Global Makes Everyone’s Day Brighter with another set of record breaking audience numbers

01 August 2024 - Press release

Record reach, hours and share for  Global 

Listening figures grow on all metrics 

Global scores its biggest ever audience - adding more than 1 million listeners in the last quarter and reaching 28.6 million weekly listeners

Highest ever hours of 277 million

Highest ever share of 26.5% 

Record breaking audiences for Capital, Heart, Smooth and Radio X 

Capital brand celebrates record breaking figures with 9.1 million listeners 

Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris and Sian reaches a huge 2.8 million listeners - Jordan North’s debut RAJAR results since joining Global in April 

Heart celebrates a new record with 12.8 million weekly listeners 

Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden is the UK’s largest commercial breakfast show with 4.2 million listeners - well ahead of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast

Smooth Radio smashes the 7 million listener mark for the first time with a record reach of 7.2 million

A record for Radio X brand - 2.3 million weekly listeners 

Global has the number 1 and number 2 commercial radio brands nationally with Heart and Capital

Global has top 3 commercial stations and breakfast shows in London with Capital, Heart and LBC

   

Global has seen another quarter of growth, delivering the highest ever set of RAJAR figures for Quarter 2 2024 (1 April – 23 June), with a record breaking 28.6 million people tuning in each week to Global’s brands with huge gains in reach, hours and share in both the last quarter and year-on-year.  

It is the most popular commercial radio group in the UK and has achieved its best-ever share of 26.5%, with listeners enjoying a record breaking 277 million hours of radio from brands including Capital, Heart, LBC, Smooth Radio, Radio X and Classic FM.   

  

Here are some more key headlines:  

GLOBAL 

• With a huge 28.6 million listeners tuning in to Global’s radio brands each week, it is the number one commercial radio company in the UK.  
• Global has a new record share of 26.5%.  
• Hours are 277 million, making it the UK’s most popular commercial radio group.   
• Smart speaker listening for commercial radio continues to drive growth, now at 20.8%, up from 17.4% year-on-year while online listening for all radio is up from 24.9% to 28.1%. Global Player, the official app for all of Global’s brands, allows listeners to enjoy both audio and video from its radio brands, as well as award-winning podcasts, and expertly-curated playlists, in one place in app, web and smart speakers.     
     

HEART 

• Heart strengthens its position as the number one commercial radio brand as it celebrates a record breaking 12.8 million weekly listeners, adding 1.6 million in the last year and increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.   
• The Heart brand has 4.5 million more listeners than Radio 1. 
• Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden is the biggest commercial radio and breakfast show in the UK with 4.2 million weekly listeners. The show has increased its reach, hours and share in the last 12 months and beats Radio 1 Breakfast by more than 150,000 listeners.   
• Heart 00s (1 million) and Heart Dance (1.1 million) have achieved their highest listening figures to date increasing in reach, hours and share in the last quarter.  

  

CAPITAL 

• The UK’s no.1 hit music brand reaches its highest ever number, a record breaking 9.1 million weekly listeners adding 793,000 listeners in the last year. 
• Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby reaches a huge 2.8 million listeners in Jordan’s first RAJAR since joining the station. The show has added a massive 261,000 listeners in the last quarter and is up in all metrics - reach, hours and share. 
• Capital Dance celebrates highest ever listening figures with 1.1 million listeners adding 124,000 listeners in the last quarter. 
• Capital XTRA, home to the biggest hip-hop and RnB, has smashed its previous record, and now more than 2.1 million people tune in across the UK every week. It has increased in reach, hours and share year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. It has more than 1.2 million listeners than the audience of BBC Radio 1Xtra.
• Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie has 620,000 listeners, increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.   

  

SMOOTH RADIO    

• Smooth Radio celebrates its highest ever audience figures, with a record 7.2 million people listening each week, adding 1.3 million in the past year. Its reach, hours and share have increased both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.  
• Smooth London celebrates a record 1.2 million listeners each week.
• Smooth’s Kate Garraway has her best-ever figures, reaching a record 2.9 million listeners each week - adding 559,000 in the past 12 months.
• Smooth Country also celebrates its highest ever figures, with a new weekly audience of 426,000.
• Smooth Chill has grown its audience, now reaching 531,000 people.
• Smooth Relax, in its second set of results, has increased its audience to 494,000 weekly listeners.

  

LBC

• LBC, the UK’s leading commercial news talk brand, has added 227,000 listeners in the past year, reaching more than 3.3 million people each week.
• LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast reaches 1.3 million listeners across the UK each week and is London’s number one commercial breakfast show in hours and share.
• LBC News, the UK’s only rolling news radio station, has a weekly audience of 981,000 people tuning in for the latest breaking news.   

  

RADIO X 

• Radio X celebrates its highest ever weekly reach with 2.3 million listeners tuning in every week, 695,000 more than Virgin Radio.  
• At breakfast on Radio X, The Chris Moyles Show alone reaches 1.2 million listeners every morning, increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.   
• Johnny Vaughan at Drive celebrates his highest ever reach, smashing through the 1 million mark for the first time. 
• Radio X Classic Rock also celebrates its highest ever weekly audience of 299,000 listeners increasing in reach, hours and share quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.   

 

MORE FROM GLOBAL 

• Classic FM, the UK’s number one classical music station, has increased its audience in the last quarter to 4.5 million weekly listeners, while Radio 3 sees a drop of 162,000 listeners for the same period. 
• Gold has a weekly audience of 1.8 million, adding 24,000 listeners in the past quarter.
• Capital XTRA Reloaded  celebrates a new high for the fifth quarter in a row - it now has 635,000 weekly listeners.   
• The Official Big Top 40 from Global is the UK’s biggest chart show and continues to grow, reaching 1.7 million listeners every week across Capital and Heart, adding a further 51,000 listeners in the last quarter, increasing in reach, hours and share year-on-year.   

  

Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “To have again added another million listeners for the second quarter in a row, now reaching over 28 million listeners each week, is simply incredible! It’s fantastic news for our creative industries that radio and audio is thriving in this way, with more people listening than ever before. The ease of connected listening on smart speakers and quality apps like our own Global Player - is helping to fuel growth, alongside consistent, innovative, quality content. Commercial radio is an incredible promotional partner to artists and brands, helping to reach fans and audiences at a phenomenal scale. Thanks to every globaller who works so hard to make everyone’s day brighter, and to every single listener that chooses and trusts our radio brands every week.”

James Rea,  Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer at Global, said: “What an absolutely fantastic gold-medal winning RAJAR quarter this is for Global! It’s incredible to see so many record breaking performances. Congratulations to Jordan North and the whole Capital team for a truly outstanding result. It’s also fantastic that Heart, Smooth and Radio X continue to grow to new highs. We have the very best team at Global and I’m so proud of how they continue to reinvigorate and reinvent to drive our audiences forward. This is truly a moment to celebrate.”