News Broadcasting reports 6.3m weekly radio listeners
October 23, 2025
News Broadcasting has achieved another set of strong RAJAR results for the Q3 survey period ending September 15th 2025. The group, including national brands talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK, Times Radio and Talk, as well as U105 in Northern Ireland, delivered 6.3 million weekly listeners, with cumulative listening hours of 44.4 million.
News Broadcasting is leading the evolution of multiplatform audio-visual consumption, solidifying its position as the industry’s most digital broadcaster. The group’s sustained investment means that News Broadcasting delivered 86.2 per cent of listening from digital platforms, and an industry leading 35.2 per cent of hours from streaming platforms. Over the last quarter, News Broadcasting illustrated its strength in video with 561 million views on YouTube across its brands.
News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, commented: “This is another strong quarter for News Broadcasting, reinforcing our position as the UK’s most digital-first audio broadcaster. Our strategy of creating compelling, multiplatform content is driving deep engagement with audiences across all our brands, reaching new audiences on social and streaming platforms. By combining world-class audio with our rapidly growing video and social propositions, we are serving our loyal audiences and commercial partners more effectively than ever.”
The talkSPORT network achieved 3.4 million listeners this quarter with talkSPORT recording 22 million listening hours, a 10.8 per cent increase year-on-year. talkSPORT2 also recorded 408,000 listeners, tuning in for 893,000 hours, an increase of 5.6 per cent year-on-year.
talkSPORT delivered a lively quarter of live sport and exclusive content, breaking listening records along the way. Transfer Deadline Day was the network’s most listened to day ever on connected devices. The station also made headlines with an exclusive interview with Oasis band member Noel Gallagher, who spoke candidly about his brother Liam and the recent tour. Summer highlights included Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios hosting a daily show from Wimbledon tennis tournament with guests including former England footballers John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
The channel was at the heart of the national celebration as England’s Lionesses defended their European title. The network’s live sport offering also featured exclusive commentary of the British and Irish Lions tour Down Under and the undisputed heavyweight boxing clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois. Looking ahead to the end of the year, the Drive programme will be broadcasting live from New York for the FIFA World Cup draw in December.
Times Radio continues to maintain its position as one of the leading news stations with 564,000 listeners, an increase of 1.3 per cent year-on-year, while its audience tuned in for an impressive 4.8 million hours, up 13.4 per cent year-on-year.
Times Radio marked its fifth year on air by providing coverage of a dramatic quarter in domestic and international politics. The station led the conversation as the country reflected on one year of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government, offering analysis of major political moments including the resignation of former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, the sacking of former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, and the government’s U-turn on welfare reform. Its commentators were also at the forefront of global stories, from the NATO summit and President Trump’s visit to Scotland to the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska, while at home it captured the national mood during the triumphant Women’s football Euros victory.
On air, the schedule was refreshed with Stephen Sackur joining Andrew Neil, Daniel Finkelstein and Jo Coburn in the roster of presenters hosting The Times at One, while Jane Mulkerrins took over Sunday mornings for the summer and Geoff Norcott broadcast live from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Virgin Radio UK network reached 2.1 million listeners. The Network continues to deliver strong results, with Virgin Radio 80s recording 314,000 listeners, growing its audience 4.3 per cent year-on-year. Whilst listeners tuning into Virgin Radio Chilled recorded 764,000 listening hours, an increase of 6 per cent on the previous quarter.
The Chris Evans Breakfast show featured an incredible array of guests, including Ewan McGregor, Shirley Ballas, Stephen Fry, Davina McCall, Bob Geldof and Sir Tim Berners Lee, alongside live music from Tom Odell and Feeder.
For the first time, Virgin Radio UK partnered with the Isle of Wight Festival, with Ben Jones broadcasting live from the site with interviews from headliners Sting and Stereophonics. Graham Norton also made his much-anticipated return, broadcasting live from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with guests including Miriam Margolyes.
Meanwhile news and opinion brand Talk reached 506,000 listeners, while the channel also achieved 5 million listening hours, an increase of 19.4 per cent compared to the previous quarter. The station paid tribute to one of its most distinctive and beloved voices following the sad news of former presenter James Whale’s passing in August at the age of 74, with presenters and listeners sharing fond memories of the talk radio pioneer. Throughout the quarter, Talk’s roster of voices continued to drive the national conversation, leading debates on the migrant hotel riots, the controversy over flags in UK town centres, and the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Northern Ireland’s U105 recorded a total reach of 224k listeners, an increase of 6.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 2.3 million hours listened, an increase of 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The station’s average hours of 10.4 in its core greater Belfast area are once again the highest of any local station.
Additionally, Global reported another strong set of RAJAR figures and record-breaking results for Q3 2025. The broadcaster recorded its highest ever share (28.1 per cent) and record hours (286 million), with 29 million people tuning in every week across its radio brands.