UK flag US flag FR flag BE flag
|

Rajar Q3 2026: Online listening reaches record 30.8% share

Rajar Q3 2026: Online listening reaches record 30.8% share
Rajar Q3 2026
Online listening accounted for a record 30.8% of all radio listening in Q3 2026, up 1.1 percentage points year on year, according to the latest Rajar figures.
 
Smart speakers continued to play an important role in digital listening, accounting for 18.7% of all radio listening. This was unchanged from the previous quarter but up 0.5 percentage points year-on-year.
 
Listening via websites and apps also grew, reaching a 12.2% share, up 0.7 percentage points year-on-year and 0.6 points quarter-on-quarter.
 
Commercial radio followed a similar trend, with online listening up 0.6 percentage points year-on-year to 34.1% of listening. Smart speaker listening remained flat at 22.2%, while websites and apps increased their share by 0.5 percentage points to 11.9%
 
AM/FM listening continued to decline, accounting for 23.6% of all radio listening, down 2.6 percentage points year-on-year. Its share was lower still for commercial radio, at 18.7%.
 
Overall, digital platforms accounted for 76.4% of all radio listening, up 2.6 percentage points year on year. DAB’s share rose 1.5 percentage points to 43.1%, while digital television (DTV) fell 0.1 percentage points to 2.4%.
Digital listening
Quarters ending September 2025, June 2026 and September 2026
QuarterAM/FMTotal digitalDABDTVTotal onlineWebsite/appsSmart speaker
Platform share
Q3 202526.2%73.8%41.6%2.5%29.7%11.5%18.2%
Q2 202624.5%75.5%42.7%2.6%30.3%11.6%18.7%
Q3 202623.6%▼76.4%▲43.1%▲2.4%▼30.8%▲12.2%▲18.7%▲
Digital listening weekly reach
Q3 2025n/a75.8%60.5%6.3%43.8%24.4%27.6%
Q2 2026n/a76.7%61.9%6.3%42.6%23.9%26.5%
Q3 2026n/a76.8%▲61.7%▲5.7%▼43.5%▼24.9%▲27.2%▼
Digital listening total hours
Q3 2025n/a754m425m26m304m118m186m
Q2 2026n/a786m444m27m315m120m195m
Q3 2026n/a790m▲446m▲25m▼319m▲126m▲193m▲
Latest quarter in bold. Arrows show change compared with the same quarter last year. AM/FM reach and hours are not reported (n/a). Total hours in millions. DAB is digital audio broadcasting and DTV is digital television.
Source: RAJAR
Adwanted UK are the audio experts at the centre of audio trading, distribution, and analytics. We operate J‑ET - the UK’s trading and accountability system for both linear and digital radio. We also created Audiotrack, the country’s premier commercial audio distribution platform, and AudioLab, the single-point, multi‑platform digital audio reporting solution delivering real‑time insight. To scale up your audio strategy, contact us today.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

Media Jobs