London-based UK communications regulator Ofcom has released the 2025 edition of its Audio listening in the UK report. This survey-based study examines audio listening preferences, needs, and expectations.
The survey field included 3,484 individuals.
Key Findings
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- The number of people listening to online music services each week is now on a par with those listening to music radio, at around six in ten adults aged 16+. Younger people are more than twice as likely to listen to music streaming services compared to those aged 55+.
- A fifth of time spent listening to audio in cars is now to music streaming services and
podcasts. For all adults, listening to streamed music services while travelling in a car has
increased by 8pp between 2018 and 2024, taking time from CDs and cassettes (-3pp) but
especially radio (-7pp). - Over seven in ten (71%) people who use a voice assistant (such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri) use it to listen to both radio stations and other types of audio, such as music streaming or podcasts. Smart speakers are the most widely used device for voice assistants, and over half of voice assistant users (54%) that listen to radio make their voice requests using a smart speaker, compared to just one in five (20%) using a smartphone.
- Although just over a fifth (22%) of UK adults listen to podcasts, this has been a gradual build and appears to be stabilising. Podcasts and radio typically serve different needs and are enjoyed in different ways, with podcasts more likely to be listened to on a personal device (e.g. smartphone) while radio, particularly music radio, is more likely to be listened to on shared household devices (e.g. radio sets and smart speakers).
Who and How Much
It is universally discovered in audio listening surveys that preferences differ by age group. This study delineates three of those groups: 16-34, 35-54, and 55+. The chart below illustrates how each group consumers radio, music services, and music videos:
The Platforms
Having determined preferences by age, next is looking at the share of radio listening by platform over 23 quarters. (Note the interruption of this research in 2020-2021.)
Reaching for Listeners
Next, a graph representing the weekly reach into the UK population of all service types. We see how YouTube eclipses Spotify, and that the native BBC Sounds service captures about one-quarter of audience share.
As always, we recommend looking at the source. (Free download HERE.) We have covered four basic views of this detailed survey. The full deck examines how in-car listening fits in, the prevalence of voice assistances. We will extend our initial coverage into the podcast research in a future post.