Heart Extends Lead as the UK’s Biggest Radio Brand in Record-Breaking Quarter for Global
Heart has further cemented its position as the UK’s biggest radio brand, attracting a massive 13 million weekly listeners, according to the latest RAJAR figures (Q2 2025: 31 March – 22 June).
The record-breaking results cap a standout quarter for Global, the UK’s leading commercial radio group, which posted its highest-ever audience share (27.7%) and total listening hours (283 million). With 29 million people tuning in every week across its stations, Global maintains its dominance with the top three commercial radio brands in the country: Heart, Capital, and Smooth.
Heart Surges Ahead
Heart increased its lead over BBC Radio 2 by 415,000 listeners, reinforcing its position as the UK’s biggest radio brand. Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston & Amanda Holden remains the largest commercial breakfast show in the UK, drawing in 4.2 million weekly listeners.
Heart’s sister decade stations also celebrated record highs:
Heart 80s: 1.9 million weekly listeners
Heart 90s: 1.3 million
Heart Love: 272,000
Capital Beats Radio 1 Across the Board
Capital strengthened its status as the UK’s biggest hit music brand, with 9.3 million weekly listeners and higher reach, hours, and share than BBC Radio 1.
Notable wins include:
Capital Anthems: Record 479,000 listeners
Capital Dance: 998,000 weekly listeners
Capital XTRA: 2 million listeners — 1.3 million more than BBC Radio 1Xtra
Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce & Shayna Marie: Record 666,000 listeners
LBC: Still Leading the News Agenda
LBC continues to drive the national conversation, reaching 3.4 million weekly listeners, with strong growth year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter.
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast gained 1.4 million listeners
LBC News, the UK’s only rolling news radio station, climbed to 1.1 million listeners
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More Success Across the Global Portfolio
Global’s other brands also saw record achievements:
Smooth: 7.7 million weekly listeners, making it the UK’s third biggest commercial radio brand. Smooth 80s posted a record 664,000 listeners.
Classic FM: 4.7 million listeners, with Classic FM Calm (348,000) and Classic FM Movies (210,000) reaching new highs.
Radio X: 2.4 million listeners. Its sister stations Radio X 90s, Radio X 00s, and Radio X Chilled also achieved record figures.
Gold Radio, newly refreshed, gained 48,000 new listeners, growing to over 1.6 million weekly.
The EE Official Big Top 40 from Global remains the UK’s biggest chart show, with 1.7 million weekly listeners.
Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “It was a huge moment last quarter to see Heart overtake Radio 2 as the UK’s biggest radio brand, and this quarter I’m delighted to see Heart extend its lead even further. For Global to continue to grow and extend its lead is a considerable achievement, and I want to thank every single globaller for their hard work, and our incredible listeners, be they on FM, DAB or Global Player, for their incredible loyalty. This is all helping commercial radio celebrate its highest-ever share of listening.”
James Rea, Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global, said: “It’s incredible to see the audience growth across Global, another record share, and record hours. The market is hugely competitive, so to be leading the pack and delivering growth is not something we would ever take for granted. A heartfelt thank you to the world class teams at Global and the millions who tune in every day.”
Commercial Radio’s Best-Ever Share
This exceptional quarter for Global coincides with a major milestone for the UK industry: commercial radio now holds its highest-ever share of listening at 55.7%, extending its lead over the BBC and demonstrating the enduring power of radio in the UK.