Commercial radio passes 40m as BBC falls to 30.9m

Commercial radio has opened its largest weekly audience lead over the BBC in the current RAJAR measurement era, reaching 9.3m more listeners each week.

Commercial radio reached 40.2m weekly listeners, up 927,000, while its share of listening increased from 54.3% to 55.1%.

BBC radio’s weekly audience fell by 422,000 to 30.9m and its share declined from 43.4% to 42.6%. However, its total listening hours increased by 1% to 443.2m.

A record 51.1m adults listened to UK radio each week during Q2 2026, representing 87% of the population and an increase of 491,000 quarter-on-quarter.

Total radio listening grew by 3% to more than 1.04bn hours, with the average listener tuning in for 20.4 hours each week.

Online radio now reaches 30.3% of adults each week, compared with 24.5% for AM and FM. Online platforms account for 33.6% of commercial listening hours, while smart speakers deliver 18.7% of listening across the industry.

Observations

STV Radio attracts 139,000 weekly listeners in its first survey. MD Graham Bryce says they are “well ahead of expectations” and show they are building a loyal audience
Virgin Radio 90s enters RAJAR with 183,000 listeners.
KISS delivered one of the strongest results of the quarter, adding 266,000 listeners and rising by 18% to 1.7m.
KISSTORY is back up over 2m reach, and is the largest commercial digital station
LBC and LBC News both achieve record audiences, with the brand now at 3.7m
GB News Radio increases to 731,000 listeners – ahead of its nearest rivals Talk and Times Radio
BBC Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1 Anthems both grow by more than 40% following their RAJAR debut last quarter
KMFM Group grew by 19% to 208,000 listeners.
Sunrise Radio National is up 21% to 351,000

BBC

BBC Radio 2 remained the UK’s largest station with 12.4m listeners. Reach fell by 204,000, or 2%, but total hours increased by 4% to 138m and average listening rose from 10.6 to 11.2 hours.

The BBC Radio 1 brand increased by 2% to 7.5m listeners, despite the main station falling by 131,000 to 6.9m. Radio 1 Dance grew by 41% to 615,000 following its RAJAR debut last quarter, while Radio 1 Anthems increased by 40% to 584,000. Radio 1Xtra was up 4% to 769,000.

BBC Radio 3 declined by 9% to 1.9m, while Radio 3 Unwind increased by 5% to 408,000.

BBC Radio 4 reached 8.9m, down 2%, while Radio 4 Extra fell by 10% to 1.4m.

BBC Radio 5 Live increased by 3% to 5.5m. Radio 5 Sports Extra passed one million listeners, growing by 22% to 1.1m, with listening hours rising by 79%.

BBC Radio 6 Music dipped by 2% to 2.6m, while the Asian Network increased by 7% to 548,000. BBC World Service fell by 14% to 943,000.

BBC Local Radio in England reached 4.7m listeners, down 1%, although listening hours increased by 9%. Of its 37 stations, 21 increased, 14 declined and two were unchanged.

BBC Radio Somerset recorded the largest reach increase among the English local stations, rising by 26% to 49,000. BBC Radio Lancashire grew by 21% to 177,000, while BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Leicester both increased by 12%. BBC Hereford and Worcester fell by 28%, and total BBC Radio Solent was down 12% to 170,000, with hours falling by 35%.

BBC Radio Scotland fell by 8.4% to 844,000 quarter-on-quarter, although it remained slightly higher year-on-year.

BBC Radio London’s breakfast audience was the standout percentage performer in the capital, increasing from 150,000 to 181,000 quarter-on-quarter and from 101,000 year-on-year.

Global

Global reached 29m weekly listeners and delivered 283m listening hours, giving the company a 27.5% share of the UK radio market. It added 321,000 listeners during the quarter and retained the three largest commercial radio brands through Heart, Capital and Smooth.

Capital’s overall brand audience increased slightly to 8.9m, putting it more than 1.3m listeners ahead of the Radio 1 brand. Ten of its 17 local stations increased and seven declined, with no particularly notable individual changes.

Capital Dance grew by 12% to just over one million listeners, while Capital Anthems increased by 17% quarter-on-quarter and 53% year-on-year to 735,000.

Capital London recorded the strongest recovery among the main commercial music stations, rising by 8.8% to 1.6m. Its breakfast audience increased to 669,000.

Capital Scotland fell to 401,000, down 18% year-on-year.

Heart’s local stations recorded 11 increases, ten declines and two unchanged results from 23 services. Noticeably, Heart Dorset fell by 36%.

Heart 90s increased by 20% to 1.1m, Heart 00s grew by 13% to 1.1m and Heart Dance rose by 12% to 1.1m. Heart 80s added 180,000 listeners to reach 1.8m. Heart 70s is up again, whilst Heart 10s is down.

Heart London remained the largest commercial music station in the capital with 1.9m listeners. Its breakfast audience fell to 676,000, leaving it 7,000 ahead of Capital.

Smooth’s brand audience remained broadly unchanged at 7.4m, although its listening hours increased by 6% to 51.4m. Six of its 18 local stations increased, 11 declined and one was unchanged.

Smooth Country rose by 34% to 501,000, while Smooth 80s increased by 22% to 754,000.

Smooth Radio North West and Wales produced the strongest local result, increasing by 36%.

Smooth Radio London fell by 8.1% to 895,000.

LBC achieved another record audience, with the overall brand growing by 4% to 3.7m listeners. The main service increased more modestly by 1% to 2.9m. Its London breakfast audience remained ahead of Capital and Heart with 744,000.

LBC News increased by 11% to a record 1.2m.

Classic FM’s brand audience increased by 3% to 4.5m, while Classic FM Movies dropped by 25% to 153,000.

Radio X grew by 3% to 2.4m, but Radio X London had a difficult survey. Reach fell from 467,000 a year ago and 408,000 last quarter to 368,000, while breakfast dropped from 183,000 to 143,000 quarter-on-quarter. Radio X Chilled fell by 26% quarter-on-quarter and 37% year-on-year to 111,000.

Gold Radio declined by 5% to 1.5m listeners.

Bauer

Bauer’s owned and partner stations reached 22.7m people each week. Its owned services attracted 21.1m, an increase of 505,000 during the quarter, while listening hours rose to almost 195m.

The Hits Radio Portfolio reached 12.2m excluding partners, up 1% from its last published result. Including partner stations, Bauer reported an audience of 14.3m.

The Hits Radio Network remained stable at 6.5m, although the main Hits Radio service fell by 3% from 3.8m to 3.7m and was down from 4.4m a year ago. Breakfast dropped to 1.3m, down 26% annually. Of its 39 local stations, 16 increased and 23 declined.

Hits Radio Swindon rose by 88% (although 4,000 to 8,000 listeners), North Yorkshire by 87%, Essex by 53%, Northamptonshire by 34%, Norfolk by 31% and Lancashire by 21%. Beds, Bucks and Herts and Coventry and Warwickshire both fell by 26%, while North East and Teesside was down 24%.

Hits Radio London fell by 12.3% from 717,000 to 629,000, while Hits Radio Dorset declined by 33%.

Hits Radio 00s increased by 50% year-on-year to 377,000, while Hits Radio 90s grew by 48% to 428,000.

Greatest Hits Radio’s network audience increased by 1% to 6.9m, while its main service grew to 5.8m. Of its 56 local stations, 32 increased, 23 declined and one was unchanged.

Greatest Hits Radio Peterborough, Stamford and Rutland increased by 42%, Surrey and East Hampshire by 26%, South Wales by 22% and Cambridgeshire by 21%. Beds, Bucks and Herts fell by 22%, while London was broadly unchanged, rising by 1% to 651,000.

Greatest Hits Radio Tayside and Fife fell by 38.2% year-on-year to 21,000.

KISS delivered one of the strongest results of the quarter, adding 266,000 listeners and rising by 18% to 1.7m. It was up 32% annually, while breakfast with Tyler West and Chloe Burrows increased by 14% quarter-on-quarter to 668,000 and by 40% year-on-year.

The KISS Network grew by 12% to 3.7m, with listening hours increasing by 14%.

KISSTORY added 211,000 listeners to reach two million, making it the UK’s largest commercial digital station. KISSTORY R&B increased by 9% to 681,000.

The Absolute Radio Network grew by 2% to 5.4m. The main Absolute Radio service remained broadly unchanged at two million, while Absolute 80s increased by 6% to 1.5m.

Magic’s network audience declined by 3% to 3.3m, with listening hours down by 8%. Magic Classical increased by 18% to 159,000, while Magic Soul grew by 5% to 490,000.

Kerrang! Radio increased by 8% to 615,000 and recorded a 26% rise in hours.

Planet Rock fell by 4% to one million, although its hours increased by 10%.

Heat fell by 19% to 387,000.

Clyde 1 recovered to 687,000 but remained down year-on-year, while Clyde 1 Ayrshire fell by 47.5% annually to 31,000.

Forth 1 recovered to 339,000 but also remained down annually.

Northsound 1 fell by 32.2% year-on-year to 82,000.

News Broadcasting

News Broadcasting reached 6.4m weekly listeners across its portfolio, delivering 44.3m listening hours. The company said 86.3% of its listening came through digital platforms, maintaining its position as the UK broadcaster with the highest proportion of digital listening.

The main talkSPORT station increased by 1% to 3.3m listeners. talkSPORT2 fell by 3% to 531,000, with listening hours declining by 30%.

Times Radio achieved its highest reach and listening hours, adding 55,000 listeners to reach 660,000. This represented growth of 9% quarter-on-quarter and 7.1% year-on-year. Listening hours rose by 19% to 5.9m and were 21.3% higher annually.

Talk reached 543,000 weekly listeners, down 3%. Its 4.9m listening hours represented annual growth of 15%, although hours were down 21% quarter-on-quarter.

The Virgin Radio UK network reached 1.8m listeners and recorded eight million listening hours. Its main station declined by 3% to one million, while Virgin Radio 90s entered RAJAR with 183,000 listeners. The company said content from the brand generated 99m digital views during the quarter, an increase of 115% year-on-year.

U105 reached 241,000 listeners across Northern Ireland, an annual increase of 14%.

Nation Broadcasting

Nation Broadcasting increased its weekly reach by 11% to 1.3m listeners, while listening hours rose by 3% to 7.2m.

Nation’s decades stations did well. 60s is up 42%. Nation 80s grew by 15% to 220,000, with hours up 41%. Nation 70s increased by 8% to 142,000, while Nation 90s fell by 6% to 117,000 despite a 26% increase in hours.

Nation Radio South Wales grew by 10% to 170,000, while Nation Radio Hampshire fell by 9% to 120,000.

Nation Radio Dorset recorded one of the quarter’s largest local increases, rising by 64% from 18,000 to 29,000. This coincides with the earlier mentions of Heart Dorset and Hits Radio Dorset both losing over 30% reach each.

Radio Exe increased by 8% to 53,000, while its hours grew by 16%.

Elsewhere

Boom Radio remained broadly unchanged at 635,000 listeners. Boom Light increased by 8% to 86,000, although its listening hours fell by 23%.

Bloomberg Radio fell by 11% to 98,000, reversing some of its growth from the previous quarter.

Lyca Radio is celebrating its highest every figures for Lyca Radio and Lyca Gold.

Mi-Soul declined by 8% to 116,000, with listening hours down by 19%.

GB News Radio increased to 731,000 listeners, taking it ahead of Talk and Times Radio. Its breakfast audience rose by 44% to 325,000 and was 70% higher year-on-year.

Quotes

Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton said radio’s record weekly audience of 51 million demonstrated its continuing appeal across different platforms. He added that commercial radio offered advertisers mass reach in a trusted environment and remained effective at supporting growth.

Bauer Media Audio UK President Simon Myciunka said the results demonstrated the strength of Bauer’s portfolio, with KISS benefiting from its refreshed identity and schedule. He said radio continued to build strong connections with audiences despite competition from emerging platforms.

Bauer Director of Audio Gary Stein said KISS had delivered a strong quarter, reflecting the energy Tyler West and Chloe Burrows had brought to breakfast. He added that Greatest Hits Radio had also grown ahead of Zoe Ball’s arrival in September.

Global Group CEO Simon Pitts said the figures showed commercial radio thriving, with Global leading the market. He highlighted record growth for LBC, a strong performance from Classic FM and Heart’s position as the UK’s largest radio brand.

Global Chief Content Officer James Rea said the results demonstrated radio’s continuing importance in people’s daily lives. He highlighted Heart’s interview with Prince William and LBC’s record audience as examples of strong content connecting effectively with listeners.

KMFM Head of Broadcast and Breakfast Presenter Rob Wills said the station was pleased with its latest performance. He added that the figures were among KMFM’s strongest in recent RAJAR surveys and demonstrated its continued appeal across Kent.

Lyca Radio Network CEO Raj Baddhan said Lyca Radio and Lyca Gold had achieved record audiences, with Lyca Gold leading the Asian retro music market. He added that the group remained London’s largest Asian commercial radio network and planned further launches.

GB News Head of Programming and Talent Ben Briscoe said the results demonstrated the continued growth of GB News Radio. He attributed the performance to the quality of its journalism, audience loyalty and the work of its reporters, producers and presenters.

STV Radio Managing Director Graham Bryce said the station’s first figures had exceeded expectations, reaching 139,000 listeners and 1.3 million hours. He said average listening of more than nine hours weekly indicated growing loyalty, while STV’s wider platforms strengthened its offer.

BBC Chief Content Officer Kate Phillips said audiences continued to choose BBC breakfast programmes for news, music, conversation and companionship, with annual growth particularly encouraging. She added that BBC Sounds, global downloads and social video showed audiences increasingly consuming BBC audio across platforms.

News UK EVP and President of Broadcasting Scott Taunton said audiences continued to choose its brands for breaking news and analysis. He highlighted record reach and hours for Times Radio, adding that demand for expert analysis and debate remained strong.

Sunrise Radio Chairman Tony Lit said Sunrise Radio National had gained 60,000 listeners to reach 351,000, while Sunrise Radio London added 34,000 to reach 175,000. He said Sunrise Retro’s 32,000 audience demonstrated growing demand for greater choice.

BBC Radio 1 Head Aled Haydn Jones said Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1 Anthems had made a strong start by introducing their music to new listeners. He added that Radio 1’s overall eight-million audience and Greg James’s growth were encouraging.

You can see all of the latest figures in our easy to view charts at RadioToday.co.uk/rajar, and see more words over on websites by Matt Deegan and Adam Bowie.