Record quarter for BBC Sounds
May 13, 2026
BBC Sounds has seen a record start to the year with standout titles for Q1 including The Archers, The Traitors: Uncloaked, In Our Time, Newscast and Americast helpind to drive 18 million plays of radio, podcasts and music between January and March – up 5 per cent on the same period last year,
For audio plays from across the BBC including BBC Sport, BBC News, BBC Bitesize and visualised podcasts on iPlayer, there was an average weekly audience of 5.8 million, peaking at a record 7.2 million during the week of The Traitors: Uncloaked finale (w/c January 19th), an increase of a million plays on the previous quarter’s peak.
Beyond BBC platforms, podcasts and on demand radio programmes were downloaded 231 million times on third-party platforms in Q1. Audiences continued to discover programmes on socials with a total of 1.1 billion social video views of BBC audio content between January and March, up 21 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Between January and March, there were 265 million plays of on demand radio and podcast content, alongside 1.5 million plays of music mixes on BBC Sounds. Additionally, there were 11 million signed-in accounts across the quarter.
Mohit Bakaya, Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Director of BBC Speech Audio, commented: “This has been another exceptional quarter for our speech audio output, with audiences continuing to seek out distinctive storytelling and shared cultural moments. From the enduring popularity of The Archers in its 75th anniversary year, to the continued strength of In Our Time and the immersive storytelling of Uncanny, it’s clear that our programmes remain at the heart of how audiences connect with BBC audio. It’s especially encouraging to see how these titles are finding new and younger listeners alongside their loyal audiences, whether on BBC Sounds, via third party platforms or in visualised form. It speaks to the timeless appeal of great speech content, rooted in creativity, originality and trust, and our ongoing commitment to championing the very best storytelling from across the UK.”
Jonathan Wall, Director, BBC Sounds, added: “BBC Sounds has had a brilliant start to 2026. It’s great to see audiences coming in record numbers, and also finding our content through podcasts and socials off platform. I’m pleased to see younger listeners enjoying new titles like Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknell Podcast and Audio Lab’s MF Doom: Long Island to Leeds, which show the value of backing fresh ideas and distinctive new voices. It’s also great to see some of our Tour de Force famous shows like The Archers, Desert Island Discs and In Our Time, in fine form.”
Other posts by :
- Analyst: Years of subs growth ahead for Starlink
- SES CEO: “Multi-orbit is now key”
- More details emerge on SpaceX IPO
- Viasat confident despite SpaceX threats
- Blue Origin launch pad destroyed
- AST SpaceMobile’s story “more than hype”
- Musk to merge Tesla with SpaceX?
- AST SpaceMobile aiming for 15-year satellite life?
- SpaceX still targets intercontinental travel