BBC Radio remains the UK favourite as audiences enjoy an impressive summer of music and sport whilst BBC Sounds sees 8.5% yearly increase in plays across all content

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BBC Radio remains the UK favourite as audiences enjoy an impressive summer of music and sport whilst BBC Sounds sees 8.5% yearly increase in plays across all content

New figures from RAJAR and BBC Sounds show how audiences consumed audio content from the BBC during the third quarter of 2025, both live and on-demand.

According to the latest RAJAR figures for the period (23 June to 14 September 2025), the BBC is still the number one radio brand with 31m people tuning in each week for live output across BBC’s radio stations, with a share of 42%.

BBC Radio 2 continues to be the nation’s biggest single radio station and saw an increase in listeners this quarter with 12.8m tuning in (up 1.3%) as it brought audiences Radio 2 In the Park and hosted some of the world’s most loved musicians in the Piano Room. The BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presented by Scott Mills continues to be the UK’s biggest breakfast show with 6.2m listeners and Vernon Kay remains the UK’s most listened to radio show with 6.6m listeners, an increase of 32,000 listeners on the quarter.

Radio 6 Music remains the biggest digital only station in the UK and increased its listeners to 2.7m (up from 2.6m in Q2 2025) whilst the breakfast show hosted by Nick Grimshaw has a weekly audience of 1.3m.

BBC Radio 1 continues to be the biggest station for young listeners with 4.17 million (10+) listeners tuning in for Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James, from 4.15 million (10+) last quarter.

BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra had a strong quarter, fuelled by breaking news, global events, and standout sport. 5 Live Sports Extra’s audience grew by over half a million listeners – up 68% on the previous quarter – with fans flocking to Test Match Special for the dramatic England vs India Test series. The network also marked two major wins with its coverage of the England Women’s victory over Spain in the Euro 2025 final, and the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup, both covered extensively across 5 Live.

BBC Sounds data saw an impressive 8.5% yearly increase last quarter (July – September) with 675M plays across all content on the platform. Our world-class journalism and compelling storytelling from new titles such as Shadow World: The Grave Robbers and What’s Up Docs, as well as long running favourites including Newscast, You’re Dead To Me and Gangster helped contribute to a new record for podcast listening in this quarter.

For the first time, this quarter’s data also includes audio plays from across the BBC, including BBC Sport, BBC News, BBC Bitesize, and visualised podcasts on iPlayer, revealing an average weekly audience of 5.1 million, peaking at 5.4 million during the week of Europe’s historic win at the Ryder Cup.

BBC Radio 4 remains the UK’s leading speech radio station, reaching nearly 9 million listeners each week.

Kate Phillips, BBC Chief Content Officer, says: “As the UK’s number one radio brand, our stations continue to thrive and I’m proud that this quarter we’ve brought audiences together for a thrilling summer of sport and live music.

“The success of our digital strategy is clear to see with BBC Sounds continuing to grow and an impressive 8.5% yearly increase in plays. Alongside the launch of our new digital music radio stations, we continue to bring audiences our fantastic presenters and performers, world-class journalism, and consistently compelling storytelling, however and whenever they choose to listen.”

RAJARS – live listening in Q3 2025

BBC Radio 1 has an audience of 7.9m and the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James has an audience of 4.2m (10+)
BBC Radio 2 has an audience of 12.8m and The BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show hosted by Scott Mills has 6.2m listeners
BBC Radio 3 has 1.8m listeners
BBC Radio 4 has an audience of 8.9m listeners with 5.6m tuning in for the Today programme (Mon-Sat)
BBC Radio 5 Live reaches 5.4m listeners
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra has 1.4m listeners
BBC Radio 6 Music has 2.7m listeners. The 6 Music Breakfast Show hosted by Nick Grimshaw has a weekly audience of 1.3m
BBC Radio 1Xtra has 780k listeners, BBC Radio 4 Extra has 1.5m and BBC Asian Network has 570k
BBC World Service saw audiences rise to 1.1 million listeners a week – up on the previous quarter
BBC Nations radio and Local BBC Radio in England has a combined audience of 6.7m

BBC Sounds: July – September 2025

BBC Sounds data saw an impressive 8.5% yearly increase last quarter (July – September) with 675m plays across all content on the platform. There was an average weekly audience of 4.8m users across the mobile app, website, TV and voice-activated devices, with a peak of 4.9m during the week of 22nd September 2025, which saw

listeners get their Ryder Cup fix through a range of titles including Radio 5Live Sport: All About podcast, which extensively covered the 45th Edition.

For the first time, this quarter’s data includes audio plays from across the BBC, including BBC Sport, BBC News, BBC Bitesize, and visualised podcasts on iPlayer. This broader view revealed an average weekly audience of 5.1m, peaking at 5.4 million. Visualised podcasts continue to resonate with younger audiences, with Uncanny and Miss Me? ranking as the fourth and fifth most-played titles among listeners under-35 on BBC Sounds.

Major sporting events this summer including the UEFA Women’s Euros in Switzerland, the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA, Wimbledon, and the Tour de France helped drive listeners to a range of sports content on the platform through the newly launched Sports Streams, bringing content together from across BBC Sounds into curated playlists.

Momentum also grew for Local Sport Club Feeds, which offer post-match highlights and club-specific content, making it even easier to find all their local club’s content on BBC Sounds. The feeds proved especially popular with younger listeners, with Bradford City AFC (Radio Leeds), Carlisle United (Radio Cumbria), and Derby County (Radio Derby) all ranking among the top ten podcasts with the highest proportion of under-35 listeners.

Newscast was the most listened to podcast last quarter and the second most popular among under-35s, with younger audiences tuning into news as part of their daily habits. The most popular podcast with U35 was the enduringly popular You’re Dead to Me, the comedy podcast that takes history seriously.

Listeners caught up with their favourite Radio programmes BBC Sounds with The Archers, Whodunnits and Desert Island Discs among the top ten most listened to programmes.

Elis James and John Robins on BBC Radio 5 Live remained the most popular on-demand radio show for under-35s and won Gold for Comedy at the British Podcast Awards. Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James was the third most popular among younger audiences, while Radio 1 10s – featuring chart hits from the 2010s – had the highest percentage of under-35 listeners, tapping into nostalgia for the decade.

The BBC celebrated 23 wins at the British Podcast Awards, including 12 Gold Awards across genres from True Crime to Welsh Language and News & Current Affairs, as well two golds awarded to new voices emerging from BBC Sounds Audio Lab, whose work is now being recognised at the highest level.

The Sleeping Forecast retained its position as the most listened-to music mix, helping listeners unwind. BBC Sounds music mixes were played 2.4 million times last quarter.

In total, this quarter saw 212 million downloads of BBC Podcasts globally between July and October 2025. Global News Podcast placed in the number one spot on third-party platforms, with 6 Minute English and The Documentary Podcast remaining second and third respectively.

EDA