Commercial radio ‘on a roll’ with record reach and share

Rajar: Q1 2024 analysis

Commercial radio reached a new record audience in the last quarter with 39.7m weekly listeners, according to Rajar figures.

This overtook the previous record high from Q3 2023 of 39.3m.*

Three-quarters of commercial stations (75%) gained reach compared to the previous quarter, compared to more than half (53%) of BBC stations losing reach.

Commercial also grew its share of listening year-on-year to 54.2% compared to the BBC’s 43.4% in the quarter.

Radio’s total combined weekly UK audience also hit a record high of 49.9m adults, or 88.6% of the adult UK population, surpassing the previous record set in Q1 2022 of 49.7m.

Across an average week, 62% of radio listening was found to be in the home, 58% in a car, van or lorry, and 19% at work or elsewhere.

The quarterly data also included the claimed weekly listening to on-demand music services and podcasts from a separate self-complete questionnaire.* The former reached 22.28m adults or 40% of UK adults once a week or more, while the latter reached 11.69m listeners or 21% of all adults. 

Industry body Radiocentre’s CEO Matt Payton said the figures showed radio was “on a roll” and showed the industry’s “strength and commitment” to audiences and advertisers.

Payton said: “To see commercial radio reach record audiences just shy of 40m people each week is a fantastic achievement and shows how much people in the UK really value and trust the medium.”

He added the “sustained growth” of online and smart speaker listening was “a timely reminder” of the importance of the incoming Media Bill to safeguard UK radio which returns to parliament next week.

*Editor’s note: this has been updated since publication.