RAJAR Q4 2024 headlines include; KISSTORY now has twice as many listeners as KISS; more adults listen to the Smooth brand than BBC Radio 1; and Nation is celebrating reaching over the magic one million mark around the group.

Also, BBC Radio 2 is up again, despite many recent changes and departures, remaining the UK’s biggest radio station with 13.6m weekly listeners.

Heart is the biggest commercial radio station in terms of weekly reach, now with over 10m listeners, followed by GHR (7.5m) and Capital (7.4m).

In a move fuelled by removing its London FM service, KISS is now down from 2.3m to 1m weekly reach year on year, compared with KISSTORY which now has 2.2m

Nation Broadcasting has added half a million listeners thanks to Nation 80s registering 505k weekly reach nationally, to add to its network of stations collectively attracting 1.2m listeners. Its big investment in Nation South to pick up where Wave 105 left off has resulted in 144,000 listeners, up from 78,000 year on year.

BBC Local Radio, which has also been the subject of many changes, has increased its total audience across England, up year on year and quarter on quarter. It now has over 7m weekly reach compared with 6.7m last quarter.

And Smooth now reaches a record-breaking 7.8 million listeners including more than half a million for Smooth 80s on its debut.

Talking of debuts, the following stations all reported their first quarters:

• KISS Dance – 720k
• Smooth 80s – 533k
• KISSTORY R&B – 530k
• Nation 80s – 505k
• Capital Anthems – 440k
• Greatest Hits Radio 60s – 386k
• Smooth 70s – 317k
• Heart 10s – 292k
• Classic FM Calm – 238k
• Centreforce 883 – 215k
• Smooth Soul – 206k
• Heart Love – 201k
• Classic FM Movies – 154k
• Heart Musicals – 134k
• Radio X 00s – 133k
• Radio X 90s – 129k
• Radio X Chilled – 129k

Overall, the weekly audience for all of UK radio also remains extremely strong with 50.2 million people tuning in, up year on year from 49.5 million in Q4 2023.

Commercial radio as a whole also continues to widen its lead over the BBC, now reaching 8.2 million more listeners than BBC stations, growing from 7.8 million in the same quarter of 2023. Commercial radio share of listening is now at 54% compared to 44% for the BBC.

For all radio, smart speaker listening is 16.1% of total listening which is up from 14.7% in Q4 2023.

See all the figures in our unique RAJAR Graphs right here.

Local Ups and Downs

At BBC Local Radio, 21 are up, 15 are down, whilst three stay the same.

Notable changes include Bristol up 25%, CWR up 29%, Leeds up 26%, Sussex & Surrey up 20%, Tees up 29%, Three Counties up 27%, Gloucestershire down 20% and Hereford & Worcester down 31%. BBC Radio Berkshire has its lowest reach ever at 34,000 listeners.

At Greatest Hits Radio‘s network of stations, 23 are up, 33 are down, and two are the same.

Notable changes include Bucks Beds & Herts up 48%, Peterborough St’ford & Rutland up 24%, and Northamptonshire down 23%.

For Hits Radio‘s 24 stations, 14 are up and ten are down.

Notable changes include Dorset up 31%, Northern Ireland up 125% and Cornwall, which was Pirate, is down 23%.

At Capital‘s 17 stations, nine are up, seven are down and one remains the same.

At Smooth, out of the 18 stations, six are up and 12 are down. North West is up (another record at 1.3m listeners), East Anglia is down 21% and Thames Valley is down 25%. Spin-off Smooth Country is down 21% whilst Smooth Relax is also down, 31%.

Around Heart‘s 23 stations, eight are up, 13 are down and two remain static.

London is up 10%, Scotland is up 12%, whilst Hertfordshire is down 20%.

More observations:

Hits Radio is now reaching 4.7m, up 228% year on year, thanks to it replacing heritage brands such as Metro, Hallam and Radio City

Capital Dance continues to grow after hitting a million last quarter (now 1.17m)

Radio X stays static this quarter but London loses 26% of its weekly reach, down to 426k

Absolute Radio Country is up 50% year on year (now on 610k)

Absolute Radio 00s – up 50% year on year (now 432k)

talkSPORT network has achieved record reach in Q4, up 7.4% year-on-year to 3.6 million listeners

Times Radio delivered a strong increase in reach, up 23% year-on-year to 604k listeners

GB News Radio has lost 143,000 listeners this quarter, down from 611k, but is up year on year from 430k to 468k  “our unstoppable growth continues” says the press release

Talk continued to lose listeners, down 12% this quarter, and 30% year on year, to 504k listeners

The Virgin Radio UK network went down slightly to 2.2 million listeners quarter on quarter, but had an increase of 22.5% year-on-year

Virgin Radio Anthems achieved a record quarter in reach with 468k listeners, an increase of 69.6% year-on-year

Channel 103 in Jersey has grown its audience to 49,500, or 56% of the island’s population – the highest reach percentage of any station in RAJAR survey. Year-on-year the station’s audience has grown by more than 3,000

Radio 6 Music attracted 2.8m music lovers as the biggest digital station in the UK

BBC Radio 1 has 7.88m listeners aged 10+ and the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James had 4.34m 10+ listeners

Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show attracted 6.8m listeners during her final months as the host of the UK’s most listened to breakfast show

Heart Breakfast celebrates 4.2 million weekly listeners. Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden host the UK’s biggest commercial breakfast show

Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Siân Welby reaches 2.9 million listeners. The show is up in all metrics year-on-year, adding 482,000 listeners in the last 12 months

LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast celebrates its highest ever audience figures with 1.5 million listeners and is London’s number one commercial breakfast show in hours and share

Rossie at Breakfast grows to over 3m listeners for the first time on GHR, whilst Ken Bruce sticks with around 4m listeners

Magic at the Musicals continues to grow, reaching a new high of 298k listeners

Boom Radio remains static this quarter, adding 5,000 listeners taking it to a record 706,000 weekly reach

Radio Exe is up year on year from 34k to 55k, helped by an extra 4,000 listeners this quarter

Star Radio Cambridge‘s last RAJAR before it becomes Hits gave it 29k, down from 35k last quarter, although has a change of TSA by -20% this time round

Kingdom FM‘s last quarterly result was 42k, down from 51k

And XS Manchester ends with an increase of 12,000 listeners, up to 124k before it becomes Radio X 90s

 

We’d love to mention more stations – let us know if we’ve missed something obvious – news@radiotoday.co.uk

Quotes

Radiocentre’s CEO Matt Payton says: “These strong figures for commercial radio underscore its enduring presence in the everyday lives of people across the UK. This continued popularity provides advertisers with incredible opportunities to reach huge audiences in a trusted environment.

The fact that online platforms and connected devices like smart speakers represent such a significant share of listening also reminds us of the importance of establishing a new regulatory framework for the industry. We look forward to working with Ofcom on the detail of this as it begins the process of implementing the Media Act.”

Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, said: “The radio sector in the UK is going though rapid change with an explosion of new stations, and I’m delighted that Radio 2 and Radio 6 Music with their incredible presenters, expert music teams and unrivalled live content are proving so popular with audiences.

“We know that people’s listening habits and expectations are shifting to suit their moods and interests. More so than ever, it’s paramount that we continue to innovate and give licence fee payers more choice from the BBC across our distinctive music extensions, on demand radio and world class podcasts.”

Aled Haydn Jones (Head of BBC Radio 1) said: “Greg James remains the #1 Breakfast Show in the country for young listeners as he goes from strength to strength, and Radio 1 reaching over 20 million across video and socials shows the importance of phones for our audience.”

Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “To have a sixth consecutive quarter of growth is frankly incredible and not something we would ever take for granted. Radio really is at the heart of so many people’s lives every day – in the home and on the move. Smart speakers have made it easy to access our content, and investment in entertainment apps like our own Global Player means people can reach a whole new world of digital content from our brands. The fact that so many people choose to be with our brands, which are truly thriving, with Heart, Smooth and Radio X all delivering record-breaking numbers, is an enormous privilege. Thank you to all the Globallers who work across our radio stations – you are a very special group of people, truly the best in the business.”  

James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global, said: “It’s fantastic to start the year with such a strong set of numbers for Global – a sixth consecutive record! I’m especially pleased for the team at Heart breaking through the 13 million listener mark which is such a wonderful achievement. Well done once again to the amazing team we have at Global.”

Simon Myciunka, CEO for Bauer Media Audio UK said, “These results demonstrate the strength of our brands, the hard work of our teams and the connection we have with audiences across the UK. The continued growth of our networks, including Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio shows that our content resonates with listeners. We remain laser focused on evolving our offer and providing high-quality audio experiences for both our audiences and commercial partners.”

Gary Stein, Director of Audio for Bauer Media Audio UK said, “These results once again highlight the powerful connection our audiences share with the authentic talent at the core of Bauer brands. We’re thrilled to build on this success and look forward to an exciting year ahead as we welcome Gok Wan, Gaby Roslin, Mel Giedroyc, and Nicki Chapman to Magic Radio. My thanks go to all our on-air talent who continue to engage and entertain millions across the nation every single day.”

News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, said: “News Broadcasting continues to set the pace for digital audience growth, reaching 6.6 million highly engaged adults every week and boasting an industry-leading 86% of total listening hours from streaming and DAB platforms.

“talkSPORT is a sports media brand in rude health, building on its position as the destination for exclusive live sport coverage, news and opinion, with a record 3.6 million weekly listeners for Q4. Meanwhile special congratulations go to the Times Radio team who achieved stand-out growth in audience this quarter with a 23% increase to 604k listeners.

“As audio and video platforms continue to converge, News Broadcasting has continued its fast growth in visualised form, achieving 764 million global video views across Facebook, YouTube and TikTok during the quarter*. talkSPORT’s recent launch onto smart TV, in partnership with LG Channels, Samsung TV Plus, FireTV, Apple TV and Google TV, is further demonstration of our innovation and ambition on behalf of our audiences and commercial partners.”

Nation’s founder Jason Bryant said; “I am so pleased to see our weekly audience climb above the significant one million milestone. Nation has great services at every level – local, regional and, now, national. Our teams have worked hard across the UK and, with our audience tracking and streaming data indicating further growth, we look forward to continued success in 2025.”

Managing Director for Tindle Radio CI James Keen commented, “In an ever more competitive media world we never take our audience for granted and we’re grateful that Island FM’s blend of trusted local news, information and entertainment is connecting with islanders for even longer each week.

“Congratulations to James Bentley, Carl Ward and David Francis for another superb set of listening figures.”

Surjit Singh Ghuman MBE: “Following the release of the latest RAJAR data (Q4 2024), I am delighted to report further growth for Panjab Radio, our weekly reach has increased by 1,000
listeners to 105,000 15+ adults and our listening hours by a pretty impressive 15% to 763,000, outstripping our competition!

“Panjab Radio is the only South Asian station to have increased both reach and listening hours this quarter firmly cementing our position as the most listened too station in the South Asian arena.

“I am delighted that our continued investment in our output continues to produce engaging and relevant output for London’s Panjabi population.

“I extend my thanks to our loyal and supportive listeners, our advertising partners and of course the hard- working Panjab Radio team. ”

Raj Baddhan, CEO of Lyca Radio Network, expressed his delight with the results, “We’re thrilled with the latest RAJAR figures. Not only have we maintained our stations performance, but we’ve also upheld our position as the No.1 Asian commercial group in Greater London. A big thank you to our loyal listeners who continue to support the Lyca Radio Network, as well as to our commercial partners and well-wishers. Now in our 11th year, we’re excited to expand the Lyca Radio footprint even further in the UK. Also, after the recent success of our Maldives competition, we’re giving away holiday tours and other exciting prizes in the days ahead. Thanks once again for the continued support.”

Tony Lit MBE, Managing Director of Sunrise Radio Group, comments “ Once again I’m happy to report that following the release of Rajar Q4 2024 this morning, Sunrise Radio remains the UK’s number 1 Asian commercial radio station in London and Nationally. I have to say, 35 years at Number 1 must be a record! Sunrise Smooth on London DAB continues its path also with an increase in hours.

“Our much talked about new National Radio Station is expected to launch in the next 3-4 months as the final preparations are made with the official launch date coming soon. Having two National Radio Stations will give the Sunrise Radio Group a real sense of pride, now serving the British Asian community for 35 years.”