Live radio remains as large a part of audio listening in the UK as it is in the U.S., according to just-released findings from audio measurement service RAJAR.
The results of the recent wave of RAJAR's ongoing survey, conducted in September among more than 2,400 adults ages 15 and older, show live radio with an 88% weekly reach, keeping a wide lead over other audio sources. On-demand music services such as Spotify or Apple Music place a distant second at 32% – actually down from 35% in RAJAR's 2021 survey – while third-ranked podcasts continue a steady growth trend, from 10% in 2017 to a 22% reach in 2023's survey.
A demographic breakdown shows live radio strongest among UK adults 35-54, where it has a 92% weekly reach, just ahead of the 91% for 55+, while at 78% in the 15-34 group. Both on-demand and podcasts skew significantly younger, with a 52% and 28% reach, respectively, among the 15-34 demo.
In terms of overall share of audio, live radio takes 70%, vs. on-demand's 13% and podcasts' 6%. It's a tighter race among 15-34s, though, where live radio's share is at 46% compared to 33% for on-demand and 12% for podcasts.
According to RAJAR's data, the 15-34 demo accounts for 38% of UK podcast listeners, with 35-54s close behind at 36%, and 55+ at 26%. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of podcast listeners listen to more than half of all the episodes they download, while 72% listen to all or mostly all of each episode downloaded, with 80% listening to 1-to-3 podcasts weekly. The most popular podcast genres are comedy, news and politics, sports, and True Crime.