According to the latest RAJAR figures for the period 29 June to 20 September 2026, the BBC remains the UK\u2019s number one radio brand, with 31 million weekly listeners and an audience share of 42%.<\/p>\n
BBC Sounds audiences recorded 801 million plays (July – September 2026) with audiences spending 423 million hours listening to radio, podcasts and music on the platform, up 70% year-on-year.*<\/p>\n
Following the launch of presenter Sara Cox\u2019s new Radio 2 Breakfast Show in the second week of the quarter, and Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling rounding off the long hot summer, Radio 2 remains the UK\u2019s most listened to single radio station with 12.7 million weekly listeners, seeing a 2% increase on the last quarter and a 4% yearly uplift for the new Breakfast Show. Vernon Kay continues to have the biggest show in the UK and has increased his listeners to 6.8m. The network also welcomed a new Saturday night schedule, including Sounds of the 80s and Dance Sounds of the 90s.<\/p>\n
The BBC Proms continues to deliver huge audiences with an ever-increasing appetite for classical music, with BBC Radio 3 seeing an increase of 9% on last year, reaching 2 million listeners. Radio 3 Unwind reached 382k with its schedule of specially curated programmes, with a focus on soothing and reflective music.<\/p>\n
A strong quarter for BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, led by major political news stories, world-class sport and Rick Edwards’ reporting from America during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, saw the programme reach over 1.4 million listeners, up 8% on the quarter and 13% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
BBC Radio 4 continues to be the UK\u2019s most popular speech radio network with a weekly reach of 8.7 million listeners and a 12 month average of 9 million. The Today programme reached 5.5 million (Mon-Sat), while average listening to Radio 4 increased to more than 12 hours per listener each week. Alongside its live audience, Radio 4\u2019s programmes continue to attract some of the biggest audiences on BBC Sounds. The Archers remains the most popular on demand radio programme for all ages and listeners under 35, while Today also ranks in the top ten for both audiences.<\/p>\n
On BBC Radio 1, Greg James continues to lead with the number one Breakfast Show for young listeners with 4.1m (10+) tuning in this quarter. Radio 1 has a stable total brand reach of 8.2m listeners aged 10 and over (7.6m 15+), from 8.2m last quarter with Radio 1 Dance reaching 702k 10+ (645k 15+), and Radio 1 Anthems continuing to grow significantly reaching 701k 10+ (630k 15+) up from 623k last quarter, and from 433k the quarter before that. Radio 1 had an increased reach of 7.6m 10+ (7.0m 15+), up from 7.4m last quarter.<\/p>\n
BBC Chief Content Officer, Kate Philips says: \u201cThese results underline the strength of BBC Radio, which continues to bring audiences together through outstanding live events, trusted journalism and world-class music. I\u2019m delighted for Sara Cox and the Radio 2 Breakfast team, who have grown audiences since the launch of the new show, while Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling helped boost listening in Scotland by 11%. Audiences spent 423 million hours with radio, podcasts and music on BBC Sounds, demonstrating the continued value of our content across live and on-demand listening. From another exceptional Proms season to Radio 5 Live Breakfast\u2019s World Cup-driven growth, it\u2019s been a hugely successful summer across our networks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
RAJARS \u2013 live listening in Q3 2026<\/p>\n
In this quarter, 31m people listened to the BBC\u2019s unrivalled programming across its radio stations, with a share of 41.9%<\/p>\n
BBC Radio 1 has 7.6m 10+ listeners and Greg James has 4.1m (10+) listeners for Radio 1\u2019s Breakfast Show.
\nBBC Radio 2 has an audience of 12.7m and the\u00a0Sara Cox Breakfast Show has 6.4m listeners. Vernon Kay continues to have the biggest show in the UK with 6.8m listeners.
\nBBC Radio 3 has 2m listeners and Radio 3 Breakfast reaches 805k listeners
\nBBC Radio 4 has an audience of 8.7m listeners with 5.5m tuning in for the Today programme (Mon-Sat)
\nBBC Radio 4 Extra has 1.4m listeners
\nBBC Radio 5 Live reaches 5.3m listeners with 1.4m tuning in for the Breakfast Show
\nBBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra has 1.3m listeners
\nBBC Radio 6 Music has 2.6m listeners and 6 Music Breakfast with Nick Grimshaw has 1.3m listeners. 6M is UK\u2019s most listened-to digital-only radio station.
\nBBC Radio 1Xtra has 774k listeners and BBC Asian Network has 613k
\nBBC World Service (UK) has 1m listeners a week
\nBBC Nations radio and BBC Local Radio in England has a combined audience of 6.5m listeners<\/p>\n
BBC Sounds: July – September 2026<\/p>\n
The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked helps drive a weekly BBC audio audience of 6.3 million<\/p>\n
BBC Sounds attracted an average of 4.7 million weekly users during the quarter, with 10.7 million accounts accessing the platform. Across BBC audio, including BBC Sport, BBC News, BBC Bitesize and visualised podcasts on iPlayer, the weekly audience averaged 5.2 million and peaked at 6.3 million during the week beginning 28th September, coinciding with the return of The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked.<\/p>\n
Between July and September 2026, there were 801 million plays of content on BBC Sounds, with audiences spending 423 million hours listening to radio, podcasts and music on the platform, up 70% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
*Changes to listening figures, particularly for live radio, reflect improved measurement of listening behaviour on Alexa devices.<\/p>\n
Beyond BBC platforms, BBC podcasts and radio programmes recorded 199 million global downloads between July and September. Audiences also continued to discover BBC audio content through social media generating 1.63 billion video views, an increase of 28% quarter on quarter.<\/p>\n
The Archers remained the most popular on-demand radio programme overall and for listeners under 35, driven by major storylines including Fallon and Harrison’s separation, the mystery surrounding the Home Farm sheep attacks and tensions surrounding the Ambridge f\u00eate.<\/p>\n
The Today programme also ranked among the ten most popular on demand radio programmes overall and among listeners under 35, during a busy news quarter featuring major developments, in-depth analysis and high-profile interviews.<\/p>\n
Audiences continued to turn to the BBC\u2019s trusted news analysis, with Newscast the most popular podcast on BBC Sounds for both all ages and listeners under 35. With the race towards November’s US midterm elections intensifying and political debate in Washington dominating headlines, Americast performed strongly across all age groups.<\/p>\n
Newscast also remained the BBC’s most downloaded podcast globally on third party platforms. The Global News Podcast ranked second, followed by The Archers and Desert Island Discs.<\/p>\n
Following the release of series three of Central Intelligence starring Kim Cattrall, Kelsey Grammer and David Duchovny. Limelight, Radio 4’s drama anthology podcast, ranked as the second most popular podcast on BBC Sounds,<\/p>\n
Other strong performers included The History Podcast, which returned for a new series of Invisible Hands with David Dimbleby and was among the most listened to podcasts for all ages and younger listeners, and Radio 4’s narrative investigative strand Intrigue, which delivered two major series during the quarter: Lockerbie and A 9\/11 Story.<\/p>\n
Festival season and a summer of music provided a backdrop to strong performances from Radio 1, whose shows accounted for all ten on demand radio programmes with the highest proportion of listeners under 35.<\/p>\n
With the World Cup followed by the return of the domestic season, Football Daily ranked sixth among under 35 year olds on BBC Sounds, and fifth among BBC podcasts globally off-platform. Club podcasts including Portsmouth FC, Bradford City AFC, Carlisle United, Derby County and Southampton FC helped drive younger listeners to the platform with some of the highest proportions of listeners under 35.<\/p>\n
Podcast acquisitions continued to perform strongly, led once again by Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. Elis James and John Robins ranked second, while The Rest Is History placed third.<\/p>\n
The enduringly popular Sleeping Forecast topped the Music Mixes chart once again, with music mixes generating 1.3 million plays on BBC Sounds overall during the quarter. Following the success of Radio 2 in the Park in Stirling in September, Radio 2 Unwinds with Angela Griffin ranked as the second most-played music mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n
BBC Sounds Q3 Report 2026<\/p>\n
PS<\/p>\n
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