Heart and LBC owner is top of the pops with record reach
The media juggernaut behind Heart and LBC has raked in record listening hours, according to official figures, bucking a decline in linear broadcast that has seen many legacy outlets struggle.
Fresh Rajar analysis found that Global, which also runs Capital and Classic FM as well as boasting a burgeoning podcast empire, landed 288m listening hours in the last three months of 2025, 28 per cent of the UK market.
Britain’s largest commercial radio group attracted 29m weekly listeners. Heart remained the UK’s biggest radio brand with 12.7m of those listeners, thanks largely to its breakfast show – hosted by Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden – which increased its audience to 4.1m weekly listeners.
“I’m so proud to see these record-breaking results, with people spending more time with us than ever before,” said Simon Pitts, chief executive at the media group. “Despite operating in an intensely competitive market, Global has again stretched its lead as the UK’s largest commercial radio group with the country’s top three commercial radio brands in Heart, Capital and Smooth.”
LBC rakes in record audience
Rajar’s data also revealed LBC, Global’s flagship news station, increased its reach to 3.4m weekly listeners, with big name presenters Nick Ferrari and James O’Brien both adding to their respective audiences.
The figures come despite much of the wider linear broadcast sector being beset by well-documented struggles. The advent of social media and on-demand audio products like podcasts has upended the wider industry. The BBC’s Radio 2 lost nearly 2m listeners since autumn Autumn 2021 and September 2025, but remains the most listened-to radio station with a weekly reach of 12.7m.
In the final quarter of 2025, Radio 4’s Today programme saw its weekly reach fall five per cent year on year to 5.5m listeners, while the BBC World Service suffered the biggest collapse in its reach, which is down 15 per cent on the previous year.
James Rea, Global’s chief broadcasting and content officer, said: “Audio is reaching more people than ever before, and live radio remains, beyond question, the single biggest way audiences consume it.”