Rajar Q2 2023: another record high for commercial audience reach and share

Global retained the top weekly reach and share of listening for all of its combined stations, which include Capital, LBC, Heart and Smooth. It reached 24.9 million weekly listeners, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%.

Bauer Media Audio network, which includes Absolute Radio, KISS, Magic and Greatest Hits Radio Network, reached 21.33 million weekly listeners, an increase of 9.2%.

BBC Radio 2 was still the biggest national station in terms of weekly reach, but this declined by 7.4% year-on-year, not helped by former presenter Ken Bruce leaving for Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio network.

As a whole, radio reached 88% of the UK population or 49.5 million people on a weekly basis.

Commercial radio marketing body Radiocentre’s client director Lucy Barrett said: “These numbers show that commercial radio is giving audiences exactly what they want to hear. The surge in commercial radio listening is also really good news for advertisers. The growth in online listening once again reminds us just how important the support for radio in the Media Bill is for the future of our sector.”