RAJAR Q4 2019: Global Is The UK's One Commercial Radio Company 06 Feb 2020
GLOBAL
- Global brands reach a massive 24.8m people every week through radio alone with hours at 224,000,000 taking a 23% market share.
- Global has the top 4 commercial radio brands in the UK for reach, hours and share in the UK with Heart, Capital, Smooth and Classic FM.
IN LONDON…
- Global wins commercial reach, hours and share overall and at breakfast in London
- Capital remains London’s undisputed no.1 commercial radio station for reach, adding more than 200,000 listeners in the past three months.
- LBC remains the no.1 commercial radio station for share and hours with a 6.2% share of the market and a massive 12.4m hours.
HEART
- Heart continues its reign as the UK’s biggest commercial radio brand with 9.5m people tuning in every week, once again beating Radio 1 for reach, hours and share.
- The nationwide Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden has an incredible 4.3 million weekly listeners and remains the UK’s biggest commercial radio show and commercial breakfast show.
- Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden also grows in reach and hours in London, adding more than 50,000 listeners in the past three months alone.
- Heart’s brand new digital stations get off to a flying start, with Heart 90s attracting a phenomenal 630,000 listeners in its first three months. Heart Dance opens with 380,000 listeners and Heart 70s launches with 250,000 listeners.
LBC
- LBC reaches a record 2.7 million listeners across the UK each week – the highest ever reach in its 47-year history – and an increase of 513,000 people in the past year.
- Yet again, the station has grown in reach, hours and share, both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
- LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast has smashed another record and now reaches more than 1.5m listeners nationally each week – up 263,000 in the past year. Nick Ferrari has increased in reach, hours and share year-on-year.
- James O’Brien also smashes a record with 1.3m weekly listeners tuning in to his national show – his highest ever – adding 256,000 listeners in the past year.
- Eddie Mair celebrates his highest reach on LBC with 911,000 listeners tuning in every week.
- In London, LBC is the number one commercial station in hours and share – and now reaches 1.4m people each week, an increase of 230,000 listeners in the past year.
- In London, Nick Ferrari at Breakfast is the number one commercial breakfast show for hours and share.
CAPITAL
- Capital is once again the UK’s no.1 hit music brand, reaching 7.6m weekly listeners.
- Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp reaches a massive 3.4m weekly listeners and remains one of the top two commercial breakfast shows in the UK, second only to Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden.
- In the past three months alone, Capital has added a huge 209,000 listeners and increased hours by 1.1m in London.
- In the fiercely competitive London breakfast market, Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp remains the biggest commercial breakfast show for reach with 950,000 weekly listeners, growing in reach, hours and share and adding 242,000 listeners in the past three months alone.
CAPITAL XTRA
- Nationally, Capital XTRA reaches 1.7m people every week, adding 21,000 listeners in London in the past 3 months alone.
- The all-new Capital XTRA Breakfast Show with Yinka and Shayna Marie opens with 744,000 weekly listeners.
- Brand new station Capital XTRA Reloaded also gets off to a flying start, attracting 330,000 listeners in its first three months alone.
SMOOTH
- Smooth is the third largest commercial radio brand in the UK with more than 5.6 million people tuning in each week.
- Smooth London reaches 864,000 weekly listeners, adding 151,000 listeners year-on-year.
CLASSIC FM
- Nationally, Classic FM now reaches 5.5 million people each week, growing its position as the UK’s most popular classical music station, adding 324,000 listeners in the past quarter.
- Classic FM grows in reach, hours and share year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter – and celebrates its highest share in 12 years.
- Classic FM’s More Music Breakfast, hosted by Tim Lihoreau, adds 121,000 listeners quarter-on-quarter and now reaches 1.8m people each week.
- Moira Stuart’s Hall of Fame Concert – her new Saturday afternoon show – adds almost 100,000 listeners in the last quarter and now reaches 579,000 people.
- Classic FM continues to grow a new, younger audience for classical music. The total reach for 10-24s increases to 610,000 weekly listeners.
RADIO X
- Nationally, Radio X grows its audience on the year, reaching 1.7m listeners every week.
- In London, Radio X increases its hours and share.
THE OFFICIAL BIG TOP 40
- The Official Big Top 40 remains the UK’s biggest chart show, with 1.3m weekly listeners.
GOLD
- Gold reaches an audience of 1.3 million listeners every week.
Ashley Tabor-King OBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, said: “I’m immensely proud to see a really impressive card for Global as we again achieve the top four commercial radio brands across the UK with Heart, Capital, Smooth and Classic FM. A great opening story for our Heart brand extensions with Heart 90s attracting a massive 630,000 weekly listeners and Heart Dance and Heart 70s opening with 380,000 and 250,000 weekly listeners respectively. Particularly exciting is Smooth Chill which opens with more than 300,000 listeners, which is more than Scala Radio, in only its first card! It’s also fantastic to see LBC’s meteoric growth continue, smashing another record with 2.7million weekly listeners. Another highlight is the huge growth of Roman Kemp’s Capital Breakfast show. Roman is beating the jungle drums impressively, adding 242,000 listeners in London. These figures from the Global portfolio are representative of our focus on reaching and engaging with listeners and the hard work of every Globaller. Congratulations again to an amazing team at Global.”
James Rea, Global’s Director of Broadcasting, said: “This is a very strong set of RAJAR results for our brand extensions as well as for Global. It is a true testament to the hard work of every Globaller. To reach 24.8 million weekly listeners is very special indeed. Heart retains its lead as the biggest commercial radio brand in the UK with 9.5 million weekly listeners and Roman Kemp on Capital Breakfast returns from ‘the jungle’ to retain his London crown and reach 3.4 million listeners nationally. Classic FM has also had an impressive card as the clear leader in the classical music market, amassing 5.5 million weekly listeners. LBC’s performance is equally phenomenal with the station delivering its highest ever weekly reach yet again, now at 2.7 million across the UK. Increasingly, as more people have access to multiple devices, our overall digital listening figure has increased to almost 16 million. It goes without saying that I’m immensely proud of the Global team – their drive, focus, dedication and sheer hard work has truly reaped dividends.”
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THE HEADLINES
Government efforts on streaming reform fall short of a reset – next steps? (see Comment)
Government secures label-led measures to boost earnings for UK artists (see News)
Tributes paid to Ozzy Osbourne (see Features, Showbiz&News)
Darcus Beese talks ADHD, signing Sabrina Carpenter and the ‘headf*ck’ of running a major label (see Features)
Spotify publishes AI-generated songs from dead artists without permission (see Digital)
Why 2025’s charts are so stale (see Comment)
Has pop music become stagnant? Kind of yes but also no (see Analysis)
Why are we still using Spotify? (see Opinion)
TikTok launches TikTok Songwriter Features (see Digital)
EU Commission reportedly prepares ‘full-scale, four-month investigation’ into UMG’s proposed Downtown purchase (see Business)
Lisa Nandy MP addressed the UK Music Summer Party (see News)
Building fandom is about the journey, not the destination (see Opinion)
Industry calls for streaming sites to tag music created by AI-generated acts (see News)
“Content is king” say analysts - so why is Spotify worth more than the entire music rights industry? (see Comment)
Where’s the next wave of working-class rock stars? (see Features)
Populists vs. tech titans: The battle over AI and the future of music (see Comment)