The Rajar Q4 figures are out, with 90% of the UK still regularly tuning into radio. In fact 178,000 more of us are listening than at the same time last year. We spend on average a billion hours a week listening to the radio.

National:
Heart is the UK’s biggest commercial radio brand reaching 9.2m people every week. Capital is second on 8.3m, and Absolute Radio has risen to 2.6 million listeners nationally.
35.4m people tuned into commercial stations over the year, just slightly more than tuned into BBC stations, but overall listening for BBC’s was higher than last quarter.

London:
Capital and LBC have retained their places as the number one commercial stations in London.
The big commercial winners in the capital compared with the previous quarter are Capital Xtra (reach is up 22% to 777k), Premier Christian Radio (up 11% to 142k) and LBC 97.3 (up 9.5% to 1.2m).
Consistently strong performers Kiss, Absolute Radio and Radio X also enjoyed growth in the capital. Radio X has also hit 1.6 million listeners for the first time.
BBC Radio London has seen explosive growth of almost 60% in the last 12 months to 574,000.
Kiss Breakfast has overtaken Capital as London’s most popular breakfast show.
Digital listening is also up to 49%, meaning people are able to tune in easier than ever. While many were worried that smart home assistant like the Amazon Echo would replace radio, 70% of people are actually using them to listen to their favourite station.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 70% of us admit to being concerned about false information being used as a weapon and so are turning to more traditional forms of media for their news, such as radio.
All this points to consistent growth across the medium, so there’s never been a better time to get involved.
​
If you want to harness the power of radio for your brand, we can use our expertise and relationships forged over years of work to get your message to millions of people. Call us now to arrange a meeting, or get a free consultation. 

The biggest news from the frontline of radio this year is that Capital has expanded its listening figures by almost a third in the first quarter of 2017, to retake the top spot among the London stations. According to the latest Rajar listening figures, the station grew to an average of 2.24 million weekly listeners, increasing the size of its audience by almost 30% quarter-on-quarter.
 
There are also significant quarterly rises for fellow Global stations Gold London and LBC London News, both up around a third compared with Q4/16.
Magic London has lost 15% of its audience this quarter – down to 1.454m from 1.723m in the final three months of 2016, but remains third biggest commercial station in the capital.
Capital Xtra is down from over half a million listeners both a year ago and last quarter to now just 380,000 – its lowest audience size in two years.
 
The top 5 stations in London based on reach in Q1/2017 are as follows:
1. Capital London 2.24m
2. Kiss London 1.8m
3. Magic London 1.454m
4. Heart London 1.395m
5. LBC 1.072m
 
The gains Capital has made is a great sign of the industry being strong and, more importantly: adaptable. After their breakfast show host left, one would expect their figures to drop off massively. But they’ve taken a potential set-back and turned it into a really positive change that has grown their audience.
This means the field can be depended on even when shows or stations go through turbulent changes. 

This isn't restricted just to London or National Stations. Local Stations are also a powerhouse for audiences that can be marketed to in different ways. See what they can do for you: