News Broadcasting delivers another period of record listening hours across its national stations in latest RAJARs

Thursday 01 February 2024: The latest round of RAJAR results - for the survey period ending 17 December 2023 - sees News Broadcasting’s portfolio of radio stations, including national brands talkSPORT, Virgin Radio UK, TalkRadio and Times Radio, as well as U105 in Northern Ireland, deliver listening hours up 12% year-on-year to 44.8m, while weekly reach was up 2.3% year-on-year to 6.2m listeners. News Broadcasting’s national radio brands deliver record listening hours in the period at 42.7m, up 12.1% year-on-year.

News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, said: “News Broadcasting continues to invest in creative, must-listen audio, with our national stations again breaking records for listening hours in this latest RAJAR period. At the same time we are driving more visualisation across all areas, bringing our brilliant brands and shows to new audiences on social and streaming platforms.

“TalkRadio goes from strength-to-strength, delivering great reach and listening hours and building on our innovative approach to building the Talk brand across broadcast, streaming and social platforms. talkSPORT remains the destination for live sport on the radio, as our investment in sports rights continues, most recently with the thrilling India v England Test Cricket series. The Virgin Radio network delivers the best guests and star signings, most recently including Ryan Tubridy and Tom Allen. And Times Radio has cemented its position as the destination for political analysis and debate as the country gears up for the next election.”

The talkSPORT network delivered a reach of 3.3m listeners, an increase of 6.2% year-on-year, listening for 21.7m hours - up 14.1% year-on-year.  There was continued coverage of the Premier League, as well as all the major sporting events, including the Ryder Cup, the PDC World Darts Championship, and all the key boxing fixtures. Weekday morning duo White & Jordan delivered their highest ever reach (1.17m), up 10%.

With its unrivalled Premier League coverage, talkSPORT remains the go-to broadcaster for live sports fans. The station is home to best-in-class sports broadcasters, including brand new signing Jeff Stelling, who joined on 4th December to host the Breakfast show every Monday and Tuesday alongside Sports Journalism Association Pundit of the Year, Ally McCoist. With Alan Brazil, Ally McCoist, Jim White, Simon Jordan, Darren Bent and Natalie Sawyer, plus the very best pundits, including Stuart Pearce, Gabby Agbonlahor and Lianne Sanderson - now the new presenter of The Women's Football Show - the talkSPORT network is the place for the best live action and analysis. 

During the period, talkSPORT covered the major sporting highlights, including over 100 football commentaries, Europe's superb win over the US in the Ryder Cup and the PDC World Darts Championship. In addition, talkSPORT covered key boxing fights, such as Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia and Tommy Fury vs. YouTuber KSI. The station also delivered numerous exclusives with key industry players and big names, including Spurs boss Ange Postecoglu, Noel Gallagher and Rio Ferdinand.

In the weeks ahead, the team will cover the race for the Premier League title as Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal aim for glory. Throughout the months of January, February and March, there will be 110 live football commentaries across the talkSPORT network. Plus, the station is live from the Super Bowl, delivers the start of the Super League season in rugby league, and unmissable coverage as Tyson Fury aims to unify the heavyweight division versus Oleksander Usyk in Saudi Arabia. In addition, talkSPORT recently announced it won the broadcasting rights to all Indian home cricket until 2028, and is currently covering the England men’s cricket tours of India, which started on 25th January and runs until 11th March. 

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 1.8m listeners, with listening hours across the network of 11.6m, up 4.7% year-on-year.

This quarter, The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch and The Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose have hosted amazing guests including Arnold Schwarznegger, Tom Hanks, Eric Cantona, Kerry Washington and Toby Jones, as well as fantastic musical guests playing live including Rick Astley, James Blunt, Passenger and Emeli Sande. Further to this, Leigh Francis joined Virgin Radio on Saturdays, the team celebrated Halloween with OMD performing a gig at the top of the tower, and Natalie Imbruglia did a live intimate Sunset Session as well. 

The last month alone has seen two further star signings in the form of Ryan Tubridy on weekday mid-mornings and Tom Allen at the weekend. 

News and opinion station TalkRadio delivers another great performance, with reach at 725k, up 19.2% year-on-year, while weekly listening hours are 5.5m, up 18.2% year-on-year. The Talk brand continues to grow its cumulative audience on radio, TV, streaming and social platforms

The weekday lineup includes breakfast show Talk Today, hosted by Jeremy Kyle and Nicola Thorp, Julia Hartey-Brewer, Kevin O’Sullivan and Alex Phillips, Ian Collins, Vanessa Feltz, Rosanna Lockwood, Mike Graham and the award-winning Piers Morgan Uncensored. 

TalkRadio continues to deliver breaking news, straight-talking opinions and the best guests, nationally and internationally, while Piers Morgan continues to deliver the world’s best high-profile interviews, on radio, on TV and across social channels. The Piers Morgan Uncensored YouTube channel now has over 2.3m subscribers. 

The Talk schedule continues to find new audiences, simulcasting on Sky Channel 522, Virgin Media Channel 606, Freeview Channel 237 and Freesat Channel 217, as well as a roster of local stations: TalkBirmingham, TalkBristol, TalkCardiff, TalkLeeds, TalkLiverpool, TalkNorthWales, TalkTeesside and TalkTyne&Wear through a partnership with Local TV. TalkTV is also available on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV Plus, YouTube, the Talk.TV website and TalkTV iOS and Android apps. 

Times Radio posts a reach of 492k with weekly listening hours up 16% year-on-year to a record 3.96m weekly. Times Radio has one of the highest ABC1 profiles in commercial radio. The station set a new record for the length of time that people tune in, with listeners staying with Times Radio for an average of more than 8 hours a week. 

Times Radio is now well established as a trusted station for news and politics both nationally and internationally. In the period, our daytime line-up, including Aasmah Mir and Stig Abell at Breakfast, Matt Chorley, Mariella Frostrup, Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, John Pienaar, Kait Borsay and Carole Walker, guided listeners through the continuing crisis in the Middle East, and febrile international and domestic politics.

Times Radio's YouTube channel continues to grow, with subscribers passing 699k. In the coming months Times Radio will continue to provide news, analysis and expert opinion on all the breaking news that matters, as well as being the go-to destination for those who want to be in the know as the country moves towards a General Election. 

In Northern Ireland, U105 recorded a rise year-on-year in reach and hours. Reach is up 8% year-on-year to 253k while the hours are up above 11% year-on-year, breaking two million hours. Over the coming months, the station has planned a number of initiatives including another of their very successful Concert of a Lifetime promotions, sending a listener and guest to see a world-famous act.