Rajar admits error in listening figures

Rajar has admitted its latest audience figures for 280 radio stations were incorrect.

The body said it would reissue the fourth-quarter 2007 figures after the error, which affected BBC and commercial channels. Results for most would be "marginally affected", it said, though some could see "more significant" differences.

In an email to radio broadcasters Rajar apologised and said: "The revised results may be higher or lower than those originally published... Additional automated checks have now been put in place to ensure that this error will not happen again." New figures will be released later this week.

"There was a very small software glitch which had impacted on stations who report on a half-yearly basis," said a spokeswoman. "It means that the vast majority of stations which report on a half-yearly basis are marginally affected. The stations that report on a quarterly or yearly basis are not affected."

Rajar said the problem was a weighting issue caused by a number of new stations coming on air in the quarter.