London, Thursday 24th October, 2024: News Broadcasting sees successes in the latest round of RAJAR results - for the survey period ending 15th September 2024. The group, including national brands talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK, Talk and Times Radio, as well as U105 in Northern Ireland, delivered reach up 8% year-on-year to 6.7m, with listening hours of 43.8m. 

News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, said: “News Broadcasting continues to deliver outstanding results and this growth is a testament to the incredible engagement our on and off air talent foster with their audiences.

“Congratulations to the The Virgin network team who have had a great quarter, achieving a record-breaking reach, now boasting 2.4 million listeners. It’s clear the investment we put into getting out and about over summer on the ground at festivals, resonates with our listeners.”

Covering another busy summer of festivals at Latitude, Hardwick and CarFest, as well as Vogue Williams joining the station stepping in as deputy on the Ryan Tubridy Show, the Virgin Radio UK network which includes Virgin Radio UK, Virgin Radio Anthems UK, Virgin Radio Chilled UK and Virgin Radio 80s Plus UK, reached a record 2.4m listeners, an increase of 19% year-on-year, with listening hours across the network of 11.3m. Virgin Radio Anthems led the charge with record reach at 453k and record hours at 1.4m.

The Chris Evans Breakfast show with The National Lottery played host to some of the biggest stars of Film and TV including Steve Carell, James Corden, Rob Delaney and Kate Winslet, as well as Sir Keir Starmer who popped in for a chat during the run up to the UK election. Music legends Travis, The Lightning Seeds and Pixie Lott treated listeners to live music sessions from The News Building. 

Times Radio also saw impressive growth, with a reach of 557k, up 12% year-on-year with weekly listening hours totalling 4.0m, up 8% on the year. Across the quarter, the Election Station covered Labour’s victory on results night and Sir Keir Starmer’s couple of months in office, as well as the ever-changing US election including Joe Biden stepping down and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

Covering England’s nail-biting run up to the Euros final, as well as the start of the new Premier League season, the talkSPORT Network which includes talkSPORT and talkSPORT2  delivered a reach of 3.5m listeners, an increase of 8% year-on-year, listening for 20.8m hours.

Listeners were also treated to all the excitement of the 2024 Olympics, for the first time on commercial radio, with iconic Olympians Dame Kelly Holmes, Tessa Sanderson, Sir Steve Redgrave and Adam Gemili broadcasting live from Paris with dedicated shows and commentary of the biggest moments.

News and opinion station Talk recorded another strong period, with reach at 576k and weekly listening hours at 5.0m. On average, listeners tuned into Talk for 8.7 hours per week, significantly up year-on-year from 7.5 hours per week. In a ferociously busy news period which saw the UK Election take place with Talk’s election night special with Julia Hartley-Brewer, Mike Graham and Ian Collins, as well the Trump assassination attempt and the UK Summer riots, Talk guided listeners through key events with its straight-talking approach to news. 

U105 grew its total and average hours quarter on quarter, both in the core Belfast area and across Northern Ireland. With a weekly reach of 227k, the station’s 11.4 average hours in the greater Belfast market are the highest of any local commercial radio station. These extended hours include the station’s partnership with Mela, NI's largest multi-cultural festival, as well as its continued long association with the NI Road Safety Awards plus live broadcasts from the Irish Open in Newcastle. In the coming weeks the team will be live in the northwest for Europe's biggest Halloween Festival plus they are gearing up for the annual Stuff A Bus charity appeal to raise funds for families in need this Christmas.

ENDS

* Views for a minimum of 30 Seconds. Data provided by Tubular Labs.Radio groups analysed: News Broadcasting, BBC Radio and Music, This is Global and Bauer Media Group