCY PERCENT Males 54.7% 49.50% 5.2%
April 585 32.68 Females 45.3% 50.50% -5.2%
May 611 34.13
June 594 33.18 Region Sample Population Difference
TOTAL 1790 100% Southern Harbour 19.9% 19.9% 0.0%
Northern Harbour 28.0% 29.5% -1.5%
South Eastern 15.3% 14.7% 0.6%
Western 16.4% 14.1% 2.3%
Northern 13.5% 14.2% -0.7%
Gozo and Comino 6.9% 7.7% -0.8%
2
2. TV VIEWING BY BROADCASTING STATION
Overall, preferences for local broadcasting stations prevailed at a slightly higher rate than those of the
previous period. During this period local broadcasting TV stations had a skewed female gender
following. Foreign broadcasting stations which were more followed by males were Rai 1, Rai 2, Rai 3,
Italia 1, and Discovery Channel – the rest of the foreign broadcasting stations had a skewed female
following. Overall, the distribution of TV viewers by each broacasting station by age group is similar to
national percentage population distribution. Of significance, however are the viewers of Smash TV,
Education 22, ITV, and Family TV whose percentages did not cover at lease two of the age-groups.
Of the foreign broadcasting stations Rai 1, Rai 2 and Canale 5 have been preferred by all the age
groups.
TV VIEWING BY BROADCASTING STATION –
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2007 AND JANUARY-MARCH 2008
Oct-Dec
2007
Jan-Mar
2008
Apr-Jun
2008
TVM [1] 26.8 [1] 26.9 [1] 33.0
One TV [2] 20.7 [2] 21.0 [2] 15.1
Net TV [4] 12.1 [3] 13.4 8.5
Smash TV 0.7 0.5 0.6
Education 22 0.1 0.1 0.2
ITV 0.0 0.0 0.1
Family TV 0.0 0.0 1.9
Rai 1 4.2 3.1 [3] 11.6
Rai 2 1.4 1.3 1.1
Rai 3 0.4 0.4 0.7
Rete 4 2.5 2.7 2.9
Canale 5 6.0 6.5 4.5
Italia 1 7.3 7.2 5.1
Discovery Channel 1.8 2.1 2.2
MTV 0.4 0.6 1.1
BBC Prime 1.3 1.3 1.0
BBC World 0.4 0.6 0.1
Other TV Stations [3] 14.0 [4] 12.1 [4] 10.3
100% 100% 100%
20.7
12.1
0.7
0.1
4.2
1.4
0.4
2.5
6.0
7.3
1.8
0.4
1.3
0.4
14.0
26.9
21.0
13.4
0.5
0.1
3.1
1.3
0.4
2.7
6.5
7.2
2.1
0.6
1.3
0.6
12.1
33.0
15.1
8.5
0.6
0.2
0.1
1.9
11.6
1.1
0.7
2.9
4.5
5.1
2.2
1.1
1.0
0.1
10.3
26.8
TVM
One TV
Net TV
Smash TV
Education 22
ITV
Family TV
Rai 1
Rai 2
Rai 3
Rete 4
Canale 5
Italia 1
Discovery Channel
MTV
BBC Prime
BBC World
Other TV Stations
Oct-Dec 2007 Jan-Mar 2008 Apr-Jun 2008
3
3. RADIO LISTENING BY BROADCASTING STATION
For this period, One Radio attracted the highest number of radio listeners at 20.2% followed by Bay
Radio at 17.1% and Calypso Radio at 11.6%. Compared to the previous assessment period of
January-March 2008 the only marked increase was that of XFM which increased its effective radio
listeners over the previous period by more than 210% from 3.2% of total viewers to 6.8% during this
period. In general radio broadcasting stations have a balanced gender audience. Of significance,
however, are those listening to Radju Parlament and Campus FM where male following is dominant
while Radju Marija, Radju Malta and RTK have the highest percentage of female listeners. Most
broadcasting stations had a nationwide following with the exception of Radju Parlament, Magic Radio,
Campus FM, and Capital Radio. Although most stations also follow the national distribution population
percentages by district, there are two exceptions: One Radio and Campus FM whose largest
percentage of audience were from the Southern Harbour district area.
RADIO LISTENING BY BROADCASTING STATION –
JULY-SEPTEMBER AND JANUARY-MARCH 2008
Oct-Dec
2007
Jan-Mar
2008
Apr-Jun
2008
Radju Malta 7.5 7.5 6.5
Radju Parl/106.6 0.9 2.0 0.6
Magic Radio 7.2 5.5 5.5
One Radio 15.3 19.5 20.2
Radio 101 6.7 8.4 5.8
Bay Radio 15.5 16.2 17.1
Calypso Radio 10.0 10.3 11.6
RTK 9.4 8.6 8.1
Smash Radio 6.7 3.9 3.2
Radju Marija 7.1 7.0 6.2
Campus FM 2.0 1.1 1.0
Capital Radio 4.7 3.7 4.7
XFM 2.8 3.2 6.8
Community Stations 3.1 2.4 2.0
Foreign Radio Stations 1.1 0.9 0.7
100.0 100.0 100.0
7.5
0.9
7.2
15.3
6.7
15.5
10.0
9.4
6.7
7.1
2.0
4.7
2.8
3.1
1.1
7.5
2.0
5.5
19.5
8.4
16.2
10.3
8.6
3.9
7.0
1.1
3.7
3.2
2.4
0.9
6.5
0.6
5.5
20.2
5.8
17.1
11.6
8.1
3.2
6.2
1.0
4.7
6.8
2.0
0.7
Radju Malta
Radju Parlamenta 106.6
Magic Radio
One Radio
Radio 101
Bay Radio
Calypso Radio
RTK
Smash Radio
Radju Marija
Campus FM
Capital Radio
XFM
Community Stations
Foreign Radio Station
Oct-Dec 2007 Jan-Mar 2008 Apr-Jun 2008
4
4. RADIO AND TV CONSUMPTION
Calculating the average number of hours that radio listeners and television viewers spend on a daily
basis with their reception media is another data that has been computed for this period. This would
indicate the number of hours that consumers were captured by the respective broadcasting stations;
or rather for how long did each broadcasting station manage to maintain, on average, its audiences.
The total number of hours spent by consumers was analysed by broadcasting station and divided by
the total number of consumers per station. The total effective Radio hours spent by consumers for
this period stands at 3.63hrs [Jan-Mar 2008: 3.40 hrs; Oct-Dec 2007:3.42 hrs]; while the national
average hours of radio listening spent by consumers computed over the whole sample, stands at
1.64hrs [Jan-Mar 2008: 1.54hrs; Oct-Dec 2007: 1.53 hrs] every day.
The total number of hours spent by consumers analysed for each TV broadcasting station was again
divided by the total number of consumers per station. The total effective TV hours spent by
consumers for this period stands at 1.19hrs [Jan-Mar 2008: 2.24hrs; Oct-Dec 2007: 2.33hrs]. Taking
the total number of hours of TV viewing over the total sample of people interviewed, the national
average hours of TV viewing spent by consumers stands at 0.72hrs [Jan-Mar 2008: 1.16hrs; Oct-Dec
2007: 1.38hrs] every day.
5. RADIO AND TV DAILY PEAK AUDIENCES – APRIL TO JUNE 2008
Participants were asked to indicate which radio and/or television station they had followed for at least
10 minutes and for how long, specifying the respective clock-hour or part thereof. All the replies were
classified by half-hour clock slots and analyzed to give the broadcasting stations’ audiences per halfhour.
The peak percentage audiences obtained by the various radio and television broadcasting
stations per week-day are listed below.
Overall, One Radio has attained the highest daily average [1.76%] with its highest average being on
Mondays [2.23%]. This was followed by Radio Calypso with the next highest daily average [0.94%]
while reaching its highest on Tuesdays [1.32%]; and Bay Radio [0.76%] reaching its highest also on
Thursdays [0.99%].
RADIO WEEKDAY-AVERGE AUDIENCE SHARE
RADJU MALTA
R. PARLAMANT
106.6
MAGIC RADIO
ONE RADIO
RADIO 101
BAY RADIO
CALYPSO RADIO
RTK
SMASH RADIO
RADJU MARIJA
CAMPUS FM
CAPITAL RADIO
XFM
COMMUNITY
STATIONS
FOREIGN
STATIONS
Mon 0.45 0.00 0.48 2.23 0.25 0.88 0.67 0.38 0.13 0.23 0.04 0.82 0.40 0.10 0.00
Tue 0.38 0.06 0.26 1.89 0.36 0.94 1.32 0.38 0.20 0.77 0.05 0.48 0.41 0.02 0.00
Wed 0.19 0.00 0.35 1.25 0.97 0.42 1.17 0.55 0.35 0.40 0.01 0.46 0.73 0.40 0.00
Thu 0.64 0.06 0.51 1.80 0.46 0.99 0.86 0.48 0.09 0.23 0.02 0.50 0.52 0.39 0.04
Fri 0.62 0.00 0.25 1.80 0.32 0.88 0.78 0.47 0.07 0.41 0.10 0.03 0.36 0.11 0.10
Sat 0.40 0.01 0.74 1.86 0.31 0.73 0.99 0.69 0.17 0.47 0.00 0.38 0.08 0.02 0.04
Sun 0.16 0.02 0.10 1.49 0.14 0.48 0.79 0.50 0.13 0.58 0.03 0.40 0.16 0.11 0.02
Daily Average 0.40 0.02 0.38 1.76 0.40 0.76 0.94 0.49 0.16 0.44 0.04 0.44 0.38 0.17 0.03
5
Overall, TVM has attained the highest daily average [1.68%] with its highest average being on Fridays
[3.45%]. This was followed by One TV with the next highest daily average [1.00%] and reaching its
highest average on Tuesdays [1.35%].
TV WEEKDAY-AVERGE AUDIENCE SHARE
TVM
ONE TV
NET TV
SMASH TV
EDUCATION 22
ITV
FAMILY TV
RAI 1
RAI 2
RAI 3
RETE 4
CANALE 5
ITALIA 1
DISCOVERY
CHANNEL
MTV
BBC PRIME
BBC WORLD
OTHER TV
STATION
Mondays 1.31 1.16 0.53 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.54 0.02 0.10 0.09 0.24 0.26 0.12 0.03 0.08 0.00 0.49
Tuesdays 1.29 1.35 0.38 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.81 0.09 0.02 0.08 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.92
Wednesdays 0.95 0.86 0.76 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.25 0.94 0.04 0.03 0.19 0.22 0.39 0.05 0.03 0.12 0.00 0.79
Thursdays 1.61 0.77 0.43 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.24 0.90 0.05 0.03 0.19 0.11 0.15 0.06 0.13 0.00 0.05 0.53
Fridays 3.45 1.02 0.18 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.54 0.13 0.00 0.11 0.08 0.20 0.11 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.43
Saturdays 1.47 0.85 0.50 0.00 0.09 0.00 0.09 0.72 0.02 0.00 0.19 0.45 0.23 0.09 0.05 0.03 0.00 0.82
Sundays 1.70 1.01 0.24 0.05 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.89 0.06 0.09 0.07 0.53 0.41 0.16 0.03 0.00 0.02 0.77
Daily Average 1.68 1.00 0.43 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.16 0.76 0.06 0.04 0.13 0.29 0.26 0.10 0.05 0.04 0.01 0.68
6. DAILY PEAK AUDIENCES – JANUARY TO MARCH 2008
Another indication of a station’s popularity with its audiences is the highest percentage of audience
share obtained at any particular time for each week-day. The Weekday Peaks attained by each
broadcasting station are summarized below:
RADIO WEEKDAY PEAK AUDIENCES
RADJU MALTA
R. PARLAMENT
106.6
MAGIC RADIO
SUPER ONE
RADIO
RADIO 101
BAY RADIO
CALYPSO RADIO
RTK
SMASH RADIO
RADJU MARIJA
CAMPUS FM
CAPITAL RADIO
XFM
COMMUNITY
STATIONS
FOREIGN
STATIONS
Mon 2.66 0.00 1.14 5.70 1.14 3.04 3.42 1.14 0.38 1.14 0.76 2.28 1.14 0.38 0.00
Tue 1.16 0.39 1.55 5.43 1.16 3.49 4.65 1.16 1.16 2.33 0.39 1.55 1.16 0.39 0.00
Wed 0.75 0.00 1.13 3.40 2.26 3.40 4.15 2.26 1.51 1.51 0.38 1.51 3.02 0.75 0.00
Thu 3.03 0.38 1.52 6.06 1.89 4.55 3.41 1.89 0.76 1.14 0.38 2.27 1.52 1.14 0.38
Fri 2.32 0.00 1.54 6.56 1.16 3.47 2.32 2.32 0.39 1.54 0.39 0.39 1.54 0.77 0.39
Sat 2.38 0.40 1.59 5.95 1.59 4.37 3.17 2.78 0.79 1.98 0.00 1.59 0.40 0.40 0.40
Sun 0.77 0.38 1.15 3.85 1.15 2.69 3.46 1.54 1.15 1.54 0.38 1.92 1.15 0.77 0.38
Highest Peak 3.03 0.40 1.59 6.56 2.26 4.55 4.65 2.78 1.51 2.33 0.76 2.28 3.02 1.14 0.40
TV WEEKDAY PEAK AUDIENCES
TVM
ONE TV
NET TV
SMASH TV
EDUCATION 22
ITV
FAMILY TV
RAI 1
RAI 2
RAI 3
RETE 4
CANALE 5
ITALIA 1
DISCOVERY
CHANNEL
MTV
BBC PRIME
BBC WORLD
OTHER TV
STATION
Mondays 14.07 5.32 6.84 0.38 0.00 0.00 1.14 5.70 0.38 0.76 1.14 1.90 1.90 1.14 0.76 0.38 0.00 3.04
Tuesdays 9.69 11.63 2.71 0.39 0.00 0.00 0.78 8.14 0.39 0.39 0.78 1.55 1.55 0.78 0.00 0.78 0.00 4.26
Wednesdays 11.32 5.28 4.91 0.75 0.00 0.00 0.75 7.17 0.38 0.38 1.89 2.64 2.26 0.38 0.38 0.75 0.00 4.53
Thursdays 10.98 7.20 4.92 0.00 0.00 0.38 1.14 7.20 0.38 0.38 1.14 1.52 1.52 0.38 0.76 0.00 0.38 3.03
Fridays 27.03 3.86 1.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.39 2.70 1.16 0.00 0.77 0.77 1.16 0.77 0.77 0.00 0.00 1.54
Saturdays 9.92 5.16 2.78 0.00 0.40 0.00 0.40 4.37 0.40 0.00 1.59 2.78 1.19 0.79 0.40 0.40 0.00 1.98
Sundays 15.38 5.00 2.69 0.38 0.00 0.00 0.38 7.31 0.77 0.77 0.77 3.08 1.92 1.92 0.38 0.00 0.38 3.08
Highest Peak 27.03 11.63 6.84 0.75 0.40 0.38 1.14 8.14 1.16 0.77 1.89 3.08 2.26 1.92 0.77 0.78 0.38 4.53
6
7. DAILY AVERAGE AUDIENCE- JANUARY TO MARCH 2008
The total daily audience shares attained for both radio and television for the period January to March
2008 are depicted in the following figures:
Radio: Apr-Jun 2008
Calypso Radio
13.8%
RTK
7.2%
Smash Radio
2.4%
XFM
5.6%
Community
Stations
2.4%
Radju Marija
6.4%
Foreign Radio
Stations
0.4%
Radju Parlament
106.6
0.3%
Radju Malta
5.9%
Campus FM
0.5%
Capital Radio
6.4% Magic Radio
5.6%
One Radio
25.8%
Radio 101
5.9%
Bay Radio
11.2%
TV: Apr-Jun 2008
BBC World
0.2%
Other TV station
11.8%
BBC Prime
0.7%
ITV
0.1%
Education 22
0.2%
Smash TV
0.4%
Net TV
7.5%
Canale 5
5.0%
Rete 4
2.3%
TVM
29.3%
One TV
17.5%
MTV
0.9%
Rai 3
0.7%
Discovery
Channel
1.7%
Italia 1
4.6%
Rai 2
1.1%
Rai 1
13.3%
Family TV
2.7%
The full report and tables are available from the Broadcasting Authority’s website at “www.ba-malta.org”.
Mario Axiak M.B.A (Maastricht)
Head, Research & Communications
5th August 2008