The BBC continues to lead during the breakfast hour in terms of weekly reach, with Radio 4 experiencing a 1.6% year-on-year increase and despite Radio 2 reporting a 2.6% decline since Scott Mills replaced Zoe Ball in January.
Top commercial breakfast programme Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda (Global) grew its weekly reach by 3.3% year on year (and 6.1% from Q4 2024) as host Jamie Theakston returned to the show in mid-January following a leave of absence to receive cancer treatment.
Meanwhile, top Bauer breakfast show Greatest Hits at Breakfast with Simon Ross saw a marginal 0.7% quarter-on-quarter bump in weekly reach to 3.1m, although it registered a 4.5% decline in weekly reach compared with the same period last year.
In contrast, Bauer stablemate The Dave Berry Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio grew 3.9% year on year to 2.3m weekly listeners.
Among noteworthy movers was GB News, which achieved standout growth during Q1. Its breakfast show saw a 25.4% jump in weekly reach year on year to 237,000 listeners.
Examining the London market, three Global brands topped the charts: Heart London (+3.0% year on year), LBC London (+7.8%) and Capital London (-0.9%). Global’s Capital Xtra breakfast programme with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie saw the strongest growth among stations in the capital (+38.3%) to reach 332,000 weekly listeners.
| Station | Sales house | Ending Dec 23 | Ending Sep 24 | Ending Dec 24 | QoQ % ch | YoY % ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio 2 – 06:30-09:30am | BBC | 6,622 | 6,825 | 6,453 | -5.5 | -2.6 |
| BBC Radio 4 – 06:00-09:00am | BBC | 5,605 | 5,737 | 5,695 | -0.7 | 1.6 |
| Heart network (UK) – 06:30-10:00am** | Global | 4,166 | 4,055 | 4,303 | 6.1 | 3.3 |
| BBC Radio 1 – 07:00-10:30am | BBC | 3,950 | 4,097 | 4,072 | -0.6 | 3.1 |
| Greatest Hits Radio – 06:00-10:00am*** | Bauer | 3,260 | 3,092 | 3,113 | 0.7 | -4.5 |
| Capital network (UK) – 06:00-10:00am** | Global | 2,547 | 2,902 | 2,762 | -4.8 | 8.4 |
| Absolute Radio network – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 2,236 | 2,364 | 2,324 | -1.7 | 3.9 |
| Classic FM – 06:30-10:00am* | Global | n/a | 1,901 | 1,981 | 4.2 | n/a |
| BBC Radio 5 Live – 06:00-09:00am | BBC | 1,246 | 1,405 | 1,351 | -3.8 | 8.4 |
| TalkSport – 06:00-10:00am | TalkSport | 1,262 | 1,184 | 1,307 | 10.4 | 3.6 |
| Radio X network (UK) – 06:30-10:00am | Global | 1,160 | 1,075 | 996 | -7.3 | -14.1 |
| Magic – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 1,210 | 839 | 862 | 2.7 | -28.8 |
| BBC Radio 3 – 06:30-09:00am | BBC | 806 | 827 | 798 | -3.5 | -1.0 |
| Virgin Radio network – 06:30-10:00am | TalkSport | 893 | 801 | 776 | -3.1 | -13.1 |
| Hits Radio – 06:00-10:00am*** | Bauer | n/a | n/a | 623 | n/a | n/a |
| Kiss – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 757 | 467 | 547 | 17.1 | -27.7 |
| Planet Rock – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 513 | 411 | 452 | 10.0 | -11.9 |
| Times Radio – 06:00-10:00am | News Broadcasting | 276 | 292 | 304 | 4.1 | 10.1 |
| GB News Radio – 06:00-09:30am | GB News | 189 | 208 | 237 | 13.9 | 25.4 |
| Talk (formerly TalkRadio) – 06:00-09:30am | News Broadcasting | 337 | 274 | 235 | -14.2 | -30.3 |
* Station has changed time period
** Excludes Scotland
*** Excludes local breakfast services
| Station | Sales house | Ending Dec 23 | Ending Sep 24 | Ending Dec 24 | QoQ % ch | YoY % ch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart London – 06:30-10:00am | Global | 760 | 830 | 783 | -5.7 | 3.0 |
| LBC London – 07:00-10:00am | Global | 689 | 816 | 743 | -8.9 | 7.8 |
| Capital London – 06.00-10.00am | Global | 655 | 638 | 649 | 1.7 | -0.9 |
| Magic (London) – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 623 | 442 | 424 | -4.1 | -31.9 |
| Greatest Hits Radio (London) – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 396 | 382 | 397 | 3.9 | 0.3 |
| Capital Xtra (London) – 06:30-10:00am | Global | 240 | 240 | 332 | 38.3 | 38.3 |
| Smooth Radio London – 06:00-10:00am | Global | 355 | 361 | 315 | -12.7 | -11.3 |
| Hits Radio (London) (formerly Kiss London) – 06:00-10:00am | Bauer | 262 | 209 | 198 | -5.3 | -24.4 |
| Radio X London – 06:30-10:00am | Global | 232 | 177 | 182 | 2.8 | -21.6 |
| Gold Radio London – 07:00-11:00am | Global | 121 | 121 | 138 | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| LBC News (London) – 07:00-10:00am | Global | 163 | 139 | 110 | -20.9 | -32.5 |
| BBC Radio London – 06:00-10:00am | BBC | 172 | 136 | 108 | -20.6 | -37.2 |
