BBC Sounds continues to grow in Q2 2024 with 608 million plays of all content across radio, podcasts and music mixes, an increase of almost 5% from the same period last year. Data shows there was a weekly audience average of 4.88 million with a peak of 5 million weekly users. The RAJAR figures for the same period show that podcast listening is at an all-time high with 12.3 million people in the UK (15+) now listening to podcasts each week, a new record. This reflects evolving listener habits, with an increased appetite for podcasts and on-demand content, as digital audience figures continue to grow. 32m people tune in each week for live output across the BBC stations, with a share of 42.6% of UK listening.
Key highlights on BBC Sounds in Q2 2024
- BBC Radio 4 speech content continues to dominate the BBC Sounds top ten podcasts with 8 out of 10 titles coming from the network, including comedy such as It’s a Fair Cop, drama strand Limelight, and popular returning titles including, History’s Secret Heroes and Uncanny.
- The BBC received 34 nominations at the British Podcast Awards.
- Newscast took the top spot again as the most listened to podcast on BBC Sounds and the top podcast with listeners under 35 and Americast also made it into the top ten most listened to podcasts.
- Michael Mosley’s Just One Thing podcast from BBC Radio 4 was the second most listened to podcast on BBC Sounds this quarter. His poignant final interview on How to Live a Good Life live from the Hay Festival was the top performing episode of the series.
- Radio 4’s The Archers continues to be the most popular on demand radio programme for all adults again this quarter, followed by Whodunnits on Radio 4 Extra and Desert Island Discs.
- Audio drama continues to perform well with the popular Limelight series in the top 5 most listened to podcasts and the Drama on 4 genre was among the most listened to programmes on demand.
- The most popular on demand music programme was Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn on BBC Radio 2.
- Music focused programming dominated in popularity with younger listeners and had the highest percentage of listeners aged under 35. BBC Radio 1 made up 9 out of the top 10 most popular on-demand radio shows on BBC Sounds, with Radio 1 10s taking the top spot, followed by the 00’s and Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James. BBC Radio 1Xtra’s breakfast show with Nadia Jae was also in the top 10.
- The Sleeping Forecast was the most listened to music mix on BBC Sounds again this quarter, followed by Mindful Mix, Sounds of the 90s with Fearne Cotton and Pace Setter.
- June saw an uplift in listeners for Rob Burrow’s award-winning interview series Rob Burrow Seven Meets following the sad news of his death.
There was a total of 209 million downloads for BBC podcasts around the world this quarter, up 6 million from quarter 1. The Global News Podcast was the most popular on third party platforms followed by The Documentary Podcast and Newscast. New release Miss Me? also made it into the top globally downloaded podcasts.
To get the BBC Sounds Q1 Report 2024 which contains complete podcast charts amongst other details go here.
