Commercial radio in the United Kingdom has reached its highest-ever share of listening, now accounting for 55.7% of total radio consumption, according to Rajar’s Q2 2025 audience measurement results. This marks a widening gap between commercial broadcasters and the BBC, which now holds a 42.1% share.
Weekly reach for commercial stations stands at approximately 39.5 million, compared to 31.1 million for the BBC. Overall, radio listening remains high, with 86% of U.K. adults tuning in each week — though this figure is down slightly from the previous year.
Digital listening continues to rise, with online platforms now accounting for 29.3% of all radio listening — surpassing analog listening, which has dropped to 26.6%. Smart speakers also gained ground, accounting for 18.4% of total radio listening and 22.4% of listening across commercial stations.
Digital accessibility
Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton attributed the strong performance to the sector’s investment in digital accessibility. “Listeners can access their favorite stations on any platform, whether that’s via apps or smart speakers,” he said.
Among the commercial groups, Global reported a weekly reach of 27.5 million, up 1% year-on-year, with a market share of 25.1%. Bauer Media Audio UK recorded 21.5 million weekly listeners — down 5.2% year-on-year — and a 19.3% share.
BBC Radio 2 remains the U.K.’s most listened-to station, with 12.6 million weekly listeners, despite a slight year-on-year decline. BBC Radio 4 held steady at 9.2 million, while Radio 1 grew modestly to 7.5 million.
News and speech formats showed contrasting results. Times Radio reported 29% year-on-year growth to 616,000 weekly listeners, while Talk (formerly Talk Radio) fell 29% to 487,000.
Smart speaker use, platform algorithms and metadata continue to shape listener behavior, reinforcing the shift away from analog broadcasting and toward digital-first strategies across the industry.
You can see a snapshot of the Rajar Q2 2025 results here.
These stories might interest you
PPM rule change lifts U.S. AM/FM radio audiences
AM/FM still leads U.S. audio listening, but digital dominates overall
