The latest RAJAR figures, released on 6 August 2026, paint an extraordinarily encouraging picture for UK commercial radio. Record audiences, growing digital consumption and an increasingly diverse station landscape all suggest an industry with plenty to celebrate.
Radio has reached a new high. Again.
For years, the media industry has debated whether traditional radio could survive the rise of streaming, podcasts and an almost limitless choice of digital entertainment.
The latest RAJAR figures provide a rather convincing answer.
A record 51.1 million people now listen to UK radio every week, representing 87% of the adult population. That's approximately one million more listeners than a year ago, and another milestone for a medium that has been accompanying British life for more than a century.
Commercial radio has particular reason to celebrate.
Its weekly audience has climbed to 40.2 million listeners, one of its strongest performances ever. Commercial broadcasters now account for 55.1% of all radio listening hours, comfortably ahead of the BBC's 42.6%.
And perhaps most impressively, commercial radio reaches 9.3 million more people each week than BBC radio.
For an industry regularly described as mature, those are remarkable numbers.
There's a bigger story emerging, too. Radio is evolving into a genuinely multiplatform medium, with traditional broadcasting, digital services, connected devices and specialist stations collectively expanding its reach and relevance.
Commercial radio's lead is becoming difficult to ignore
The scale of commercial radio's success deserves closer examination.
RAJAR reports that commercial broadcasters attract 40.19 million weekly listeners, compared with 30.93 million for BBC radio. Commercial radio's audience has grown approximately 2% year-on-year, while its listening share has strengthened from 54.3% in the previous quarter to 55.1%.
Listening time tells an equally compelling story.
Commercial stations collectively deliver almost 573 million listening hours every week. That's over 81 million hours every day, providing an enormous canvas for brands looking to communicate with consumers.
The average commercial radio listener tunes in for 14.3 hours each week. Across all radio, average listening exceeds 20 hours per listener.
Those numbers demonstrate something that advertisers have understood for decades: radio has an extraordinary ability to become part of people's daily routines.
The commute, the school run, the working day, the kitchen, the garden. Radio remains a familiar companion across countless moments when other forms of media are less convenient.
That accessibility continues to be one of its greatest strengths.
Digital listening is transforming the industry
One of the most exciting developments in this release is the continued growth of digital radio.
For commercial broadcasters, digital platforms now account for 80.3% of all listening hours.
In other words, four out of every five hours spent listening to commercial radio happen digitally.
DAB remains the largest individual platform, accounting for 44.8% of commercial listening, while online listening has grown to 33.6%, up from 32.9% a year earlier.
Across the entire radio industry, online services now reach 30.3% of UK adults each week, comfortably ahead of the 24.5% listening through AM/FM.
That's a significant milestone.
It demonstrates how successfully radio has adapted to changing consumer behaviour, making itself available wherever and however people choose to listen.
For broadcasters, this evolution is creating new opportunities to develop services, understand audiences and extend the commercial possibilities of their programming.
For advertisers, it means radio increasingly combines the familiar strengths of broadcast with the flexibility and capabilities of digital media.
Smart speakers have found their place in radio listening
Smart speakers are another particularly interesting part of the story.
Across all radio, they now account for 18.7% of listening hours, compared with 18.4% a year earlier.
For commercial radio, their contribution is even more impressive: 22.1% of listening hours now come through smart speakers.
Think about that for a moment. More than one in five hours of commercial radio listening takes place through devices that barely existed in British homes a decade ago.
This represents an important change in how radio fits into everyday life.
Asking a smart speaker to play a favourite station has become an effortless way to enjoy audio while cooking, working or relaxing at home.
Radio has effectively acquired another prominent position within the household.
And because connected listening can support more sophisticated advertising technologies, the opportunities extend beyond audience growth.
The future may include greater personalisation, improved campaign measurement and more relevant commercial messages, while preserving the trusted programming environments that make radio so attractive.
Younger audiences remain firmly engaged
It's tempting to assume that younger listeners have abandoned radio in favour of music streaming and social media.
The RAJAR figures suggest a more interesting reality.
Commercial radio reaches 18.75 million people aged 15–44 every week, equivalent to 68% of that age group.
Within this demographic, commercial broadcasters account for an impressive 67% of all radio listening hours.
The BBC, by comparison, commands 30%.
These figures are particularly encouraging because younger audiences are exposed to an extraordinary range of competing entertainment choices.
Commercial radio continues to attract them through relevant music formats, engaging presenters, entertainment, sport and increasingly diverse digital stations.
Younger commercial listeners spend an average of 11.2 hours each week with the medium.
Engagement per listener has softened slightly year-on-year, so maintaining listening duration remains important. Nevertheless, the underlying scale of the younger commercial audience provides a strong foundation for continued innovation.
Perhaps the lesson is that radio doesn't need to imitate every new media trend. It needs to remain accessible, entertaining and relevant to the audiences it serves.
Big radio brands continue to deliver
The latest figures also provide plenty of individual success stories.
Global remains the UK's largest commercial radio group, reaching 29 million listeners weekly and delivering 283 million listening hours.
Heart has become the UK's biggest radio brand, reaching more than 12.8 million people each week and moving ahead of BBC Radio 2.
That's a significant achievement for commercial broadcasting.
Capital attracts 8.9 million listeners, while Smooth reaches 7.4 million, demonstrating the enduring appeal of established music brands.
Commercial speech radio is also thriving.
LBC has achieved a record audience of approximately 3.7 million weekly listeners, while LBC News has reached a record 1.2 million.
At Bauer, the KISS Network attracts 3.7 million listeners, with the main KISS station growing an impressive 32% year-on-year.
Its breakfast programme, presented by Tyler West and Chloe Burrows, has grown 40%.
KISSTORY, meanwhile, remains the UK's leading commercial digital station.
It's an encouraging reminder that great radio personalities, recognisable brands and distinctive programming can still generate substantial audience growth.
Specialist radio is finding enthusiastic audiences
Beyond the biggest brands, one of the most interesting developments is the success of specialist stations.
Capital Anthems has grown its weekly audience by approximately 53% year-on-year to 735,000.
Greatest Hits Radio 70s has increased its reach by 44%, while Greatest Hits Radio 80s has grown 22%.
Smooth Country now attracts more than half a million listeners, with its total listening hours more than doubling year-on-year.
And Absolute Radio 00s has seen its listening hours increase by an extraordinary 126%.
These are fascinating developments.
They suggest audiences are increasingly comfortable moving between broad, mainstream services and stations that reflect more particular musical tastes, interests or moods.
For broadcasters, digital distribution makes it possible to serve these audiences without the historic limitations of analogue spectrum.
For advertisers, specialist services offer attractive environments for reaching listeners with shared interests and characteristics.
There's considerable commercial potential in combining the mass reach of major radio brands with the more focused appeal of their digital extensions.
National growth and local opportunity
National commercial radio continues to perform strongly.
Its weekly audience has reached 29 million, representing growth of approximately 3% year-on-year, while listening hours have increased around 4% to almost 300 million.
Local commercial radio also retains considerable scale, reaching 26.1 million listeners and delivering 273 million hours weekly.
Local listening has faced some pressure, with hours declining approximately 4% year-on-year. Nevertheless, its reach and continuing importance to regional audiences should not be underestimated.
For local advertisers, radio's combination of geographical relevance, recognisable personalities and trusted community relationships remains particularly valuable.
The opportunity for broadcasters is to preserve these strengths while benefiting from the technology, shared infrastructure and broader advertising capabilities increasingly available across the industry.
And there's good news for advertising, too
Perhaps the most commercially significant development came shortly before the RAJAR results themselves.
Radiocentre highlighted industry advertising figures showing that online radio advertising revenues were growing faster than those of any other UK media channel.
That is a particularly encouraging signal.
As commercial listening becomes increasingly digital, the industry is creating opportunities for more flexible advertising, sophisticated targeting and improved campaign accountability.
The combination is compelling: broadcast radio's extraordinary reach alongside digital audio's potential for more precise delivery and measurement.
The challenge now is to make these opportunities as straightforward as possible for advertisers to access, plan, buy and evaluate.
Those who can bridge traditional radio and connected audio effectively have an increasingly attractive proposition.
An industry with its best years still ahead?
The Q2 2026 RAJAR results offer an excellent reminder of commercial radio's resilience, adaptability and continuing relevance.
Forty million weekly listeners. More than half a billion listening hours. Record audiences across the wider medium. Growing digital consumption and an expanding range of successful specialist stations.
There are challenges, of course. Listening habits continue to evolve, competition for attention remains fierce and broadcasters must keep investing in content and technology.
But the underlying message is overwhelmingly positive.
Commercial radio continues to find new audiences, embrace new platforms and demonstrate its value to advertisers.
As Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton observed following the release, the figures reinforce the medium's ability to deliver substantial reach within trusted environments, supporting advertisers seeking to build their brands and grow their businesses.
Radio's remarkable ability to evolve while remaining part of everyday life may turn out to be its greatest competitive advantage.
And with more than 40 million commercial listeners tuning in every week, the industry has an excellent platform on which to build its next chapter.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the independent analysis, views and opinions of adserve, based on publicly available RAJAR audience data and industry commentary. The interpretations and conclusions expressed are entirely our own and should not be taken to represent the views, opinions or endorsements of RAJAR, Radiocentre, individual broadcasters, radio stations or the wider radio industry. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, readers are encouraged to refer to the official RAJAR publications for definitive audience figures.
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