Commercial radio innovation drives record audience share

Commercial radio has achieved a record share of listeners according to the latest RAJAR figures for the second quarter of 2025. The share is now at 55.7%, growing from 55% in the same period last year and compares to 42.1% for the BBC.

Reflecting evolving listener habits, the figures also reveal that radio listening online is at a record high of 29.3%, well ahead of analogue (AM/FM) listening at 26.6%. For commercial radio alone, online listening now accounts for a third of all listening at 32.9%, which is up from 32.3% in Q2 2024.

Smart speaker listening has also reached a record high with 18.4% of total listening, up from 17% year-on-year. Commercial radio continues to drive this growth with smart speaker listening now up to 22.4% compared to 20.8% in Q2 2024, and above AM/FM listening which is now down to 20.9%.

Meanwhile, commercial radio now has 8.4 million more listeners than the BBC, with 39.5 million people tuning in each week. Commercial radio’s average hours per listener have also seen an increase, up to 14.5 from 14.3 in Q2 2024.

Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton says:

“We’ve seen commercial radio’s share of listening grow consistently over the last few years and this new record is testament to the continued innovation and investment from our sector. Commercial broadcasters focus relentlessly on ensuring listeners can easily access their favourite stations on any platform, whether that’s via apps or smart speakers. At the same time, stations are delivering increasingly advanced and more sophisticated opportunities for advertisers to speak directly to their audiences.”