Commercial radio has continued its upward trajectory in the UK hitting something of a golden era as Heart becomes the nation’s most-listened-to radio brand for the first time, according to the latest RAJAR figures for Q1 2025.
Heart reached 13.4 million weekly listeners, surpassing BBC Radio 2, which recorded 13.1 million, to become the nation’s biggest radio brand. This milestone reflects a broader trend of growth in commercial radio, now commanding a 54.9% share of total listening, up from 54.2% a year earlier. In contrast, the BBC’s share has declined slightly to 43.1%.
Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton said: “By ensuring content is available and accessible across connected devices, radio has continued to thrive and remains a vital part of people’s daily lives. In turn, this means radio can continue to help advertisers reach huge audiences in a trusted environment.”
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Digital platforms played a significant role in the overall growth according to the latest data drop from RAJAR. Total digital listening rebounded in Q1, increasing by 1.1 percentage points to 73.3%. Online listening reached a record-high 28.5% share, while smart speaker listening hit a new peak at 17.6% of total radio listening, up from 16.6% the previous year. For commercial radio, smart speaker listening was even higher at 21.4%, up from 20.7% in Q1 2024.
Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden grew its weekly reach by 3.3% year-on-year, reaching 4.3 million listeners. Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark, and Siân Welby also saw an 8.4% year-on-year increase, despite a slight quarter-on-quarter dip.
Global’s portfolio achieved 5.2% year-on-year growth, reaching 27.6 million weekly listeners and a record 27.3% listening share. Heart’s growth was complemented by other Global brands: Capital increased its weekly reach by 13.7% to 9.4 million, and Smooth grew by 19.6% to 7.8 million.
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Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “Global has been lucky enough to have the top 3 commercial radio brands in the UK for some time. Today, after over 18 years of hard work from our team and huge loyalty from our incredible listeners, Heart overtakes Radio 2 as the UK’s largest radio brand, making Heart the biggest in the UK overall. It’s a huge moment. I’m incredibly humbled, and grateful to every single Globaller and listener that’s made this possible. May we continue to turn up the feel good and make everyone’s day brighter for many years to come. Commercial radio in the UK is so buoyant right now, with quality broadcasting that means listeners have more choice than ever before. We are truly in the golden era of commercial radio broadcasting, and so we’re exceptionally grateful to have reached this landmark moment with Heart. Congratulations to the entire team!”
Bauer Media’s Hits Radio network reached 7.1 million listeners, a 5.7% year-on-year increase. Magic at the Musicals experienced significant growth, up 63% year-on-year to 327,000 weekly listeners.
Simon Myciunka, CEO for Bauer Media Audio UK said, “Our audio brands continue to captivate millions of listeners every week, showcasing our commitment to excellence and innovation. As Bauer celebrates its 150th year, we look to the future with a steadfast focus on enhancing our products, increasing investment to strengthen audience engagement and creating gold-standard opportunities for our commercial partners.”
GB News Radio saw a 25.4% year-on-year increase in weekly reach, reaching 237,000 listeners. Times Radio also experienced growth, with a 23.7% year-on-year increase to 622,000 weekly listeners. Conversely, Talk’s weekly reach declined by 35.9% year-on-year to 485,000.
BBC Radio 3 achieved its highest reach in over a decade, with 2.15 million weekly listeners, driven by special programming and new commissions. BBC Sounds also reported a record-breaking start to the year, with 681 million plays of content, including 261 million from on-demand radio and podcasts.
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Kate Phillips, Interim BBC Chief Content Officer, says: “In a hectic world, I’m delighted to see audiences finding what they need from the BBC: reflection and delight from Radio 3 with its unrivalled, high quality classical music offer, news and insights from our distinctive speech networks Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live.
“Across live and on-demand on BBC Sounds, we keep on upping our ambition and evolving our schedules and commissioning approach, ensuring we absolutely bring the best ideas and most brilliant presenters to all our audiences, however and whenever they choose to listen.”
Several commercial radio stations posted standout performances in the latest RAJAR figures, with Heart Musicals recording the strongest percentage growth of any station. Its weekly reach soared by 61%, from 134,000 to 216,000 listeners, while total hours leapt by a staggering 318% to 1.05 million – up from just 252,000 last quarter – indicating both new audiences and dramatically improved engagement.
Smooth 70s also enjoyed impressive growth, more than doubling its total hours (up 105%) from 816,000 to 1.68 million, alongside a modest 9% rise in weekly reach to 346,000.
Rolling news appears to be in demand too. LBC News (London) posted an 87% increase in total hours, up from 1.04 million to 1.95 million, while its weekly reach rose 10% to 410,000.
Capital XTRA (London) had a strong quarter, up 12% in reach (to 693,000) and 17% in total hours, while talkSPORT2 climbed 25% in reach and 14% in hours, pointing to growing appetite for its niche sports content.
Boom Radio’s rise continues, with total hours up 27% from 7.5 million to 9.6 million. While reach dipped slightly, the increase in hours suggests deepening loyalty among existing listeners.
Several stations also saw notable gains in weekly reach, including:
- KISS: +407,000 (+38%)
- Classic FM Calm: +52,000 (+22%)
- Radio X Chilled: +28,000 (+22%)
- Smooth Chill: +76,000 (+17%)
Capital XTRA Reloaded also posted a 28% rise in total hours, up by 486,000. The Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) network saw strong local performances:
- GHR West of England: Reach up 58% (to 184,000), hours up 152% (to 2.1m)
- GHR Norfolk: Reach up 27%, hours up 44%
- GHR South Coast: +640,000 hours (+22%)
- GHR Sheffield: Hours up 47% to 1.22m
These trends reflect broader momentum for stations targeting older demographics, with classic hits, news, and specialist speech content performing particularly well.
At the other end of the scale, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra saw the steepest fall, with weekly reach down 51% to 583,000 and total hours slashed by 67% to 1 million – likely impacted by scheduling or rights changes.
Kiss Dance suffered similarly sharp losses, with reach down 74% to 184,000 and total hours down 72% to 336,000.
Other significant dips included:
- XS Manchester: Reach and hours down 14%
- Heart Hertfordshire: Reach down 46%
- Centreforce: Audience halved to 95,000
- Smooth Radio Essex: Hours down 43%
Capital had a mixed quarter. While some regional stations posted gains, major urban markets struggled:
- Capital London lost 74,000 listeners and 1.2 million hours
- Capital Yorkshire dropped 91,000 listeners and 759,000 hours
- Capital Manchester fell by 26,000 listeners and 394,000 hours
Virgin Radio declined across all services. The flagship station lost 32,000 listeners and 763,000 hours, contributing to an 862,000-hour drop across the network.
Meanwhile, in the Channel Islands, Island FM in Guernsey recorded its highest audience since 2020, with weekly reach up 18% year-on-year to 31,000 adults. It now commands a 40.2% market share – the largest of any station, BBC or commercial, in the British Isles.
Sister station Channel 103 in Jersey also maintained its leadership, growing weekly listening hours to 8.3 per person and market share to 24.8%. A remarkable 54% of the island’s population now tune in weekly – the highest reach of any RAJAR-measured station.
