Rajar Q2 2025: Commercial audience share hits all-time high despite contractions in reach

Rajar Q2 2025

Commercial radio’s audience share grew relative to the BBC in Q2 to record all-time highs, according to the latest Rajar figures.

Commercial listening now accounts for 55.7% of total listening, compared to the BBC’s 42.1%.

However, total radio listening declined, now reaching 86% of adult Brits, down two percentage points from last year.

As a result, both Global and Bauer — the UK’s two largest audio broadcasters — saw modest quarter-on-quarter contractions in weekly reach across their total portfolios (-0.4% and -1.3%, respectively). However, Global notched year-on-year growth of 1% to 27.5m, compared to a -5.2% decline for Bauer to 21.5m.

Correspondingly, Global grew its share of listening to 25.1%, ahead of Bauer’s 19.3%.

Meanwhile, leading BBC stations Radio 2 (13%) and Radio 4 including 4 Extra (11.5%) both lost share of listening as weekly reach dropped -3.7% and -1.1%, respectively. Radio 1, in contrast, grew weekly listeners 1.2% to 7.5m, maintaining a 4.8% share of listening.

Several Bauer brands posted double-digit year-on-year declines in weekly reach, including Greatest Hits Radio (-11.5% to 6.6m), Kiss Network (-10.7% to 3.6m) and Magic Network (-14.8% to 3.6m).

Global’s Smooth brand, meanwhile, led the conglomerate’s portfolio with 6.9% year-on-year growth in weekly reach to 7.7m.

News Broadcasting’s total network also posted a modest decline in weekly reach to 6.6m (-2.2% year on year).