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Rajar Q3 2026: Radio 2 Breakfast grows as Heart Breakfast slips below 4m

Rajar Q3 2026: Radio 2 Breakfast grows as Heart Breakfast slips below 4m
Rajar Q3 2026
Top commercial breakfast programme Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda (Global) saw its weekly reach fall below 4m listeners in Q3 2026, according to the latest Rajar figures.
The show’s weekly reach declined 2% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, BBC Radio 2 Breakfast remains the leading programme in the breakfast slot, with weekly reach up 4% year-on-year and 1% quarter-on-quarter to 6.4m listeners. Sara Cox took over as host on 6 July, replacing Scott Mills, who was sacked from the BBC in March following allegations over his personal conduct.
Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio, Bauer’s biggest breakfast show, hosted by Simon ‘Rossie’ Ross, declined by 7% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter to 2.8m weekly listeners.
Hit’s Radio Breakfast, hosted by Fleur East, Will Best, and James Barr, recorded a steeper decline for Bauer, with weekly reach down 23% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter to 1.2m listeners.
Meanwhile, Bauer’s KISS Breakfast hosted by Tyler West and Chloe Burrows grew 29% year-on-year to 561,000, although reach fell 16% quarter-on-quarter. West and Burrows took over the show in February as part of a wider KISS rebrand.
Global’s Classic FM and Capital Network were flat year-on-year, but both recorded a marginal 1% decline quarter-on-quarter.
News UK’s talkSPORT recorded growth in breakfast listening, with weekly reach up 14% year-on-year and 10% quarter-on-quarter. The figures follow a summer of major sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup semi-finals and final in July.
Times Radio Breakfast grew 13% year-on-year to reach 333,000 listeners weekly, while Global’s LBC increased 4% to 1.4m listeners.
GB News’ breakfast show remained steady year-on-year but fell 18% on the quarter to 267,000 weekly listeners.
The results come amid political change, with Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister in July, and several scandals linked to Reform and the Green Party.
In London, most breakfast shows recorded year-on-year declines. Hits Radio (London) fell 33% to 104,000 weekly listeners, Radio X London dropped 31% to 154,000, and Greatest Hits Radio (London) declined 15% to 301,000.
Capital XTRA (London), Smooth Radio London and Magic (London) bucked the trend. Capital XTRA (London) saw the biggest increase, with weekly reach up 14% to 261,000; Smooth Radio London grew 8% to 347,000, while Magic (London) rose 5% to 437,000.
LBC London and Heart London remain the capital’s most popular breakfast shows, reaching 675,000 and 671,000 weekly listeners.
National Stations Breakfast Weekly Reach (000s)
Quarters ending September 2025, June 2026 and September 2026
Breakfast weekly reach (000s) % change
# Station Time slot Saleshouse Sep 25 Jun 26 Sep 26 YoY QoQ
1 BBC Radio 2 06.30 – 09.30am BBC 6,164 6,373 6,439 +4% +1%
2 BBC Radio 4 06.00 – 09.00am BBC 5,486 5,611 5,294 -3% -6%
3 Heart Network (UK) ** 06.30 – 10.00am Global 4,058 4,167 3,979 -2% -5%
4 BBC Radio 1 07.00 – 11.00am (Fri 07.00 – 10.30am) BBC 3,953 – 3,814 -4% –
5 Greatest Hits Radio 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 2,983 2,893 2,781 -7% -4%
6 Capital Network (UK) ** 06.00 – 10.00am Global 2,708 2,751 2,712 0% -1%
7 Smooth Radio Network (UK) 06.00 – 10.00am Global 2,427 2,323 2,283 -6% -2%
8 Absolute Radio Network 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 2,253 2,211 2,264 0% +2%
9 Classic FM 06.30 – 10.00am Global 1,910 1,931 1,917 0% -1%
10 talkSPORT 06.00 – 10.00am News Broadcasting 1,314 1,354 1,494 +14% +10%
11 BBC Radio 5 live 06.00 – 09.00am BBC 1,274 1,327 1,434 +13% +8%
12 LBC (UK) 07.00 – 10.00am Global 1,368 1,465 1,418 +4% -3%
13 BBC 6 Music 07.00 – 10.00am BBC 1,327 1,293 1,255 -5% -3%
14 Hits Radio 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 1,532 1,258 1,173 -23% -7%
15 Radio X Network (UK) 06.30 – 10.00am Global 1,018 1,046 969 -5% -7%
16 Magic 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 882 794 904 +2% +14%
17 BBC Radio 3 06.30 – 09.30am BBC 687 822 805 +17% -2%
18 Gold Radio UK 07.00 – 11.00am Global 802 741 771 -4% +4%
19 Virgin Radio Network 06.30 – 10.00am News Broadcasting 754 647 648 -14% 0%
20 Capital XTRA (UK) 06.30 – 10.00am Global 606 585 566 -7% -3%
21 KISS 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 436 668 561 +29% -16%
22 Planet Rock 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 502 458 523 +4% +14%
23 Times Radio 06.00 – 10.00am News Broadcasting 295 348 333 +13% -4%
24 GB News Radio 06.00 – 09.30am GB News 267 325 267 0% -18%
25 Talk (was TalkRadio) 06.00 – 10.00am News Broadcasting 282 289 254 -10% -12%
Source: RAJAR
Reach figures in 000s. Bold indicates the highest reach of the three periods shown per station; ** figures include co-located stations; “–” denotes not published for that period.

London Stations Breakfast Weekly Reach (000s)
Quarters ending September 2025, June 2026 and September 2026
Breakfast weekly reach (000s) % change
# Station Time slot Saleshouse Sep 25 Jun 26 Sep 26 YoY QoQ
1 LBC London 07.00 – 10.00am Global 709 744 675 -5% -9%
2 Heart London 06.30 – 10.00am Global 709 676 671 -5% -1%
3 Capital London 06.00 – 10.00am Global 577 669 556 -4% -17%
4 Magic (London) 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 417 372 437 +5% +17%
5 Smooth Radio London 06.00 – 10.00am Global 320 325 347 +8% +7%
6 Greatest Hits Radio (London) 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 355 269 301 -15% +12%
7 Capital XTRA (London) 06.30 – 10.00am Global 228 228 261 +14% +14%
8 LBC News (London) 06.00 – 10.00am Global 182 189 175 -4% -7%
9 Radio X London 06.30 – 10.00am Global 223 143 154 -31% +8%
10 Gold Radio London 07.00 – 11.00am Global 148 124 135 -9% +9%
11 BBC Radio London 06.00 – 10.00am BBC 124 181 131 +6% -28%
12 Hits Radio (London) 06.00 – 10.00am Bauer 156 167 104 -33% -38%
Source: RAJAR
Reach figures in 000s. Bold indicates the highest reach of the three periods shown per station.

 

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