Fifth quarter of consecutive growth

Record reach, hours and share for Global

Global scores its biggest ever audience 29.2 million weekly listeners

Breaking through the 29 million listener mark for the first time

Highest ever hours of 281 million

Highest ever share of 26.9%

Nationally: 

Global has the top 3 commercial radio brands nationally for reach with Heart, Capital & Smooth 

Record-breaking audiences for Capital, Heart, Smooth, Radio X and Capital XTRA 

Heart celebrates another new record with 12.99 million weekly listeners

Capital brand celebrates record-breaking figures with 9.7 million listeners 

Smooth reaches a record-breaking 7.7 million listeners – Kate Garraway smashes the 3 million listener mark for the first time – Smooth re-overtakes Greatest Hits Radio

Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Siân Welby reaches a huge 2.96 million listeners

Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden is the UK’s largest commercial breakfast show  

A record for Radio X brand – 2.4 million weekly listeners 

In London, Global has the top 4 commercial stations for reach – Heart, Capital, LBC & Smooth  

In London, Global has the top 5 commercial stations for hours and share – LBC, Heart, Capital, Classic FM & Smooth

 The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global sees record-breaking figures with more than 1.8 million weekly listeners

 

Global has seen another consecutive quarter of growth, its fifth in a row, outperforming the commercial radio market and delivering its highest ever set of RAJAR figures (Quarter 3 2024, 24 June – 15 September), with a record-breaking 29.2 million people tuning in each week to Global’s brands with gains in reach, hours and share in both the last quarter and year-on-year. It is the first time Global has broken through the 29 million listener mark.

The most popular commercial radio group in the UK, Global has achieved its best-ever share of 26.9%, with listeners enjoying a record-breaking 281 million hours of radio from brands including Capital, Heart, LBC, Smooth, Radio X and Classic FM.

Here are some more key headlines:

GLOBAL

  • With a huge record-breaking 29.2 million listeners tuning in to Global’s radio brands each week, it is the number one commercial radio company in the UK.
  • Global has a new record share of 26.9%.
  • Hours are 281 million, cementing its position as the UK’s most popular commercial radio group.
  • Global has the UK’s biggest commercial radio brands with Heart, Capital and Smooth – numbers 1, 2 and 3 for reach.
  • In London, Global is the top four for reach (Heart, Capital, LBC and Smooth) and top five (LBC, Heart, Capital, Classic FM and Smooth) for hours and share.

HEART

  • Heart strengthens its position as the number one commercial radio brand as it celebrates a record-breaking score with more than 12.99 million weekly listeners, having added 1.6 million in the last year and increasing in reach, hours and share quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
  • The Heart brand has 4.8 million more listeners than Radio 1.
  • Heart Breakfast celebrates 4.2 million weekly listeners.
  • Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden host the biggest commercial radio show increasing their reach, hours and share in the last 12 months.
  • Heart 70s (853,000) and Heart 90s (1.3 million) have achieved their highest listening figures to date, increasing in reach, hours and share in the last quarter.

CAPITAL

  • The UK’s no.1 hit music brand reaches its highest ever number, a record-breaking 9.7 million weekly listeners adding 1.7 million listeners in the last year.
  • Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Siân Welby reaches a huge 2.96 million listeners. The show has added a massive 151,000 listeners in the last quarter and is up in all metrics – reach, hours and share.
  • Capital Dance has more than 1 million listeners tuning in every week and has increased in reach, hours and share year-on-year.
  • Capital XTRA, home to the biggest hip-hop and RnB, has smashed its previous record, now bringing in 2.2 million listeners across the UK every week. It has 1.4 million more listeners than the audience of BBC Radio 1Xtra and has increased in reach, hours and share year-on-year.
  • Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie has 584,000 listeners, increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.

SMOOTH

  • Smooth celebrates its highest ever audience figures, with a record 7.7 million people listening each week, adding 1.5 million in the past year. Its reach, hours and share have increased quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
  • Smooth’s Kate Garraway has her best-ever figures, reaching more than 3 million listeners each week – adding 486,000 in the past 12 months.
  • Smooth re-overtakes Greatest Hits Radio.
  • Smooth London celebrates its highest ever reach with 1.2 million weekly listeners.
  • Smooth Country also celebrates its highest ever figures, with a new weekly audience of 463,000.
  • Smooth Relax, which launched at the start of the year, has increased its audience to 542,000 weekly listeners.

LBC

  • In the general election period, LBC, the UK’s leading commercial news talk brand, has added 476,000 listeners in the past year, attracting 3.4 million people each week, and growing in reach, hours and share quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
  • From LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast to Iain Dale, every LBC weekday daytime programme has increased in reach, hours and share both on the quarter and the year.
  • LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast grows to reach 1.4 million listeners across the UK each week and is London’s number one commercial breakfast show in hours and share.
  • Five weekday shows on LBC celebrate their highest ever figures – James O’Brien achieves an incredible record of 1.5 million, Shelagh Fogarty (1.2 million), Tom Swarbrick (1.02 million), Andrew Marr’s agenda-setting, political power hour (621,000) and Iain Dale (711,000).
  • LBC News, the UK’s only rolling news radio station, reaches more than 1 million people – up 270,000 listeners in the past year – tuning in for the latest breaking news.

RADIO X

  • Radio X celebrates its highest ever weekly reach with more than 2.3 million listeners tuning in every week – 801,000 more than Virgin Radio – and up by 190,000 listeners year-on-year.
  • At breakfast on Radio X, The Chris Moyles Show reaches 1.1 million listeners every morning.

MORE FROM GLOBAL

  • Classic FM, the UK’s number one classical music station, reaches more than 4.4 million weekly listeners.
  • Gold Radio has a weekly audience of 1.8 million people.
  • Capital XTRA Reloaded celebrates a new record for weekly listeners for the sixth quarter in a row – it now brings in 670,000 listeners each week.
  • The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global is the UK’s biggest chart show and continues to grow with a record-breaking reach of 1.8 million listeners every week across Capital and Heart, adding 379,000 listeners in the last year, increasing in reach, hours and share.
  • For all radio, smart speaker listening remains at 17% of total listening (a 22% increase YoY). Smart speaker listening on commercial radio continues to grow, now at 21.5%, up from 17% in the previous year. Global Player, the official app for all of Global’s brands, allows listeners to enjoy both audio and video from its radio brands, as well as award-winning podcasts, and expertly-curated playlists, in one place in app, web and smart speakers.

“I’m incredibly proud of these audience numbers today, adding more listeners for a fifth survey in a row, increasing, growing and consolidating. I’m deeply grateful to the over 29 million listeners that tune in to one of our stations every week – it’s an achievement that’s fantastic news for the UK’s creative industries and UK plc. We never take this for granted.

Radio is thriving and Global is outperforming the market, as we keep a laser focus on our content, whilst also embracing technology at the core of our strategy, as people use smart speakers and apps, as well as traditional means, to get to the content they love, wherever and whenever they want it.

Our mission is to make everyone’s day brighter. Congratulations and thank you to everyone at Global and thank you to our listeners, it’s a privilege to have you with us.”
Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global

“What a result for Global! New records for Heart, Capital, Smooth and Radio X. I’m so proud of the most incredible team in radio, who’ve delivered these exceptional results alongside launching 14 new radio stations in the last month – another phenomenal achievement!”
James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global

Source

*RAJAR figures for 24 June 2024 – 15 September 2024 (Wks 26 – 37). All stations and groups results are reported on their specified reporting period and TSA (Total Survey Area).