Contents
- Radio listening reach statistics: weekly audience reach in selected countries
- Radio listening reach statistics by age group in the UK
- Radio listening reach statistics for BBC and commercial audiences
- Radio listening reach by audio type and age group
- Radio listening reach and listening platforms in the UK
- radio listening reach: Radio audience reach measures and survey scope
- Sources
Radio listening reach statistics: weekly audience reach in selected countries
Weekly radio reach figures in selected countries range from 64% to 90% in the reported observations. Each estimate belongs to a particular national survey, fieldwork window and age base. That matters when reading the percentages together: they offer a snapshot of reported weekly listening, but the different populations and methods do not create a like-for-like international ranking.
| Country | Weekly reach | Population and period |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 78% | Age 14+; 2024 |
| United Kingdom | 88% | RAJAR MIDAS 2024; age base not stated in source note |
| Ireland | 90% | Age 15+; April–June 2024 |
| Netherlands | 90% | Age 13+; December 2024 |
| Italy | 84% | Age 14+; 2024 |
| France | 84% | Age 13+; September–October 2024 |
| Belgium | 86% | Age 13+; September 2023–August 2024 |
| Spain | 64% | EGM third wave 2024; age base not stated in source note |
| Portugal | 83% | Age 15+; January–December 2024 |
| Finland | 84% | Age 9+; January–November 2024 |
The highest printed percentages in this selection are Ireland and the Netherlands, both at 90%, while Spain’s reported figure is 64%. The age thresholds vary from 9+ in Finland to 15+ in Ireland and Portugal; the source note does not state an age base for the UK or Spain entries. The chart also draws on differing periods: Belgium’s window spans September 2023 to August 2024, while several other observations are tied to a 2024 survey or wave. These details should travel with the percentages when the figures are quoted. Source: World Radio Alliance, “Radio, the Audio Leader,” page 8
Radio listening reach statistics by age group in the UK
RAJAR’s Q4 2024 demographic tables provide commercial and BBC weekly reach percentages for the same age bands. The age rows are reported within the respective commercial and BBC demographic tables, and the child row is listed separately from the adult population total. The comparison shows different reported levels across age bands and between the two broadcaster groupings; it does not explain why those differences occur.
| Age group | Commercial radio weekly reach | BBC radio weekly reach |
|---|---|---|
| Children 10–14 | 62% | 35% |
| 15–24 | 64% | 39% |
| 25–44 | 72% | 47% |
| 45–64 | 75% | 61% |
| 65+ | 61% | Not included in checked observations |
Within the commercial series, the reported figure rises from 62% among children aged 10–14 to 75% among people aged 45–64, then is 61% among people aged 65 and over. For the BBC series, the checked observations are 35% for children aged 10–14, 39% for ages 15–24, 47% for ages 25–44 and 61% for ages 45–64. The 65+ BBC value is not included here because no checked figure was supplied for that row.
The tables also provide population and reach counts in thousands for several groups. For commercial radio, the 15–24 row has a population of 8,287 (‘000) and weekly reach of 5,302 (‘000); the 25–44 row has 18,634 (‘000) and 13,475 (‘000); and the 45–64 row has 17,513 (‘000) and 13,114 (‘000). For children aged 10–14, the corresponding commercial figures are a population of 4,101 (‘000) and reach of 2,535 (‘000). The BBC child row lists the same population, 4,101 (‘000), and a reach of 1,443 (‘000). These counts retain the report’s stated thousands unit. Source: RAJAR, Q4 2024 Quarterly Summary Figures, Part 6, page 32
Radio listening reach statistics for BBC and commercial audiences
For the UK adult audience aged 15 and over, RAJAR reported all-radio weekly reach of 87% in Q4 2024. BBC radio reached 55%, while commercial radio reached 69%. The report identifies the adult population base as 57,640,000 and includes the Channel Islands and Isle of Man in this scope.
| Q4 2024 audience measure | Weekly reach | Weekly reach (‘000) |
|---|---|---|
| All radio | 87% | 50,272 |
| All BBC Radio | 55% | Not included in checked observations |
| All Commercial Radio | 69% | Not included in checked observations |
| All BBC Network Radio | 50% | 29,089 |
| All National Commercial | 50% | 28,679 |
| All Local Commercial Radio (National TSA) | 48% | 27,434 |
These are distinct categories in RAJAR’s table. The 50% figure for BBC Network Radio and the 50% figure for National Commercial radio refer to those specific groupings, while all BBC Radio and all Commercial Radio have broader totals. Local Commercial Radio is labelled “National TSA” in the report. The checked reach counts for those three categories are preserved in thousands; the table does not supply a checked count here for the broader BBC and commercial rows.
RAJAR’s Q4 2025 summary gives weekly reach counts in thousands for the same adult audience scope, with a population of 58,246,000. All radio recorded 50,000 (‘000), BBC radio 30,904 (‘000), and BBC Network Radio 28,226 (‘000). These are counts in the report’s “Weekly Reach ‘000” column, not percentages. They are from a later quarter than the Q4 2024 percentages above, so they should not be treated as one same-period comparison or converted into percentages for this article. Sources: RAJAR, Q4 2024 Quarterly Summary Figures, Part 1, page 1; RAJAR, Q4 2025 Quarterly Summary, Part 1, page 1
Radio listening reach by audio type and age group
Ofcom’s 2025 Audio Survey reports average weekly reach for audio types among respondents. Across the all-respondent base of 3,484, music radio had 62% average weekly reach and speech radio had 36%. These are audio-type survey measures, not audience shares or time spent listening.
| Audio type or use | Group | Average weekly reach |
|---|---|---|
| Music radio | All respondents | 62% |
| Speech radio | All respondents | 36% |
| Music radio | Ages 16–34 | 54% |
| Music radio | Ages 35–54 | 66% |
| Music radio | Ages 55+ | 64% |
| Speech radio | Ages 55+ | 37% |
Music radio is the highest-listed radio type in each of the three age columns shown in Figure 2: 54% among respondents aged 16–34, 66% among those aged 35–54, and 64% among those aged 55 and over. In the oldest group, speech radio also appears among the top 3 audio types, at 37%. These age-specific percentages describe reach within each age group; the survey note gives the overall respondent base as 3,484.
The same Ofcom survey reports that 93% of respondents listened to some form of audio content each week. For respondents aged 16–34, that all-audio figure was 98%. The measure includes audio beyond radio, so it should not be read as radio reach. Weekly listening to CDs, vinyl records or cassette tapes was reported by 27% of respondents, another distinct audio measure. Source: Ofcom, “Audio Listening in the UK 2025,” pages 3 and Figure 1–2
Radio listening reach and listening platforms in the UK
Platform figures measure shares of radio listening hours, while service figures measure the percentage of people using a service weekly. Ofcom reports that AM/FM or digital radio sets accounted for 69% of all UK radio listening hours in the RAJAR context covered by its 2025 report. In Q1 2025, smart speakers accounted for 18% of listening hours and other online platforms for 11%. Taken together, smart speakers and other online devices accounted for 28% of listening hours that quarter, as stated in the report. The combined figure and its component categories are presented as platform shares, not reach percentages.
| Measure | Figure | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Radio sets | 69% | Share of all UK radio listening hours |
| Smart speakers | 18% | Share of UK radio listening hours in Q1 2025 |
| Other online platforms | 11% | Share of UK radio listening hours in Q1 2025 |
| Smart speakers plus other online devices | 28% | Combined share in Q1 2025 |
Ofcom’s weekly service-reach figures put YouTube at 47% of UK adults and Spotify at 36% in the 2025 Audio Survey. BBC Sounds reached 24% of all adults weekly. Its age-specific weekly reach was 22% among respondents aged 16–24 and 27% among those aged 25–34. These service figures help describe the wider audio environment in which radio is used, but they do not mean those services are radio stations or that their users were listening to radio during the measured period.
Ofcom also reports that smart speakers account for an 18% average across all locations, while laptops, smartphones and other online devices account for an 11% average across locations. For Q1 2025, the corresponding platform chart values are 18% and 11%. The 2025 report says the combined smart-speaker and other-online share rose from 22% in Q1 2022 to 28% in Q1 2025. This describes a change in the share of listening hours over those reported points; the figures alone do not establish a cause. Source: Ofcom, “Audio Listening in the UK 2025,” page 4 and Figures 3–5
radio listening reach: Radio audience reach measures and survey scope
“Reach” is not a single universal quantity. In the figures above, weekly reach generally indicates the percentage or number of people in a defined population who listened during a week. A listening-hours share instead allocates time spent with radio across platforms. A service’s weekly reach, such as BBC Sounds or YouTube, is also separate from the reach of radio as a whole. Keeping these denominators distinct is necessary to interpret the numbers without implying equivalence.
Ofcom’s Media Nations 2025 report says 87% of UK adults aged 15 and over tuned into radio in Q1 2025, for an average of 20.5 hours per week per listener. The report says weekly reach was down 1.7 percentage points year on year. This is a Q1 2025 measure and should not be combined with RAJAR’s Q4 2024 data as though both describe the same quarter. The 20.5 hours figure is an average among listeners, not all adults.
RAJAR’s Q4 2025 survey fieldwork ran from 15 September through 14 December 2025. Its back-cover survey-period table records 33,341 diaries; the accompanying note clarifies that this is a diary count, not a participant count. The unique sample for the same Q4 fieldwork period was 21,609. These describe the survey’s collection and sample, not audience reach estimates.
Other national figures illustrate why scope matters. NIQ’s RAM Wave 2 2025 reported that radio reached 93% of people aged 10 and over in Peninsular and East Malaysia each week, with 21.9 million people tuning in weekly. The fieldwork ran from 24 August to 4 October 2025. Malaysian radio listeners spent an average of 12 hours and 47 minutes with radio each week. In Canada, MTM’s Fall 2025 survey found that 72% of adults aged 18 and over reported listening to traditional radio. That Canadian result describes reported service use, not weekly reach, and is therefore not directly comparable to the weekly percentages elsewhere.
The country comparisons in this article also depend on survey sources and age bases printed in the World Radio Alliance compilation. The listed national observations span different age thresholds and fieldwork windows. RAJAR’s UK totals define adults as 15 and over, while Ofcom’s audio survey includes a broader set of audio types and reports respondent bases. Reading each percentage alongside its population, period and measure gives the most faithful account of radio listening reach. Sources: Ofcom, “Media Nations 2025: UK Report,” page 79; RAJAR, Q4 2025 Quarterly Summary, page 34; NIQ, “Radio reaches 93% of Malaysians weekly, GfK study finds”; CRTC, “Annual highlights of the broadcasting sector 2024–2025: Radio”; World Radio Alliance, “Radio, the Audio Leader”
Sources
- Radio, the Audio Leader
- Quarterly Summary of Radio Listening, survey period ending 15 December 2024
- Quarterly Summary of Radio Listening, survey period ending 14 December 2025
- Audio Listening in the UK 2025
- Media Nations 2025: UK Report
- Radio reaches 93% of Malaysians weekly, GfK study finds
- Annual highlights of the broadcasting sector 2024–2025: Radio
- DCMS Annual Report and Accounts 2024–25