{"id":104903,"date":"2014-06-26T22:36:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-26T20:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=104903"},"modified":"2014-06-27T10:54:32","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T08:54:32","slug":"secret-cliffcentral-listener-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/broadcasting\/104903-secret-cliffcentral-listener-figures.html","title":{"rendered":"“Secret” CliffCentral listener figures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Icecast servers hosted by Antfarm<\/a>, which is used to stream CliffCentral<\/a>\u2019s radio shows on WeChat<\/a>, revealed that the combined ACC and MP3 peak listener numbers on these servers were 1,267.<\/p>\n

News broke yesterday that CliffCentral\u2019s Gareth Cliff Show will no longer be carried on Comedy Central (see\u00a0Truth behind Comedy Central and CliffCentral break-up<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Cliffcentral said that this is not a failure for the station. \u201cIn fact…the team [is] really excited about refocusing on delivering streamed, interactive content between 6am and 6pm every week day,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

WeChat added that it is also delighted about the station\u2019s renewed interactive focus. \u201cCliffCentral is delivering incredible value for WeChat resulting in new users discovering the WeChat ecosystem,\u201d said Brett Loubser<\/a>, head of WeChat Africa.<\/p>\n

Rina Broomberg, co-founder of CliffCentral.com, explained that it was a mutual decision, and that \u201cCliffCentral.com and WeChat seem to be pulling bigger numbers than Comedy Central.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TV element on Comedy Central would also have been a dilution to our online audience so having realised that, we\u2019re delighted we tried the experiment but look forward to now focussing our efforts and building the CliffCentral Community,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Comedy Central in turn said that the decision to stop carrying the Gareth Cliff Show was because the viewership figures for the show were too low.<\/p>\n

This raises the question of how large CliffCentral\u2019s WeChat and website audience\u00a0is, and how many people are actively listening to the show.<\/p>\n

CliffCentral discusses listener stats<\/h3>\n

Broomberg said that they have not provided figures up to now because of the debacle in the past with online figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also been building all our online properties, with the website and WeChat official account being key to our strategic development. It takes time to change habits and our focus has not been on numbers but creating great content\u2026then the numbers,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Broomberg said that they are compiling their first set of stats now, which they are planning to share publicly.<\/p>\n

CliffCentral did, however, provide some statistics. \u201cThe station\u2019s WeChat Official Account has 108,000 subscribers, over 40,000 followers on Facebook, and over 25,000 followers on Twitter,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

CliffCentral added that its website has had just under a million page views and over 150,000 users.<\/p>\n

The website statistics are for the period of 1 May 2014 to 26 June 2014. The traffic seemed to have dropped off after Cliffcentral\u2019s big launch on 1 May 2014.<\/p>\n

\"CliffCentral<\/a>

CliffCentral website stats – 1 May 2014 to 26 June 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

Currently available listener figures<\/h3>\n

While Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and WeChat subscribers are of value, it does not provide details about how many people are actually listening to an online radio show. For that, streaming statistics are a better measure.<\/p>\n

Antfarm provides the streaming service for CliffCentral.com, WeChat, and DSTV.com, but official listener figures for these platforms have not been published.<\/p>\n

However, two Icecast servers hosted by Antfarm, which are used to stream the CliffCentral show on WeChat, shed some light on streaming numbers.<\/p>\n

These Icecast servers are publicly accessible \u2013 Cliffcentral server 1<\/strong><\/a> and Cliffcentral server 2<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n