Rajar Q3 2026: Radio 2 Breakfast grows as Heart Breakfast slips below 4m
Top commercial breakfast programme Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda (Global) saw its weekly reach fall below 4m listeners in Q3 2026, according to the latest Rajar figures.
The show’s weekly reach declined 2% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, BBC Radio 2 Breakfast remains the leading programme in the breakfast slot, with weekly reach up 4% year-on-year and 1% quarter-on-quarter to 6.4m listeners. Sara Cox took over as host on 6 July, replacing Scott Mills, who was sacked from the BBC in March following allegations over his personal conduct.
Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio, Bauer’s biggest breakfast show, hosted by Simon ‘Rossie’ Ross, declined by 7% year-on-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter to 2.8m weekly listeners.
Hits Radio Breakfast, hosted by Fleur East, Will Best, and James Barr, recorded a steeper decline for Bauer, with weekly reach down 23% year-on-year and 7% quarter-on-quarter to 1.2m listeners.
Meanwhile, Bauer’s KISS Breakfast hosted by Tyler West and Chloe Burrows grew 29% year-on-year to 561,000, although reach fell 16% quarter-on-quarter. West and Burrows took over the show in February as part of a wider KISS rebrand.
Global’s Classic FM and Capital Network were flat year-on-year, but both recorded a marginal 1% decline quarter-on-quarter.
News UK’s talkSPORT recorded growth in breakfast listening, with weekly reach up 14% year-on-year and 10% quarter-on-quarter. The figures follow a summer of major sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup semi-finals and final in July.
Times Radio Breakfast grew 13% year-on-year to reach 333,000 listeners weekly, while Global’s LBC increased 4% to 1.4m listeners.
GB News’ breakfast show remained steady year-on-year but fell 18% on the quarter to 267,000 weekly listeners.
The results come amid political change, with Andy Burnham becoming Prime Minister in July, and several scandals linked to Reform and the Green Party.
In London, most breakfast shows recorded year-on-year declines. Hits Radio (London) fell 33% to 104,000 weekly listeners, Radio X London dropped 31% to 154,000, and Greatest Hits Radio (London) declined 15% to 301,000.
Capital XTRA (London), Smooth Radio London and Magic (London) bucked the trend. Capital XTRA (London) saw the biggest increase, with weekly reach up 14% to 261,000; Smooth Radio London grew 8% to 347,000, while Magic (London) rose 5% to 437,000.
LBC London and Heart London remain the capital’s most popular breakfast shows, reaching 675,000 and 671,000 weekly listeners.
| Breakfast weekly reach (000s) | % change | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station | Time slot | Saleshouse | Sep 25 | Jun 26 | Sep 26 | YoY | QoQ |
| 1 | BBC Radio 2 | 06.30 – 09.30am | BBC | 6,164 | 6,373 | 6,439 | +4% | +1% |
| 2 | BBC Radio 4 | 06.00 – 09.00am | BBC | 5,486 | 5,611 | 5,294 | -3% | -6% |
| 3 | Heart Network (UK) ** | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 4,058 | 4,167 | 3,979 | -2% | -5% |
| 4 | BBC Radio 1 | 07.00 – 11.00am (Fri 07.00 – 10.30am) | BBC | 3,953 | – | 3,814 | -4% | – |
| 5 | Greatest Hits Radio | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 2,983 | 2,893 | 2,781 | -7% | -4% |
| 6 | Capital Network (UK) ** | 06.00 – 10.00am | Global | 2,708 | 2,751 | 2,712 | 0% | -1% |
| 7 | Smooth Radio Network (UK) | 06.00 – 10.00am | Global | 2,427 | 2,323 | 2,283 | -6% | -2% |
| 8 | Absolute Radio Network | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 2,253 | 2,211 | 2,264 | 0% | +2% |
| 9 | Classic FM | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 1,910 | 1,931 | 1,917 | 0% | -1% |
| 10 | talkSPORT | 06.00 – 10.00am | News Broadcasting | 1,314 | 1,354 | 1,494 | +14% | +10% |
| 11 | BBC Radio 5 live | 06.00 – 09.00am | BBC | 1,274 | 1,327 | 1,434 | +13% | +8% |
| 12 | LBC (UK) | 07.00 – 10.00am | Global | 1,368 | 1,465 | 1,418 | +4% | -3% |
| 13 | BBC 6 Music | 07.00 – 10.00am | BBC | 1,327 | 1,293 | 1,255 | -5% | -3% |
| 14 | Hits Radio | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 1,532 | 1,258 | 1,173 | -23% | -7% |
| 15 | Radio X Network (UK) | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 1,018 | 1,046 | 969 | -5% | -7% |
| 16 | Magic | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 882 | 794 | 904 | +2% | +14% |
| 17 | BBC Radio 3 | 06.30 – 09.30am | BBC | 687 | 822 | 805 | +17% | -2% |
| 18 | Gold Radio UK | 07.00 – 11.00am | Global | 802 | 741 | 771 | -4% | +4% |
| 19 | Virgin Radio Network | 06.30 – 10.00am | News Broadcasting | 754 | 647 | 648 | -14% | 0% |
| 20 | Capital XTRA (UK) | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 606 | 585 | 566 | -7% | -3% |
| 21 | KISS | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 436 | 668 | 561 | +29% | -16% |
| 22 | Planet Rock | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 502 | 458 | 523 | +4% | +14% |
| 23 | Times Radio | 06.00 – 10.00am | News Broadcasting | 295 | 348 | 333 | +13% | -4% |
| 24 | GB News Radio | 06.00 – 09.30am | GB News | 267 | 325 | 267 | 0% | -18% |
| 25 | Talk (was TalkRadio) | 06.00 – 10.00am | News Broadcasting | 282 | 289 | 254 | -10% | -12% |
Reach figures in 000s. Bold indicates the highest reach of the three periods shown per station; ** figures include co-located stations; “–” denotes not published for that period.
| Breakfast weekly reach (000s) | % change | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Station | Time slot | Saleshouse | Sep 25 | Jun 26 | Sep 26 | YoY | QoQ |
| 1 | LBC London | 07.00 – 10.00am | Global | 709 | 744 | 675 | -5% | -9% |
| 2 | Heart London | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 709 | 676 | 671 | -5% | -1% |
| 3 | Capital London | 06.00 – 10.00am | Global | 577 | 669 | 556 | -4% | -17% |
| 4 | Magic (London) | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 417 | 372 | 437 | +5% | +17% |
| 5 | Smooth Radio London | 06.00 – 10.00am | Global | 320 | 325 | 347 | +8% | +7% |
| 6 | Greatest Hits Radio (London) | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 355 | 269 | 301 | -15% | +12% |
| 7 | Capital XTRA (London) | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 228 | 228 | 261 | +14% | +14% |
| 8 | LBC News (London) | 06.00 – 10.00am | Global | 182 | 189 | 175 | -4% | -7% |
| 9 | Radio X London | 06.30 – 10.00am | Global | 223 | 143 | 154 | -31% | +8% |
| 10 | Gold Radio London | 07.00 – 11.00am | Global | 148 | 124 | 135 | -9% | +9% |
| 11 | BBC Radio London | 06.00 – 10.00am | BBC | 124 | 181 | 131 | +6% | -28% |
| 12 | Hits Radio (London) | 06.00 – 10.00am | Bauer | 156 | 167 | 104 | -33% | -38% |
Reach figures in 000s. Bold indicates the highest reach of the three periods shown per station.