Rajar Q1 2026: Top Takeaways

Rajar Q1 2026

Commercial radio has retained its audience share lead over the BBC in Q1, according to the latest Rajar figures.

Despite a 0.9% decline from last quarter, commercial radio now accounts for 54.3% of total listening, compared to the BBC’s 43.4%.

The total UK radio audience remains high, reaching 87% of the UK population, or 50.6m listeners a week, up from 50m in the same period last year. Commercial radio now has 39.2m listeners, 7.91m more than the BBC.

“These figures highlight how radio continues to play an important role in the daily lives of millions, and how commercial broadcasters are innovating to ensure audiences can access their favourite content wherever they are,” commented Matt Payton, CEO of audio industry trade body Radiocentre.

“For advertisers, that means commercial radio can continue to offer huge reach and enhanced targeting within a trusted environment.”

Here are the other takeaways from the Q1 Rajar figures:

National brands see declines in weekly reach

Total weekly reach at both Global (-1.3%) and Bauer (-5.5%) stations declined year-on-year in Q1 2026.

The decline was also reported in many of the BBC’s national stations, including Radio 1 (-5%), Radio 2 (-4%), and Radio 4 (-2%), and at News Broadcasting, which saw its total portfolio decline by 7.8% year-on-year to 6.3m.

However, some outliers in commercial radio saw year-on-year growth, including Global’s LBC, which grew by 6% to reach its largest ever audience of 3.5m, as well as GB News, which grew 21% to reach 676,000. This could be correlated to the turbulent political climate in Q1, which saw the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran, further revelations around Peter Mandelson, and the arrest of Prince Andrew.

Simon Pitts, group CEO at Global, commented that he was “particularly pleased to see LBC deliver a record-breaking audience at a time when trusted news, analysis and live conversation matters so much.”

>> View the data: Weekly reach declines across national radio brands

Digital listening continues to dominate

Total digital listening now comprises more than three-quarters (76%) of overall listening by platform share.

Online listening to all radio has reached a new high of 30.4%, which is well ahead of AM/FM listening at 24%. Online listening also now accounts for a third of commercial radio’s listening hours, rising to 32.9% from 32.3% in the same period last year.

Listeners are continuing to turn to smart speakers to consume radio, with smart speakers accounting for 18.8% of total listening, up from 17.6% in Q1 2025.

For commercial radio listening via smart speakers, it’s even greater, with a share of listening now at 21.8%.

>> View the data: Online listening surpasses 30% platform share

KISS Breakfast grows despite presenter changes

The BBC continues to lead during the breakfast time slot in terms of weekly reach, despite marginal quarterly declines from Radio 2 and Radio 4, according to the latest Rajar figures.

Global’s Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda maintains its position as the top commercial breakfast programme, with quarterly growth of 0.9%.

Significantly, Bauer’s KISS Breakfast weekly listeners continued to grow despite a change of presenters at the start of February. It suggests a strong debut for Tyler West and Chloe Burrows, who replaced Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely in February after five and a half years. The show saw year-on-year growth of 7% and quarter-on-quarter growth of 12%, reaching 588,000 weekly listeners.

Gary Stein, director of audio at Bauer Media Audio UK, commented: “It’s great to see strong momentum for KISS this quarter following the launch of the new brand identity and refreshed lineup.

“We’ve been focused on building a station that feels energetic, relevant and genuinely connected to its audience, and these results are a really encouraging sign of that progress.”

>> View the data: KISS Breakfast reports growth as it undertakes rebrand