The most popular radio stations in the UK
We delve into the RAJAR listening figures to give the biggest British radio stations and brands.
The figures below, however, also include radio station brands: we're treating "Heart" or "Kiss" as one station here, rather than each individual local radio service. This gives a clearer view of the popularity of station brands.
These figures are based on RAJAR ending March 2013.
The top 10 radio stations with the most listeners
Normally, when people ask for the most popular radio station, they mean the one with the most amount of listeners. This will always give national or London stations as a result, and ignore smaller, local radio stations - even though, in many areas, the most popular station is a local one.1. BBC Radio 2 (15.3m listeners every week)
2. BBC Radio 4* (10.8m)
3. BBC Radio 1 (10.3m)
4. Heart (7.2m)
5. Capital (6.9m)
6. BBC Radio 5 live* (6.4m)
7. Classic FM (5.6m)
8. Kiss (4.1m)
9. Smooth Radio* (3.6m)
10. Magic (3.5m)
In terms of individual radio stations, we list all UK stations in order of total listener numbers, total time spent listening, and market share.
The top 10 radio owners with the most listeners
It's also important to look at radio owners, since they have the market in commercial terms.1. BBC national radio (31.9m listeners every week)
2. Global Radio (19.3m)
3. Bauer Media (13.7m)
4. BBC local/regional radio (9.5m)
5. Real and Smooth Ltd(5.6m)
6. UTV Radio (4.2m)
7. TIML Radio (Absolute Radio) (3.3m)
8. BBC World Service (1.3m)
9. Orion Media (1.1m)
10. Lincs FM Group (632,000)
At the time of writing this, Global Radio and Real & Smooth Ltd were both owned by Global Radio. The merger is subject to competition rules. Bauer Media's figures are not thought to include Planet Rock.
The top 10 radio stations with the highest amount of listeners in their area
If you want to look at popularity based on how many people listen in their area (and thus, take on board local radio stations as well as national), then the 'reach percent' is the best figure to examine. This shows you people who've listened for at least five minutes a week, and takes no account of whether they listen any longer than that.This data returns shortly.
The top 10 radio stations with the highest listening share in their area
The share of listening in a station's broadcast area is normally the best way of monitoring how popular a radio station is. This makes it easier to work out how popular the station's entire broadcasting output is, in comparison to others in its area.This data returns shortly.
Note: figures here for BBC Radio 5 live also include BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra; BBC Radio 4's figures include BBC Radio 4 LW; and Smooth Radio also includes Smooth 70s. Moray Firth Radio and Manx Radio also includes their part-time opt-out services on AM.
7 comments
Philip, stations play what people want to hear, and they know they want to hear it by forcing them to hear it.
Completely agree to Davids comment. Radio stations can only air because of local community ratings. When I’m tired of local radio stuff I play Pandora radio in my car. Listening to the same stuff over and over becomes saturating so it’s best to mix it up.
For something a little different try soundartradio.org.uk or locally on 102.5 FM…..we agree with you philip…..there are so many middle of the road bland radio stations….we offer a difference…Enjoy.
Radio is, sadly, predominantly bland and unadventurous, with small playlists, treating listeners as idiots. There are loads of great new radio stations, mainly on the Internet, and we’re doing great things at www.uksounds.com – even playing music off vinyl (shock!) which never made it to CD or download. There have been millions of tracks recorded in the last century, lets find ‘em and hear ‘em…...
Radio should be about having fun and enjoyment too many people seem to forget that the big stations and ofcom don’t want to see the little stations rise i think it should be easier to obtain licences but ofcom seem to have licence rounds which you have to wait to come round www.ravedance.net
ofcom don’t want to see the little stations rise
Any evidence for this assertion?
And why are you so cowardly you don’t post here under your real name, like we repeatedly ask you to?
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i am fed up with hearing the same music and vocalist from morning til night,over and over again for weeks,months even.there are millions of recording by hundreds of singers and bands,but we are fed this repetitive stuff,all the time.do you get paid by recording companies to push this music to serll cds.