BBC Sounds continues to grow in Q4 2024 with 644 million plays of all content across radio, podcasts and music mixes in the quarter October to December 2024. This is up 22 million plays on the previous quarter and an increase of more than 3% from the same period last year, as digital listening continues to grow.
This quarter also saw the launch of two new music streams, Radio 3 Unwind and Radio 1 Anthems, giving listeners on BBC Sounds more choice of music to suit their mood. There was a record 253 million plays of on demand radio and podcasts. In Q4 BBC Sounds had a weekly audience average of 4.8 million, which is up more than 3% on the previous quarter, peaking at 4.96 million weekly active accounts during US election week.
Providing the soundtrack to the festive season, BBC Sounds saw Christmas Music topping the chart of music mixes with offers from Radio 2 including Mariah Carey’s Christmas Hour, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco Ultimate Christmas Hits! and Christmas Anthems with Greg James from Radio 1.
Radio 1’s All Day Breakfast with Greg James had the highest percentage of listeners under 35; with on demand music titles Sidetracked with Annie and Nick, and Make Me A Mixtape with Clara Amfo and Jordan Stephens also in the top five.
Speech content and podcasts continue to be popular
There was a total of 214 million downloads of BBC podcasts around the world this quarter, with the Global News Podcast ranked number one on third party platforms followed by 6 Minute English and The Documentary Podcast.
Speech titles from BBC Radio 4 remained dominant, making up six of the top ten podcasts and eight of the top ten on demand radio programmes. Fans of the paranormal pushed Uncanny into the top spot, and newly launched The History Podcast also performed well, alongside established drama strand Limelight which was also in the top five most listened to podcasts on BBC Sounds.
Danny Robins’ Uncanny took the top spot as the most popular podcast overall this quarter and amongst listeners under 35s, driven by the release of Halloween: Trilogy of Terror and daily bite-size spooky stories, along with two creepy Christmas specials.
With the US election in November, listeners stayed up to date with the BBC’s news and current affairs podcasts; Newscast and Americast were the second and third most listened to podcasts respectively, both overall and with listeners under 35. The new series of The Coming Storm with Gabriel Gatehouse, from Radio 4, was the sixth most listened to podcast by all adults.
Audio drama proved a hit once again this quarter with Drama on 4 and Whodunnits on Radio 4 Extra both among the top ten most listened to on demand radio programmes with The Archers retaining the number one spot. The Limelight feed, from Radio 4 (which included Central Intelligence featuring Kim Cattrall, Ed Harris, and Johnny Flynn) ranked as the fifth most listened to podcast.
Other popular podcasts in the top ten this quarter included Radio 4’s new story-driven history series, The History Podcast, and Curious Cases with Hannah Fry and new co-presenter Dara Ó Briain.
From BBC Radio 5 Live, Elis James and John Robins’ award-winning radio show kept comedy fans of all ages entertained; charting as the second most listened to on demand radio programme with the under 35 audience and sixth most listened to overall.
Sports titles also helped drive younger listeners on BBC Sounds, including Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily and Match of the Day: Top 10.
The Tortoise Investigates feed was popular with younger listeners tuning in to a trio of newly acquired titles Hoaxed, Sweet Bobby and Pig Iron ranking in the top ten podcasts among the under 35s.
The BBC Sounds Q4 Report 2024 containing more data and infographics can be freely downloaded here.
