Heart becomes the UK’s biggest radio brand with record-breaking listener numbers

15 May 2025, 09:08

By Alice Dear

Heart celebrates another new record with 13.4 million weekly listeners, adding nearly 1 million listeners in the last year.

Heart has officially become the UK’s most popular radio brand, celebrating a historic milestone with over 13.4 million weekly listeners, marking a gain of 992,000 new listeners over the past year.

For the first time, Heart has overtaken BBC Radio 2 in terms of weekly reach—a major achievement in the competitive radio landscape. The station now boasts 279,000 more listeners than Radio 2 and a staggering 5.99 million more than Radio 1, firmly establishing its dominance in the UK radio market.

At the heart of this success is Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden, which has hit an all-time high with 4.3 million weekly listeners. It continues to be the UK’s biggest commercial breakfast show, showing strong growth across reach, listening hours, and audience share.

This remarkable performance comes after Theakston returned to the airwaves following treatment for stage one laryngeal cancer. Heart’s recent expansion with new sister stations has also contributed to its soaring success. Launched in September, these new offerings are already resonating with audiences, reflected in their latest RAJAR figures:

• Heart Musicals now reaches 216,000 weekly listeners, a rise of 82,000 in just the past three months.
• Heart Love celebrates a new high with 207,000 weekly listeners.
• Heart 10s achieves its best-ever performance with 316,000 weekly listeners.

Global, the media company behind Heart, expressed pride and gratitude at the achievement. Ashley Tabor-King CBE, Founder & Executive President of Global, called it a “huge moment,” saying: “After over 18 years of hard work from our team and huge loyalty from our incredible listeners, Heart overtakes Radio 2 as the UK’s largest radio brand. I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to every single Globaller and listener that’s made this possible. We are truly in the golden era of commercial radio broadcasting.”

James Rea, Global’s Chief Broadcasting & Content Officer, echoed the sentiment, saying: “What a moment it is for a commercial radio brand to be the most popular in the UK. I couldn’t be more proud of the team at Heart for all their hard work, and it’s so fantastic to see it come through in these results.”

This record-breaking success underscores a vibrant future for UK commercial radio, as Heart leads the charge in delivering engaging content and “turning up the feel-good” for millions across the nation.