Happy belated RAJAR day to all those who celebrate (we certainly do!).
Despite myriad of visual alternatives, radio listening isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, the Q2 RAJAR release showed a record 51.1 million listeners are tuning into the radio per week. Between them, they’re notching up over 1.040 billion weekly hours. It’s good news for commercial radio too, which has increased its lead over the BBC and achieving its second highest ever reach. These latest figures help reinforce the fact that advertisers who are serious about reach should certainly be giving radio some thought.
Great results for Global in the Q2 RAJAR results
Global maintained its dominance of the networks, it added 321,000 weekly listeners to its massive 29 million, with weekly listening hours also up to 283 million (from 279 million in Q1 2026). Their flagship stations Heart, Capital and Smooth also filled the podium as the top 3 commercial radio brands.
The Heart brand still reigns supreme, with it’s weekly reach only continuing to grow, now reaching 12,826,000 listeners per week, up a steady 2.6% on Q1 2026. Heart Breakfast remains the UK’s biggest commercial breakfast show.
And it’s not just Heart! We’re seeing some fantastic growth across a number of national stations:
| Brand | Growth from Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 Weekly Reach |
| Heart Brand | +2.6% | 12.8 million |
| Greatest Hits Network | +1.2% | 6.9 million |
| Absolute Network | +2.3% | 5.4 million |
| Hits Radio Network | – | 6.5 million |
| Classic FM | +3% | 4.3 million |
| Kiss Network | +12% | 3.7 million |
| LBC News | +10.5% | 1.2 million |
| GB News | +8% | 731k |
| Times Radio | +9% | 660k |
| talkSPORT | +1% | 3.3 million |
Radio offers advertisers endless opportunities
And there’s plenty of growth happening beyond linear radio; there are some exciting developments that are sure to boost radio return for advertisers.
There are some really interesting and innovative capabilities on digital audio, and its seeing some pretty steady growth as a channel. Digital listening now reaches 45 million adults per week, with 77% of the population tuning into some form of digital radio each week (up 1% from Q1), accounting for 786 million hours. Smart speakers now account for 25% of weekly listening hours, up nearly 7% from Q1.
There’s also been some impressive performances from digital only stations this quarter. Notably, Smooth Country increased its weekly reach by an enormous 34% (501,000), with total listening hours boosted by 95% from Q1 2026. Kiss Xtra also saw its weekly hours up by 31%, with reach also increasing by 5% from Q1 2026.
The Q2 RAJAR results show there has been another solid performance from commercial radio. Thanks to the breadth of brands and content, listeners are staying engaged and interested as commercial radio continues to evolve.
With in-depth working knowledge of the huge array of formats and opportunities radio has to offer alongside a deep understanding of listenership, whether it’s news lovers, families, sports supporters or country fans you’re trying to reach, AJ can make radio work for you.
Sound interesting? Get in touch to find out more.