Advanced Television

Data: Heart becomes UK’s #1 radio brand

May 15, 2025

Global’s Heart has become the UK’s most popular radio brand, reaching 13.4 million listeners every week, overtaking Radio 2 for the first time, according to RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Limited).

Global delivered a strong set of Q1 2025 figures, with a record 27.3 per cent of all radio listening, and more than 29 million people tuning in to 281 million hours of radio from brands including Capital, Heart, LBC, Smooth, Radio X and Classic FM.

Additional key insights:

GLOBAL

  • With 29 million listeners tuning in to Global’s radio brands each week, it is the number one commercial radio company in the UK.
  • Global’s share is 27.3 per cent – a record and the first time the Group has broken through the 27 per cent mark.
  • 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 has the top 3 commercial stations for reach, hours and share – Heart, Capital & LBC.

HEART

  • Heart is the UK’s biggest radio brand as it celebrates another record-breaking score with more than 13.4 million weekly listeners, having added 992,000 listeners in the last year. As aforementioned, t has overtaken Radio 2 in reach for the first time.
  • The Heart brand has 5.99 million more listeners than Radio 1 and 279,000 more listeners than Radio 2.
  • Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden celebrate their highest ever listening figures. 4.3 million weekly listeners tune into Heart Breakfast and it remains the UK’s biggest commercial breakfast show. 
  • Heart’s new sister stations, which launched last September, are proving a hit with listeners already with a strong second set of RAJAR figures. Heart Musicals reaches record-breaking figures with 216,000 weekly listeners, gaining an additional 82,000 listeners a week in the last three months. Heart Love also celebrated a record-breaking figure of 207,000 weekly listeners. Meanwhile Heart 10s sees its highest figures to date with 316,000 listeners.

CAPITAL

  • The UK’s no.1 hit music brand reaches 9.4 million weekly listeners.
  • Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Siân Welby reaches a huge 2.8 million listeners, the show is up in reach, hours and share since Jordan North joined last April.
  • Capital Dance has over 1 million listeners tuning in to the UK’s official dance station every week.
  • Capital XTRA, home to the biggest hip-hop and RnB, reaches 2 million listeners across the UK every week. It has 1.2 million more listeners than the audience of BBC Radio 1Xtra.
  • Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie reaches 618,000 listeners each week, up in reach and hours in the last quarter.

SMOOTH 

  • Smooth celebrates with more than 7.8 million people listening each week, adding 1.3 million in the past year. Smooth’s reach, hours and share have all increased year-on-year.
  • Kate Garraway hosts Smooth’s most popular show, with more than 2.8 million weekly listeners, up 212,000 in the past year.
  • In their second set of RAJAR results since launching last year, Smooth 80s, Smooth 70s and Smooth Soul are all celebrating record-breaking figures, with 595,000, 346,000 and 278,000 weekly listeners respectively. Smooth Chill and Smooth Country have also increased in reach quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

CLASSIC FM

  • Classic FM, the UK’s number one classical music brand, has added 168,000 people in the past quarter, with a new audience of 4.7 million weekly listeners.
  • Classic FM Breakfast with Dan Walker reaches 2 million listeners, up 80,000 on the quarter.
  • Classic FM Calm – Classic FM’s new sister station which launched last year – is celebrating its highest audience to date, with 290,000 listeners, an increase of 52,000 in the past quarter. The station has increased in reach, hours and share quarter-on-quarter.

LBC

  • LBC, the commercial news talk brand, reaches 3.3 million people each week, growing in reach and hours year-on-year.
  • LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast and James O’Brien have both increased in reach and hours in the past year, with a new audience of 1.4 million listeners each.
  • Nick Ferrari at Breakfast is London’s number one commercial breakfast show for hours and share.
  • LBC News, the UK’s only rolling news radio station, grows to reach more than 1 million weekly listeners, up in reach and hours in the past quarter and year.

RADIO X

  • Radio X Brand celebrates is highest ever weekly reach with 2.5 million listeners tuning in every week – over 1 million more than Virgin Radio – up by 280,000 listeners in the last year.
  • The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X reaches 1 million listeners every morning.
  • Radio X Chilled also celebrates a record figure of 157,000 weekly listeners, up on reach and hours from the previous quarter.

MORE FROM GLOBAL

  • Gold Radio has a weekly audience of 1.6 million people.
  • The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global is the UK’s biggest chart show and has a weekly listenership of 1.8 million tuning in every week across Capital and Heart, increasing in all metrics year-on-year.

Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, commented: “Global has been lucky enough to have the top 3 commercial radio brands in the UK for some time. Today, after over 18 years of hard work from our team and huge loyalty from our incredible listeners, Heart overtakes Radio 2 as the UK’s largest radio brand, making Heart the biggest in the UK overall.  It’s a huge moment. I’m incredibly humbled, and grateful to every single Globaller and listener that’s made this possible. May we continue to turn up the feel good and make everyone’s day brighter for many years to come. Commercial radio in the UK is so buoyant right now, with quality broadcasting that means listeners have more choice than ever before. We are truly in the golden era of commercial radio broadcasting, and so we’re exceptionally grateful to have reached this landmark moment with Heart.”

James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global, added: “What a moment it is for a commercial radio brand to be the most popular in the UK. I couldn’t be more proud of the team at Heart for all their hard work, and it’s so fantastic to see it come through in these results. Radio in the UK is thriving and it’s brilliant that Global’s brands are driving the growth. I’d like to take a moment to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped us reach the highest market share in our history.”

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, Digital Radio, Research

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