BBC Radio Wales listener figures lowest since 2009

Radio Wales' Jason Mohammad, Oliver Hides, Eleri Sion and Wynne Evans

The weekly reach of BBC Radio Wales has reached its lowest level since 2009, figures have shown.

The station saw a drop of 29,000 on the previous quarter and 46,000 fewer than a year ago with 380,000 weekly listeners, radio audience organisation Rajar said.

BBC Radio Cymru increased its audience by 4,000 on the previous quarter.

In the commercial sector there were falls in listeners for Heart stations.

Capital FM saw an increase in its weekly audience in south Wales from 161,000 to 170,000, though the audience for its north Wales station fell by 57,000 to 155,000.

There were small falls in weekly audiences for Bridge FM, Radio Ceredigion, Radio Carmarthenshire and Swansea Sound.

There was a slight increase in listeners for The Wave in Swansea, while Nation Radio's weekly audience dropped from 150,000 to 107,000.

The Radio Wales weekly reach is at its lowest since 2009 when it hit 377,000 listeners.

Before that, its lowest weekly reach was 363,000 in 1999.

A spokesman for BBC Cymru Wales said: "The Rajar figures are a helpful snapshot of live listening. We're always looking to strengthen both stations as listening habits and technologies evolve."