Global’s LBC brands recorded positive growth across their news channels (UK and London), according to the latest quarterly RAJAR listening figures.
LBC News (London) saw the strongest growth, with weekly reach rising year on year (up 41%) and quarter on quarter (up 42%) to 578,000 listeners.
RAJAR defines weekly reach as the number of UK adults who listen to a station for at least five minutes during an average week.
LBC News (London) total listening hours almost doubled compared to the previous quarter, up 98% to 2.4 million, while average hours per listeners saw the highest increase – up 41% quarter on quarter.
LBC News (UK) grew its reach by 7% year on year and 10% quarter on quarter to 1.1 million. LBC London rose 7% year on year and 15% quarter on quarter to 1.5 million, and the LBC Brand (UK) was up 6% and 4% to a record weekly reach of 3.6 million.
News UK’s Talk (previously Talk Radio) reported the biggest year-on-year increase in listening hours, up 41% to 6.1 million hours (however it was down 13% quarter on quarter). The station highlighted news coverage such as the release of the Epstein files and the subsequent arrest of Prince Andrew, as well as the Greens’ historic by-election win in Gorton.
Talk also saw positive year-on-year growth in weekly reach, up 15% to 560,000.
GB News recorded 676,000 weekly listeners on average during the quarter, up 1% from the Q4 2025. The station remains ahead of Times Radio, which it overtook during Q3 2025, having previously surpassed it in Q2 and Q3 2024. GB News said much of this quarter’s growth has come from younger audiences, with its listenership up 20% among adults aged 35 to 54 and up 30% among men aged 35 to 54 over the last quarter.
Among major stations, BBC Radio 4 posted the highest average weekly hours per listener with 11.8, overtaking Talk (10.9) since Q4 2025. Its flagship programme The Archers celebrated its 75th anniversary during the period, while the Today programme was up 4% compared to last quarter with weekly reach of 5.79 million.
BBC Radio 2 retained the highest weekly reach of any radio station with 12.6 million listeners, though average hours per listener fell to 10.6, down from last quarter’s four-year high of 11.
BBC World Service posted the biggest year-on-year decline in weekly reach, down 10% to 1.1 million. It follows two consecutive quarters of year-on-year decline in weekly reach.
This drop was followed by News UK’s Talksport (down 7% to 3.6 million) and BBC Radio 2, down 4%.
Among breakfast shows, GB News remains the station with the lowest weekly reach at 225,000 and saw the biggest quarter-on-quarter drop at 19%.
Times Radio (319,000 weekly reach) and LBC (1.4 million) were the only breakfast programmes to see both year-on-year growth (5% and 4% respectively) and quarter-on-quarter growth (8% and 3%).
Talk’s breakfast show saw the biggest increase in weekly reach year on year, up 33% to 312,000, but was down 7% on the previous quarter.
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