Observations and information for the latest RAJAR Q3 2024 radio listening figures

It’s a record quarter for BBC Radio 5 Live, Boom Radio, GB News and many of Global’s brands including Capital, Heart, Smooth and Radio X, and great news for online-only stations.

The headlines come from the latest figures confirmed by RAJAR for Q3 2024, which shows all radio in the UK has attracted a new record audience of 50.9 million adults, up from its previous record of 50.8 million set in Q2 2024.

Commercial radio’s share of listening now stands at 53.3%, a notable jump from 50.9% in the same period two years ago, while the BBC’s share is 44.5%.

For all radio, 17% of total listening now takes place on smart speakers which is a 22% increase year on year.

Commercial radio’s weekly audience reaches over 40 million listeners each week, up from 39.2 million in the same period last year.

The new figures also highlight that a third of all listening for commercial radio is online, hitting 32.8% which is up year on year from 28.2%.

The BBC has 32.6m listeners, Global has 29.2 million listeners, whilst Bauer Media Audio UK attracts 23.5 million weekly listeners.

Observations

• BBC Radio 5 Live hits over 6m weekly reach for the first time in a long time
• BBC Local Radio lost 298,000 quarter on quarter. Out of the 39 BBC Local Radio stations in England 39 stations, 17 are up, 20 are down, and two stay the same. Notable moves include Radio Berkshire down 39% from 75k to 46k, London down 26% from 673k to 495k, and BBC Radio Bristol up 37% from 54k to 74k
• No move at BBC Radio 1 or Radio 2 – 1 has 8.1m whilst 2 is consistently the biggest UK radio station with 13.3m
• BBC Radio 3 is back up over 2m, whilst Radio 4 goes back to its 2022 weekly reach at just over 10m
• 6 Music and Asian Network stay around the same, with 2.7m and 609k respectively
• Capital, Heart and Smooth get their biggest audience with 12.99m (Heart), 9.7m (Capital) and 7.7m (Smooth) – they are the top three commercial stations in the UK in terms of reach
• Heart 70s (853,000) and Heart 90s (1.3 million) have achieved their highest listening figures to date, increasing in reach, hours and share in the last quarter
• LBC has added 476,000 listeners in the past year, attracting 3.4 million people each week
• LBC News reaches more than one million people – up 270,000 listeners in the past year
• Radio X gets its highest ever weekly reach with more than 2.3 million listeners tuning in every week, with 1.1m of those listening to Chris Moyles
• The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global sees record-breaking figures with more than 1.8 million weekly listeners
• Boom Radio has its highest ever reach with over 700,000 weekly reach
• Bauer’s recent rebranding of stations to Hits has lost them a collective 600,000 listeners in the last quarter
• KISS London’s last survey sees it drop 37% in the last year taking it down to 645k – compared to being number 1 with over 2m weekly reach around five years ago
• KISSTORY remains the No.1 commercial digital station with 2.3m
• All the Absolute Radio decades stations (plus Country) have received a nice increase, with 10s getting the biggest jump
• Jazz FM is back up over half a million weekly reach, up 17%
• Clyde 1 continues to grow – now with 747k listeners, not including the new area previously known as West FM
• Forth 1 also increasing, back to where it was seven years ago with 383,000 listeners
• The old Lincs FM is down to 99k listeners, whilst the former Pirate FM service is down 37% to 88k – both lost their FM transmitters recently
• Greatest Hits Radio South Coast, aka Wave 105, is down 27% – or 121,000 listeners – in three months, whilst Nation Radio South is up 29% – or 28,000 listeners in the same period
• Easy Radio South is also up 31% – or 9,000 listeners
• The Nation Radio brand recorded a weekly reach of 709,000 listeners
• Swansea Bay is up 50% with an extra 7,000 listeners
• Virgin Radio stayed roughly the same (down 5%) but the Virgin Radio Network delivered its highest reach at 2.4m listeners
• Talk Radio down 16% to 576,000
• Times Radio up 16% to 557,000
• GB News Radio up to 611,000 – its highest figure
• Panjab Radio’s weekly reach has increased by 27% from 82,000 to 104,000
• Radio Essex FM is down 45% from 56,000 to 31,000 weekly reach, although its DAB service stayed static

Around the brands

At the 17 Capital stations, 13 are up, four are down. The Capital brand itself celebrates record-breaking figures with 9.7 million listeners.

Looking at Smooth Radio’s 18 areas, 14 are up, two are down, and two remain the same. London and North West are up both, and for the first time have the same amount of listeners with 1.2m each. The brand now has 7.7 million listeners. Smooth Relax, which launched at the start of the year, has increased its audience to 542,000 weekly listeners.

Of the Heart regions, 13 are up, eight are down and two are the same. Kent’s up 23% and London is down 7% to under 2m. Heart Yorkshire and North West have recorded their highest in recent history, with 568k and 859k respectively. Nationally, and across its network, Heart celebrates another new record with 12.99 million weekly listeners.

Greatest Hits Radio’s 58 stations have given a mixture of increases and decreases. There are 29 on the up, and 27 heading down, with two remaining the same. Bucks, Beds & Herts down 39% from 67k to 41,
South Coast (was Wave 106) is down 27% from 446,000 to 325,000,
Northern Ireland is up 28% and
Sussex is also up by 27%.

And across the enlarged Hits Radio services, of which we count 24 stations, five are up whilst 19 are down. Birmingham down 23% from 283k to 217k,
Cornwall (Pirate) is down 37% going from 139k to 88k,
Coventry & Warwicks is down 22% from 138k to 107k,
East Mids (was GEM) is down 29% from 221k to 157k,
Norfolk is down 29% from 46k to 33k,
Oxfordshire’s down 28% from 37k to 27k, and the
West of England (was Kiss) is down 33%, from 254k to 171k.

The Hits Radio Network however secures its biggest ever audience of 7.2m weekly listeners and the main Hits Radio station now reaches 4.6m listeners a week.

London commercial stations

Our usual look at who’s the number 1 local commercial radio station in London takes an interesting turn this quarter with Smooth overtaking Magic for the first time, and Greatest Hits Radio sneaking in to 5th place.

1. Heart London (1.94m)
2. Capital London (1.78m)
3. LBC (1.41m)
4. Smooth Radio London (1.24m)
5. Greatest Hits Radio London (1.07m)

The above list doesn’t include BBC stations or fully national stations’ London reach.

Quotes

Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton says: “These strong audience figures provide more evidence of the continuing power and resonance of commercial radio in 2024, which is also evident from the positive trend in radio ad revenues. It’s an exciting time for brands to harness the power of radio and speak to millions of listeners across broadcast and online platforms.”

Jonathan Wall, Director of BBC Sounds: “I’m so pleased to see how much our audiences have enjoyed a Tour de Force live events summer, as well as some of our new On Demand treats. From Elections to Olympics, and from the Proms to the Rise and Fall of.. Oasis, its been action packed. We have delivered exciting new innovations like our pop up Election 24 hour stream, and launched bold new podcasts like Central Intelligence to excite listeners.”

Julie Cullen, Managing Editor, BBC Radio 5 Live: said: “We’re proud of the RAJAR results that 5 Live and 5 Sport Extra’s achieved this quarter – the highest reach in more than a decade. Our role is to connect with audiences across the UK, and be at the heart of the national conversation. We include our listeners in the national debate whether that’s discussing the election or debating the football, we let our audience shape the output and that’s what makes us unique.

“This summer, our team delivered sensational coverage of major sporting events like the Euros, Wimbledon and, of course, the Olympics not to mention comprehensive news coverage of the General Election. As the Voice of the UK, these positive results are a testament to the hard work, creativity, and dedication of our entire team, as well as the loyalty of our listeners.”

Helen Thomas, Head of BBC Radio 2, said: “With over 13.3 million listeners tuning in each week, we’re delighted that BBC Radio 2 remains the UK’s most popular station, and that The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show and Vernon Kay on weekday mid-mornings continue to be the UK’s biggest radio shows.”

Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, said: “Congratulations to the 5 Live team, who on their 30th anniversary year have reached the biggest audience for the station in a decade. Listeners have loved tuning into 5 Live’s unrivalled news and sport offer, bringing them all the action as it has unfolded.

“Our stations remain hugely important for our listeners, and I’m delighted that for the big national moments, people come to the BBC. We’ve had a record-breaking BBC Proms season and a summer packed with news and sport, and our commentary and programming have been unrivalled in their ambition and scale. I’m so proud of our teams who have refreshed schedules and kept on innovating, bringing distinctive, high-quality content to audiences across our speech and music stations, and on BBC Sounds.”

Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “I’m incredibly proud of these audience numbers today, adding more listeners for a fifth survey in a row, increasing, growing and consolidating. I’m deeply grateful to the over 29 million listeners that tune in to one of our stations every week – it’s an achievement that’s fantastic news for the UK’s creative industries and UK plc.

“We never take this for granted. Radio is thriving and Global is outperforming the market, as we keep a laser focus on our content, whilst also embracing technology at the core of our strategy, as people use smart speakers and apps, as well as traditional means, to get to the content they love, wherever and whenever they want it. Our mission is to make everyone’s day brighter. Congratulations and thank you to everyone at Global and thank you to our listeners, it’s a privilege to have you with us.”

James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global, said: “What a result for Global! New records for Heart, Capital, Smooth and Radio X. I’m so proud of the most incredible team in radio, who’ve delivered these exceptional results alongside launching 14 new radio stations in the last month – another phenomenal achievement!”

Simon Myciunka, CEO for Bauer Media Audio UK said, ‘All our teams at Bauer Media Audio UK are incredibly proud to be part of an industry that is thriving, and today’s results speak volumes about the strong connections our brands have with listeners. We remain committed to delivering exceptional content and experiences that resonate with both these audiences and our valued advertisers and partners.’

Gary Stein, Director of Audio for Bauer Media Audio UK said, ‘We’ve invested significantly in Hits Radio and it’s fantastic to see such brilliant results for the network as it grows to a new record reach, while Greatest Hits Radio continues to the be the UK’s most listened to commercial station. Absolute Radio Network has also enjoyed another standout performance with record audiences and a special mention to Clyde 1 and Forth 1 in Scotland which are celebrating their best audiences since the turn of the century.’

Nation’s Founder Jason Bryant said; “Nation’s teams in regions and nations across the UK have worked hard to grow our audiences. We are increasingly the choice for local and regional businesses, and we thank them as well as every listener who has recently made the switch to Nation.”

Nation’s Programme Director Neil Greenslade said; “Our regional presentation line-ups and the Best Variety of Hits are proving a winning combination in markets across the UK. With streaming data showing continued growth and with further survey area and station expansions planned for 2025, we see exciting times ahead.”

Tony Lit MBE, Managing Director of Sunrise Radio and Sunrise Radio Smooth, comments, “We are all delighted with the results for Rajar Q3 2024, released this morning. Reporting that all three of our radio stations, Sunrise Radio National, Sunrise Radio London and Sunrise Smooth London have all increased their audience reach, and we maintain the position of the UK’s Number One and the Largest Asian Commercial Radio Station.

“Sunrise Radio celebrates its 35th Birthday on the 5th November and we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all our loyal listeners, commercial partners and the magnificent Sunrise Team. Next up is your new National Radio Station coming very soon – I’ll keep you posted.”

Raj Baddhan, CEO of Lyca Radio Network said, “We are thrilled with today’s RAJAR results, consolidating the group’s weekly reach as the No.1 Asian radio network in Greater London. Lyca Radio Network has been fast adding radio stations to its successful portfolio with both Greater Manchester and Leicestershire being embraced with open arms. As we step into 2025, we are set to shake the market further, so watch this space. Thanks to our wonderful listeners, advertisers and my brilliant team in reaching another milestone achievement.”

News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, said: “News Broadcasting continues to deliver outstanding results and this growth is a testament to the incredible engagement our on and off air talent foster with their audiences.

“Congratulations to the the Virgin Radio UK network team who have had a great quarter, achieving a record-breaking reach, now boasting 2.4 million listeners. It’s clear the investment we put into getting out and about over summer on the ground at festivals, resonates with our listeners.”

GB News’ Editorial Director Michael Booker said: “Our army of viewers and listeners is growing at a phenomenal rate. This is another milestone moment in GB News’ continuing success story.

“To achieve the level of growth we have is remarkable and is down to the brilliant content our journalists produce, and the loyalty of our viewers and listeners. We look forward to welcoming more and more of them into the GB News family in the years ahead.”

See the latest RAJAR Graphs updating shortly at RadioToday.co.uk/rajar.