BBC Breakfast Programmes Enjoy Audience Surge in Latest Quarter
Most of the BBC's flagship radio breakfast shows have experienced a significant increase in listeners during the final quarter of 2025, according to the latest official audience measurement data. The figures from research body RAJAR reveal a positive trend for several key morning programmes across the corporation's radio network.
Radio 2 Maintains Dominance Despite Overall Decline
Radio 2 continues to hold its position as the United Kingdom's most popular radio station, attracting an average weekly audience of 12.71 million listeners during the October to December 2025 period. This represents a slight decrease from the previous quarter's 12.79 million and marks a 7% decline compared to the same period in 2024, when the station reached 13.65 million listeners.
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, expressed delight at the station's ongoing popularity, stating: "I'm thrilled that Radio 2 continues to be the UK's most listened to single radio station." She highlighted Vernon Kay's programme as the most listened to show on UK radio, growing to 6.7 million weekly listeners.
Breakfast Show Performance Highlights
The breakfast programmes across several BBC stations demonstrated particularly strong performance in the latest quarter:
- Scott Mills on Radio 2 achieved his highest audience figures since taking over the breakfast show in early 2025, reaching 6.47 million weekly listeners - an increase from 6.16 million in the previous quarter
- Greg James on Radio 1 saw his audience grow to 3.87 million listeners, up from 3.82 million in July-September 2025
- Radio 3's breakfast programme hosted by Tom McKinney experienced a remarkable 22% quarterly increase to 840,000 listeners
- Five Live's breakfast show attracted 1.48 million listeners, representing a 16% rise from the previous quarter
Radio 4 Today Programme Bucks Positive Trend
In contrast to the generally positive picture across BBC breakfast programming, Radio 4's flagship Today programme experienced a slight decline in listenership. The current affairs programme recorded an average weekly audience of 5.47 million in the final quarter of 2025, down marginally from 5.49 million in the previous three months and representing a 5% year-on-year decrease from 5.74 million.
Station-Wide Performance Variations
The latest RAJAR data reveals mixed fortunes across the BBC's radio portfolio:
- Radio 3 grew its overall average audience by 6% to reach 1.91 million weekly listeners
- Radio 4 increased its total audience by 1% to 8.92 million
- Radio 1 experienced a 3% quarterly decline in overall listenership
- Five Live saw a 2% decrease in its total audience figures
Commercial Radio Landscape
The data also provides insights into the competitive commercial radio sector, where significant changes have occurred:
Greatest Hits Radio witnessed a substantial 20% year-on-year decline, falling from 7.37 million weekly listeners in late 2024 to 5.91 million in the same period of 2025. This represents the station's lowest audience figures since April-June 2023.
Among news-focused commercial stations, Times Radio attracted an average of 542,000 listeners during the quarter, marking a 4% quarterly decrease and a 10% year-on-year decline. Meanwhile, GB News recorded 672,000 weekly listeners, showing a 2% quarterly decrease but a substantial 44% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The latest audience figures demonstrate the evolving landscape of UK radio listening habits, with BBC breakfast programmes generally performing well despite broader challenges facing traditional radio broadcasting in an increasingly digital media environment.
