Commercial radio continues to lead the way with audiences

Commercial radio retained a majority share of listening in the fourth quarter of 2025, rising to 55.2% according to the latest RAJAR figures. This is up from 53.9% in the same quarter of 2024 and compares to 42.8% for the BBC. Commercial radio now reaches 8.5m more listeners than the BBC.

The figures show technology continues to change the way people listen. Online listening to all radio has reached a record high of 29.8%, now well ahead of AM/FM at 25.4%. For commercial radio, online listening accounts for a third of its listening hours at 33.1%, up from 31.1% in Q4 2024.

For all radio, smart speaker listening continues to grow year-on-year and now represents 18.5% of total listening, up from 16.1% in Q4 2024. For commercial radio, that share is even higher at 22.2% on smart speakers, up year-on-year from 18.8% and above its AM/FM listening share at 19.7%.

Time spent listening to commercial radio has also risen, with average hours at 14.2, which is up from 13.9 year-over-year.

Radiocentre’s CEO Matt Payton said:

“It’s great to see commercial radio’s share remaining strong again this quarter, with audiences tuning in for longer. It’s also encouraging to see record breaking numbers for online listening, reflecting the fact that listeners are increasingly choosing to access their favourite radio brands across multiple platforms.”