Stats show BBC 6 Music is UK’s No.1 digital radio station, Radio 1 is first for young people

BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music are among the major UK radio stations to have enjoyed promising listening figures in the latest data to be published by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd).

RAJAR have this week shared their quarterly listening figures for Q4 2021, which covers September 20 through to December 19. This is the second set of figures to be determined through a new methodology after the coronavirus pandemic suspended RAJAR’s operations in March 2020.

The latest figures show that 34.51million people tuned in each week for live output across BBC Radio during the final quarter of 2021, giving the BBC an overall share of 49.9 per cent of all radio in the UK.

BBC Radio 1 pulled in 8.97million listeners aged 10 and over during Q4 2021, with the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James attracting 4.85million 10+ listeners. Radio 1, which is actively targeting a youth audience online, remains the number one radio station in the UK for 15-29-year-olds.

BBC Headquarters (Credit: Alamy)

While 6 Music saw a 3.1 per cent dip in its quarter-on-quarter listening figures – pulling in 2.6million listeners – the station is still the UK’s number one digital radio station.

“I’m delighted that millions of people choose to start their day with our most popular music breakfast shows and their brilliant hosts Greg [James] and Zoe [Ball], who continue to entertain and amuse listeners as they go about their morning routines,” Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer, said in a statement.

“These figures show the important role that BBC Radio plays in people’s lives, with 34.5million tuning in to listen live each week to our much loved stations. We also continue to see on-demand listening grow for both our radio programmes and podcasts, as audiences come to BBC Sounds to discover content to listen to whenever they want to.”

Elsewhere, Global’s radio stations pulled in 25.8million weekly listeners during Q4 2021 for a 24 per cent overall share, while Bauer Media Audio achieved a 20.6million reach across its stations.

Steve Lamacq is currently celebrating Independent Venue Week 2022, with a series of special shows on BBC Radio 6 Music which run through to tomorrow (February 4).

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