Weekly listening increases by a tenth in past decade

Weekly audio listening hours has increased by over a tenth (11%) in the last decade, from 25 hours and 24 minutes to 28 hours and six minutes. This reflects the growing popularity of audio and the digitalisation of the industry since 2015.

That’s one takeaway from Rajar’s Audio Time: What the Rajar Midas Survey Tells us About Listening in the Digital Age. It offers insights into listening time and behaviour for live radio, catch-up radio, on-demand music services, podcasts, audiobooks and owned music.

The report is an update on Rajar’s Audio Time: A State of the Nation in 2015.

Rajar’s latest study found that the number of people who listen to some form of audio-only media across an average week has remained constant over the past 10 years at 98%.

However, the devices and services people use to consume audio has diversified and, with it, opportunities for advertisers.

Audio usage and reach changes

Live radio remains strong — according to the report, it makes up almost two-thirds (65%) of all audio consumption in the UK.

It also reached 87% of the population, equating to over 51m adults across the week, compared with 89% (48m of a smaller population) in 2015.

The biggest shift in audio usage over the past decade lies in the shift from owning music to streaming it.

Owned music now has a 6% share of audio time and reaches 23% of the population, compared with 52% in 2015.

On-demand music services, such as Spotify and Apple Music, now make up 16% of audio time and reach 38% of the population, up from 12% a decade earlier.

This demonstrates the impact that the digitalisation of audio has had on owned media, with access through streaming services replacing ownership.

Radio goes digital

In 2015, 86% of all live radio listening was through a physical radio set, with AM/FM accounting for 52% of listening.

The picture looks very different in 2025, with DAB now responsible for 48% of live radio listening and AM/FM dropping to 19%.

Notably, another third of the population listen to live radio on some form of connected device, such as voice-activated smart speakers, with these delivering 15% of all live radio listening this year.

At the time of Rajar’s first Audio Time report, smart speakers had just hit the UK market. Since then, 49% of UK homes now have one, suggesting the major role this device has had in driving live radio audio consumption.

Growth of commercial audience

Commercial audio now reaches over three-quarters (76%) of UK adults each week, according to the study, meaning the so-called “commercial-available audience” has expanded.

Rajar’s report defined commercial audio as live and catch-up radio with advertising, on-demand music services that have an ad-funded tier and listeners to non-BBC podcasts that feature (or could feature) advertising.

The growth of commercial-available audience was driven by the increase in commercial radio’s share of listening from 44% in 2015 to 54% in 2025. This means a greater proportion of UK radio audiences can be reached by advertisers.

Commercial radio (live and catch-up) accounts for 81% of all commercially available hours.

Arguably, this highlights the advantage linear broadcast has over on-demand music with ad tiers, which made up a 5% share of commercial-available audio hours, or podcasts (excluding the BBC), which have a 13% share.

The report attributed this to advertising within linear broadcasts being “an organic part of the listener experience and is felt to be less intrusive.”

Podcasts go from strength to strength

One of the most defining audio listening shifts over the past decade has been the rise of podcasts, with the report finding podcasts weekly reach rising from 8% in 2015 to 25% in 2025. Additionally, 7% of all audio time is now spent with podcasts.

When Rajar published 2015’s Audio Time, podcasts were depicted as “niche” but promising.

Listening remains highest among the 25-54 age group. However, according to the report, podcast reach and listening are now more equal between genders than in 2015, while the over-55s have started to engage with podcasts more.