Live radio reaching almost nine in 10 UK adults

In its latest data release, Rajar said that 49 million UK adults had tuned into live radio, with 41 million using digital radio, equivalent to 73% of the adult population.

Rajar said that 32% of adults claimed to listen to the radio through a tablet or smartphone at least once a month, and said this represented a three percentage point rise from the third quarter of 2021.

This rose to 38% of all 15 to 35-year-olds using a smartphone or tablet to listen to the radio, Rajar added, albeit a percentage point lower than the previous quarter.

Digital accounted for 68% of weekly listening hours, with listening via a DAB having a 41% share of listening, online having a 22% share and DTV 5%.

DAB radio accounted for 60% of all digital listening hours, at around 407 million hours, while smart speaker systems were 16% of hours, or 107 million hours.

The research found that 53% of smart speaker users said they used the systems to listen to the radio weekly, while 22% did so daily.

The home was the most popular place to listen to the radio, followed by cars and other modes of transport and then work.