Trade organization RAJAR, which measures UK radio usage, has released its Q4 2025 data. The headline takeaway tells us that 50 million adults (86% of the adults UK population) listens to the radio at least weekly. That usage adds up to just over one billion listening hours.
On a per-listener basis, the average person hears 20-30 hours of live radio per week.
These numbers do not necessarily indicate turning on an analog radio. Forty-four million 15+ UK’ers use a digitally enabled platform each week. Those platforms include DAB, DTV, website-or-app, and smart speakers. That digitally enabled audience represents 75% of the UK population.
Other key data points:
- Digital radio listening occupies 757 million hours
- DAB digital listening takes a 56% share of digital listening
- Smart speakers grab 25% of digital listening
- Website apps convey 15% of digital listening
- Four percent of digital listening squeaks through via digital TV (DTV)
RAJAR also measured listening location, and finds a near-equal split between home (60%) and car (58%) — those numbers make it clear that some people do both, unsurprisingly.
RAJAR also discovers that most UK smart speaker users tune into radio on their devices (not necessarily exclusively).
Podcasts are brought into the info sheet for just one survey outcome: Thirty-eight percent of UK folks listen to podcasts at least once a month.
