RAJAR Q1/2026
Reaping the benefits of focus
Every quarter, the UK radio ratings come out from RAJAR and we get a new snapshot of how the sector is doing. In our strongly consolidated sector there isn’t one giant dramatic change, but many smaller shifts that perhaps point in the same direction.
Radio is still in pretty rude health. All Radio reach has gone back up to 50.6m listeners, or 87% of the population. That’s up from 50.0m last quarter and 50.1m a year ago. For a medium that’s constantly being told it’s being eaten by Spotify, TikTok, podcasts and everything else, 87% weekly reach is not a bad place to be.
The hours story is a bit different. Total listening is now 1.007bn hours, down from 1.015bn last quarter and 1.027bn a year ago. That’s not a collapse, but it is a continued drift. The industry is still reaching almost everyone, but people are listening a little less.
I think that’s the context for most of the stories this quarter. Radio isn’t disappearing. It’s becoming more selective. The stations that are doing best tend to be the ones with a clear job to do.
this edition of the newsletter is supported by radio experts - a sound perspective - who help agencies and their clients plan, buy and create successful radio and audio campaigns that put them ahead of the pack. find out more at radioexperts.co.uk
The BBC joins the brand party
One of the more interesting changes this time round is the introduction of BBC Radio 1 Brand and BBC Radio 3 Brand.
Commercial radio has been doing this for years. You don’t really just buy Heart anymore, you buy the Heart network, with impacts coming from Heart 80s, Heart 90s, Heart Dance, Heart Musicals and the rest. The same is true for Capital, Smooth, Absolute, Hits and Greatest Hits.
The BBC has got there too, though only after significant regulatory battles and the inevitable rows with commercial operators about whether the BBC should be launching more spin-off services at all.
For Radio 1, the new brand figure brings together Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1 Anthems. It’s a pretty important distinction. Radio 1 itself is now at 7.0m listeners, down from 7.4m a year ago and slightly down on last quarter. Its hours are down too, from 49.4m a year ago to 44.9m now.
But the new Radio 1 Brand figure is 7.4m listeners and 48.5m hours. That doesn’t make the long-term Radio 1 challenge vanish, but it does show why the spin-offs matter. Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1 Anthems add reach (437k and 417k respectively) and, just as importantly, give listeners more reasons to stay inside the BBC’s Radio 1 universe.
Radio 1 Dance gives the BBC a way of serving a more playlist-driven, streaming-native audience. Radio 1 Anthems solves a different problem: what happens when people still like the idea of Radio 1, but don’t necessarily want current hits all day? Commercial radio has known the answer for a while. You give them nostalgia.
Radio 3’s story is a bit different. The main station has had a good quarter. Reach is up from 1.91m last quarter to 2.06m, and hours have risen from 14.3m to 16.1m. Year on year, reach is still slightly down, though 2.15m was a bumper quarter, but hours are up.
That rather sums up the Radio 3 problem. It has a loyal audience, and it can generate decent listening, but it’s not always the easiest mothership to get new listeners into.
Radio 3 Unwind gives it an easier on-ramp. It reaches 388k listeners and delivers 2.3m hours. It’s not really trying to be Radio 3 proper. It’s simpler, calmer and more functional. It’s the sort of station someone can understand immediately. That matters.
The Radio 3 Brand now has 2.2m listeners and 17.4m hours. For the BBC, that’s a useful way of showing the wider value of the Radio 3 idea, not just the performance of the main station.
Comfort, nostalgia and usefulness
Sticking with classical, Classic FM Calm is a proper growth story. It’s gone from 290k listeners a year ago to 386k now, with hours up from 1.76m to 2.41m. That’s a 33% increase in reach and a 37% increase in hours year on year. It’s also up strongly quarter on quarter.
Smooth Relax is also doing well. It’s reach is up from 337k a year ago to 513k now, with hours more than doubling from 1.18m to 2.46m. Smooth 80s is another strong one, with reach nudging up to 617k and hours rising from 1.96m to 3.0m year on year.
But it’s not the case that every calm, chill or comfort station is flying. Smooth Chill is down year on year, from 511k listeners to 395k, and its hours are down too, from 2.15m to 1.68m. Smooth Country has also softened year on year, from 411k to 375k reach, with hours down from 2.29m to 1.83m. Smooth 70s has bounced back quarter on quarter, but is still below where it was a year ago.
So the better argument isn’t “all mood stations are booming”. It’s that stations with a very clear, useful role are the ones that cut through.
The same is true in nostalgia. Capital Anthems is one of the strongest performers in the book. It’s grown from 399k reach a year ago to 626k now. Hours have doubled from 859k to 1.73m. It’s also up quarter on quarter, which makes it a very clean success story.
Kisstory is more complicated, but still interesting. Its reach is down year on year, from 2.04m to 1.82m, but hours are up from 7.13m to 8.48m. Quarter on quarter, it’s had a very good book: reach up 6%, hours up 33%, and share moving from 0.6% to 0.8%.
That’s a useful reminder that reach doesn’t tell the whole story. You can have fewer listeners and still have a stronger station if the people who remain are listening more.
The youth problem is still there
The flip side is that some broader contemporary hit-radio propositions look under pressure.
Radio 1, as mentioned, is down in reach and hours year on year. Capital Brand is down in reach too, from 9.45m a year ago to 8.80m now. It’s also down quarter on quarter from 9.25m. Its hours are up year on year, but down on the last quarter.
Hits Radio Network has a more difficult story. Reach is down from 7.10m a year ago to 6.54m now, and hours are down from 46.1m to 39.0m. It’s also down quarter on quarter.
It’s not that younger audiences have vanished. KISS itself has had a decent quarter, with reach back up to 1.48m and hours up to 6.19m. They will be hoping this bodes well for their recent re-launch. Kisstory’s hours are strong too. But broad contemporary radio has a harder job now. If you want new music, there are endless on-demand places to get it. A linear music station needs more than just hits.
That’s why the nostalgia and spin-off stations matter. They’re not just extra inventory. They’re increasingly where some of the emotional connection sits.
LBC keeps climbing
LBC remains one of the cleaner speech-radio stories.
The core station is up from 2.64m listeners a year ago to 2.87m now. It’s also up quarter on quarter, from 2.78m. Hours are broadly steady, sitting at 27.8m, but the reach growth is impressive.
This was a relatively calm political quarter too. No doubt the next one may benefit from the latest Westminster psychodrama about whether a Prime Minister will be ousted before breakfast, but this book came from calmer seas.
LBC News continues to be a solid performer. It’s up a little from 1.01m listeners a year ago to 1.08m now, with hours up from 2.79m to 2.99m.
The speech radio rankings are interesting. LBC is now firmly ahead of the newer speech challengers. GB News Radio has 676k listeners, Times Radio has 604k, and Talk has 561k. Times will be pleased to be back above Talk, though GB News staying ahead of Times remains notable.
BBC Local Radio: turning a corner?
There are also tentative signs that BBC Local Radio may have found some firmer ground after several bruising years of cuts, schedule changes and audience disruption.
BBC Local Radio in England is up quarter on quarter, from 4.62m listeners to 4.76m. That’s still slightly down on the 4.78m it had a year ago, and hours remain under pressure, falling from 30.9m a year ago to 30.0m now. So this isn’t a full recovery story yet.
But there are some encouraging local numbers.
BBC Radio London each is up from 429k a year ago to 509k now, with hours rising from 1.17m to 1.50m. Quarter on quarter, its hours are up 72%.
BBC Radio Leicester has also had a strong book. Reach has grown from 80k last quarter to 110k, while hours are up from 500k to 721k. Year on year, hours are up 62%.
BBC Three Counties Radio is another good reach story, growing from 107k listeners a year ago to 143k now. Its hours are down on last quarter, but still up on the year.
BBC Radio Nottingham is worth mentioning too, though with a caveat. It’s up quarter on quarter, from 96k to 111k listeners, and hours are up from 500k to 576k. But it remains down on where it was a year ago.
That probably sums up BBC Local Radio as a whole. It isn’t fixed, but it does at least have a few more positive things to point to.
Hours heft
The other recurring pattern this quarter is the difference between reach and hours.
Some stations are losing casual reach but holding on to listening. Others are growing reach but not really hours. The important thing is to look at both.
Greatest Hits is a good example of the gap between reach and loyalty. The Greatest Hits Network (main station plus spin offs) is down in reach from 7.51m a year ago to 6.78m now, a fall of around 10%. But hours have held up much better, moving from 66.7m to 64.0m, down just 4%, and share remains at 6.3%. The main Greatest Hits Radio service shows the same pattern more sharply: reach is down from 7.14m to 5.74m year-on-year, but hours have fallen less dramatically, from 62.5m to 54.8m. Fewer people are sampling it, but the remaining audience is still delivering serious weight.
Boom Radio remains extraordinary for its size. It has 636k listeners but generates 9.31m hours. That’s more hours than a lot of bigger, better-known stations. It’s down in reach year on year, but hours are only slightly down on last year and up on last quarter.
Absolute 80s is another useful example. Reach is down year on year, from 1.52m to 1.45m, but hours are up from 7.03m to 8.18m. Absolute Radio 00s is even stronger on hours, more than doubling year on year to 2.03m.
This is why the best-performing stations now aren’t always the biggest or the broadest. They’re the ones that give people a clear reason to come back and stay.
And perhaps that’s the broader theme running through these figures. The stations performing best are not always the broadest, or even the newest. They’re the ones with the clearest sense of purpose. Radio may be fragmenting, but listeners are still rewarding stations that know exactly what role they play in people’s lives.
Thanks to Hallett Arendt for Octagon, which allows me to easily analyse all the RAJAR data - and it can help you too!
AOB
Adam Bowie always does a great RAJAR post and Radio Today will have all the numbers and the spin from the groups.
Do follow my podcast - The Media Club - for a weekly dose of media chat. On this Friday’s show Tim Burrowes is here to tell us what’s happening in Australia with Kyle and Jackie O plus there’s a catch-up with Persephonica’s Dino Sofos too.