Rajar shows healthy U.K. radio

Rajar — the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the United Kingdom — has released audience figures for the first quarter of 2022 to April 3.

A brief snapshot of the figures shows that U.K. radio is healthy — 89% of the adult population tune in to live radio every week, for an average of 20 hours. Interestingly, most listen via a digitally enabled platform — either DAB, DTV, an app, smart speaker or online. DAB radio, specifically, enjoys solid market penetration — 66% of the population own, or have access to, a DAB receiver.

Uptake in smartphone listening has also grown, but mainly in listeners in the 25–44 age group.

One of the standout shifts in audience behavior is a broader embracing of talk format stations. For example, Times Radio, part of Wireless — News UK’s audio division — saw a 40% rise in listeners compared to Q4 2021. It now reaches a weekly audience of 703,000. Wireless stablemate Talkradio recorded a 20% rise in listeners.

Global’s talk format brand LBC also enjoyed growth in both its stations — LBC’s audience grew 5% to 2.7 million listeners, and LBC News by 20%, to breach 1 million listeners for the first time.

The BBC’s Radio 4 remains largely unchanged in its figures but still attracts the biggest audience for a talk format: 10,6 million.

You can see a summary infographic of the findings here.