Radio Exe doubles listening figures

Radio Exe, the only countywide radio station that broadcasts from Devon all day, every day, has seen the amount of time listeners spend with the station double over the past 12 months.

It is a big rise, which hasn’t been seen in the 12 years the station has been on air since launching on FM in Exeter in 2011. It is now available across Devon on DAB digital radio.

Latest audience figures from industry research body Rajar also show 84,000 adults now tune to Devon’s Radio Exe every quarter.

The station puts the success down to its commitment to staying local at a time when other broadcasters are withdrawing programming from the county.

Managing Director Paul Nero said: “Our figures have been rising for some time, but we’re never complacent. We have a loyal and growing band of listeners who tell us they tune in for the mix of classic hits and new music, and presenters like Matt Rogers, Ashley Jeary and Neil Walker. Mix that with lots of Devon news, and it’s led to a dramatic rise in listening.”

That’s not all. The latest audience figures cover East and Mid Devon and Torbay and don’t include listeners in Plymouth, North or West Devon, or East Cornwall, which aren’t measured by the official statistics.

These areas can hear Radio Exe on DAB digital radio – and that’s about to get even better, when the station takes to new higher-quality stereo DAB in the coming weeks.

Radio Exe also provides news stories about local politics to other media organisations in the south west, in an initiative called the Local Democracy Reporting Service, funded by the BBC. It plans to launch two new stations, including a speech service, on DAB across the south of the county in the new year.