Radio programming in the UK still reaches most adults every week, but the way audiences consume programmes is changing quickly. In Q3 2025, 50.1 million UK adults aged 15 and over reached their selected radio stations weekly, equal to 86% of the adult population. Listeners consumed 1.022 billion average weekly hours, and the average listener tuned in for 20.4 hours.
This article brings together the latest supplied figures on radio reach, broadcaster shares, network audiences, regional services, platforms and age-based audio habits. Measurement periods are stated throughout because Q1 2025, Q3 2025 and the 2024/25 audio year are not interchangeable.
Contents
- UK radio reach and listening volume
- BBC and commercial programming audiences
- Leading national networks
- BBC network and regional performance
- Platforms and digital distribution
- Formats, age groups and online audio
UK radio reach and listening volume
The Q3 2025 RAJAR release describes a medium with broad weekly penetration. Radio reached 50.1 million UK adults aged 15 and over each week, or 86% of that population. The same release recorded 1.022 billion average weekly hours of listening. Among people who listened, average usage was 20.4 hours per week. RAJAR DATA RELEASE | QUARTER 3 2025
The preceding Q1 2025 figures were similar, although not identical. Weekly reach was 87% of UK adults aged 15 and over, listeners averaged 20.5 hours per week, and total UK radio listening reached 1.027 billion weekly hours. These figures indicate a stable, high-volume listening market across the first three quarters of 2025, but they should be read as separate quarterly measurements rather than as a single annual total. Media Nations 2025 - UK Report
Digital reach was already substantial in Q3 2025. Radio via a digitally enabled platform reached 44 million UK adults aged 15 and over weekly. Digital radio itself reached 76% of the UK adult population each week. The figures describe reach, not the proportion of all listening hours, so they should not be directly compared with platform share percentages below. RAJAR DATA RELEASE | QUARTER 3 2025
BBC and commercial programming audiences
Commercial radio accounted for 54.9% of UK live-radio weekly hours in Q1 2025, while the BBC accounted for 43.1%. The same measurement assigned 24.7% of live-radio weekly hours to Global and 19.2% to Bauer. These are shares of live-radio hours for Q1 2025, not weekly audience reach. Media Nations 2025 - UK Report
The Q3 2025 RAJAR comparison used a slightly different presentation of listening-hour shares. All BBC Radio reached 30.930 million UK adults weekly, compared with 39.703 million for all commercial radio. BBC Radio held 41.7% of UK radio listening hours, while commercial radio held 56.0%.
Within commercial radio, national commercial services held 29.1% of UK radio listening hours and local commercial radio held 26.9%. The categories are useful for understanding the programming landscape: national services provide large-scale network output, while local services collectively represent a similarly significant share of listening hours. RAJAR DATA RELEASE Q3 2025 – October 23rd 2025
| Q3 2025 category | Weekly reach | Share of UK radio listening hours |
|---|---|---|
| All BBC Radio | 30.930 million | 41.7% |
| All commercial radio | 39.703 million | 56.0% |
| National commercial radio | Not supplied in this comparison | 29.1% |
| Local commercial radio | Not supplied in this comparison | 26.9% |
The table keeps reach and share separate because they measure different dimensions of audience performance. A service can reach many people who listen briefly, or fewer people who listen for longer; the supplied figures do not support converting one measure into the other.
Leading national networks
Q1 2025 network data shows how market share, listening time, platform use and listener age can vary between major services. BBC Radio 2 held a 13.5% UK market share. Its listeners averaged 10.6 hours per week, 38% of its listening occurred on DAB, and the average listener was 53 years old.
BBC Radio 4 held a 10.8% UK market share and its listeners averaged 11.9 hours per week. DAB accounted for 45% of Radio 4 listening, while the average listener was 60 years old. The comparison suggests distinct audience profiles between the two networks, but the supplied data does not provide a full format breakdown for either service.
Commercial networks also held substantial shares. Greatest Hits Radio had a 6.1% UK market share in Q1 2025, and Heart Network had a 5.9% share. These figures are network market shares for the stated quarter, not measures of the number of stations, programme hours or unique programmes carried by each network. Media Nations 2025 - UK Report
| Network | Q1 2025 UK market share | Average weekly listening | Average listener age | DAB share of listening |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Radio 2 | 13.5% | 10.6 hours | 53 | 38% |
| BBC Radio 4 | 10.8% | 11.9 hours | 60 | 45% |
| Greatest Hits Radio | 6.1% | Not supplied | Not supplied | Not supplied |
| Heart Network | 5.9% | Not supplied | Not supplied | Not supplied |
BBC network and regional performance
The Q3 2025 RAJAR quarterly summary gives network-level audience and listening-hour figures for BBC services. BBC Radio 1 reached 7.312 million UK adults weekly and generated 46.175 million total listening hours. BBC Radio 2 reached 12.789 million adults and generated 132.748 million hours.
BBC Radio 4, including 4 Extra, reached 9.190 million UK adults weekly and generated 111.269 million total listening hours. BBC Radio 5 live, including Sports Extra, reached 5.812 million adults. BBC 6 Music reached 2.735 million UK adults weekly. The summary does not supply a total-hours figure for these last two services in the listed facts, so no estimate is added here. QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF RADIO LISTENING
The same Q3 2025 half-year survey period recorded audiences for BBC regional and nations services in their measured populations. BBC Radio Scotland reached 793,000 adults weekly, BBC Radio Ulster reached 358,000, and BBC Radio Wales reached 290,000. These are not directly equivalent to the UK-wide adult figures above because the measurement population is service-specific and regional.
The distinction matters for broadcasting guides. A national network figure describes performance across the UK, while a nations service figure describes weekly reach in its measured population. The data supports reporting both, but not ranking them as though they used identical universes. QUARTERLY SUMMARY OF RADIO LISTENING
Platforms and digital distribution
Platform data from Q3 2025 shows that DAB was the largest route for UK radio listening, accounting for 42% of all radio listening hours. AM/FM accounted for 26%, smart speakers for 18%, website and app listening for 12%, and digital television for 2%.
In absolute terms, digital platforms carried 754 million UK radio listening hours in an average week. Within digital radio listening hours, DAB represented 56% and smart speakers represented 25%. These two percentages use a digital-radio denominator rather than all radio hours, so the denominators must remain explicit when comparing them with the all-radio platform shares. RAJAR DATA RELEASE | QUARTER 3 2025
The Q1 2025 platform figures provide another perspective: AM/FM and DAB/DAB+ sets together accounted for 69% of UK radio listening hours. Online listening rose from 22% of UK radio hours in Q1 2022 to 28% in Q1 2025. The change is reported across that measurement period; it is not a forecast of future online listening. Media Nations 2025 - UK Report
Formats, age groups and online audio
The 2024/25 audio-listening figures show a pronounced age difference in how weekly audio time is allocated. Live radio represented 55% of weekly audio listening time among UK adults aged 15 and over, but 27% among adults aged 15 to 34. Streamed music and podcasts together represented 30% among all adults aged 15 and over and 58% among those aged 15 to 34.
Live radio on a radio set fell by 21 percentage points in its share of weekly audio listening among all adults aged 15 and over between 2019 and 2024/25. Among 15-to-34-year-olds, the fall was 16 percentage points over the same period. These are changes in share of audio time, not claims that total radio hours fell by those percentages.
Online live radio represented 12% of weekly audio listening time among UK adults aged 15 and over in 2024/25. For adults aged 15 to 34, it represented 5%. That distinction shows why “digital” does not mean one uniform listening behaviour: digital radio reach and online live-radio share measure different aspects of consumption.
Taken together, the figures describe a mixed market. Radio retains weekly reach of 86% of UK adults in Q3 2025 and more than a billion average weekly hours, while DAB, apps, websites and smart speakers distribute an increasing portion of that activity. At the same time, younger adults devote a larger share of weekly audio time to streamed music and podcasts than to live radio. Media Nations 2025 - UK Report