Audio broadcasting remains a mass-reach medium while listening increasingly spans DAB, online radio, smart speakers, music services and podcasts. In the UK, 93% of adults listened to some form of audio content each week in the 2025 Audio Survey, while live radio still represented 56% of average weekly audio listening time in the 2024/25 IPA TouchPoints measurement. The figures below show how reach, time spent, platforms, audiences and commercial activity fit together.
Contents
- Weekly audio reach and listening mix
- Online audio services and listener choices
- UK live radio reach, hours and platform shares
- Digital radio infrastructure and broadcaster platforms
- UK-wide station audiences and listener profiles
- Radio broadcasting revenues and international benchmarks
Weekly audio reach and listening mix
The broadest UK measure is weekly audio reach. The 2025 Audio Survey found that 93% of UK adults listened to some form of audio content each week. Among adults aged 16–34, weekly reach was higher, at 98%. That result describes participation in audio overall; it does not mean that every listener used live radio or the same service.
Music radio reached 62% of UK adults weekly in the same survey. Online music services were close behind, reaching 61%. These figures show that radio and online music were both mainstream weekly choices, with only a one-percentage-point difference in the reported adult reach measures. The survey categories should be read as separate reach indicators, rather than added together, because people can use multiple forms of audio.
Time spent presents a different picture from reach. In 2024/25 IPA TouchPoints data, live radio represented 56% of average UK weekly audio listening time. For adults aged 15–34, the live-radio share was 27%, while streamed music and podcasts together represented 58% of their weekly audio listening time. Across the average UK adult audience, streamed music and podcasts together represented 30% of weekly audio listening time.
The platform split within live radio is also significant. Radio listening on a radio set represented 44% of average UK weekly audio listening time, while online live radio represented 12%. Together, those two live-radio measures account for the reported 56% live-radio share. The comparison indicates that live radio remained substantial, but that its delivery included both traditional sets and connected listening.
Online audio services and listener choices
Among UK online-radio listeners, BBC Sounds was used by 46% each week in the 2025 Audio Survey. Global services were used by 35%. Individual service measures included Spotify at 29%, YouTube at 28% and Amazon Music at 28%.
These percentages describe weekly use among online-radio listeners, not the percentage of all UK adults. They also overlap: one listener may have used BBC Sounds, Spotify and YouTube during the same week. For that reason, the figures are best understood as a view of service choice and competitive reach rather than a market-share total.
The service figures also sit alongside the wider listening-time measures. Online music services reached 61% of UK adults weekly, but streamed music and podcasts together accounted for 30% of average weekly audio listening time across UK adults in the 2024/25 IPA TouchPoints data. Reach measures how many people used a category; time-share measures how much listening time it generated. They answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.
UK live radio reach, hours and platform shares
Live radio continued to reach most of the UK adult population. In Q1 2025, 87% of UK adults aged 15 and over reached live radio. UK radio listeners averaged 20.5 hours of listening per week, and UK radio generated 1.027 billion listening hours in an average week.
Commercial radio accounted for 54.9% of UK live-radio listening hours in Q1 2025. The BBC accounted for 43.1% of UK weekly radio listening hours across all platforms. These measures use different labels—commercial radio for live-radio hours and the BBC for weekly radio hours across all platforms—so they should be kept in their stated scope.
The named commercial groups also had substantial shares of weekly UK radio listening hours across all platforms. Global accounted for 24.7% and Bauer for 19.2% in Q1 2025. These are broadcaster-group shares, while the 54.9% commercial-radio figure describes the commercial sector as a whole.
The main platform shares were as follows:
| Listening platform | Share of UK radio listening hours, Q1 2025 |
|---|---|
| DAB | 42% |
| AM/FM | 27% |
| Online listening | 28% |
| Smart speakers alone | 18% |
The categories describe platform measures reported for Q1 2025 and should not be added into a single total. Smart-speaker listening is included within connected listening rather than being an additional mutually exclusive platform alongside every other category. The figures nevertheless show the scale of DAB and the continuing role of AM/FM, while online listening represented more than a quarter of radio listening hours.
Digital radio infrastructure and broadcaster platforms
As of March 2025, the UK had one BBC national DAB multiplex and one UK commercial Digital One DAB multiplex. It also had 58 local commercial DAB multiplexes. The BBC national DAB multiplex carried 11 services, while local commercial DAB multiplexes carried 651 services.
The contrast between the national and local service counts illustrates the breadth of local commercial digital radio infrastructure. The 651-service figure applies to local commercial DAB multiplexes as a group; it does not mean that every multiplex carried the same number of services.
Digital and connected listening also had distinct broadcaster shares in Q1 2025. Commercial radio’s DAB and smart-speaker listening share was 44.1%, compared with 40.6% for BBC Radio. These figures relate specifically to DAB and smart-speaker listening, rather than all UK radio listening hours.
Broadcaster expansion was visible in the number of new digital-only stations. Global and Bauer launched 28 digital-only radio stations in the five years before Q1 2025. The period is stated as the previous five years to Q1 2025, so the figure is a historical count for that window rather than a forecast of future launches.
UK-wide station audiences and listener profiles
UK-wide station market share and average weekly listening hours varied considerably in Q1 2025. BBC Radio 2 had a 13.5% UK-wide market share, and its listeners averaged 10.6 hours per week. BBC Radio 4 had a 10.8% market share, with listeners averaging 11.9 hours per week.
Among the commercial networks in the supplied Q1 2025 measures, Greatest Hits Radio had a 6.1% UK-wide market share and 8.7 average hours per listener per week. Heart Network had a 5.9% market share and 6.0 average hours. BBC Radio 1 had a 4.8% market share and 6.7 average hours.
| UK-wide station or network | Market share | Average listening per listener |
|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio 2 | 13.5% | 10.6 hours/week |
| BBC Radio 4 | 10.8% | 11.9 hours/week |
| Greatest Hits Radio | 6.1% | 8.7 hours/week |
| Heart Network | 5.9% | 6.0 hours/week |
| BBC Radio 1 | 4.8% | 6.7 hours/week |
Market share and time per listener measure different aspects of station performance. A higher market share indicates a larger share of the measured listening market, while average hours describe listening intensity among that station’s listeners. The table should not be used to infer total audience size, demographics or rankings beyond the supplied measures.
Radio broadcasting revenues and international benchmarks
Canadian data provides a revenue view of traditional and online audio broadcasting. Commercial traditional radio revenue in Canada was CAD 1,093.6 million in broadcast year 2024. Local advertising represented 66.8% of that commercial radio revenue, while English-language stations represented 77.7%.
The Canadian figures also show movement in online audio. Revenue for audio online undertakings increased 34% from broadcast year 2023 to 2024. The growth rate compares the two broadcast years and is not a projection beyond 2024.
Australia offers a different set of listening and advertising benchmarks. In 2024, 52% of people listened to FM radio and 20% listened to AM radio. Music-streaming use reached 73%, and Spotify was used by 48% of Australians for music streaming. Half of Australian adults listened to podcasts in 2024.
Age differences were pronounced in the Australian radio-content measures. Radio content reached 84% of Australians aged 75 and over in 2024, compared with 28% of Australians aged 18–24. These are age-specific reach figures for radio content, not estimates of total weekly audio listening across all formats.
The Australian advertising outlook is a forecast rather than a historical result. Advertising spending across all radio formats is forecast at about AUD 1.4 billion in 2028. Spending is forecast to be 23% higher in 2028 than in 2023, while radio-by-internet-or-app advertising spending is forecast to grow at least 12% annually through 2028. Because these figures are forecasts, actual spending may differ from the stated outlook.
The international comparisons use different currencies, geographies, populations, definitions and measurement periods. Canadian revenue is reported in Canadian dollars for broadcast year 2024; Australian listening measures refer to 2024; and the Australian advertising figures refer to a 2028 forecast against a 2023 baseline. They are useful as separate benchmarks for audio broadcasting, but they do not form a directly comparable global market total.