IT’S been a bumper six months for Virgin Radio UK, talkSport and TalkRadio stations pulling in over 44 million listeners per week.

The three stations have all seen their reach grow throughout 2023, as has their sister channel TimesRadio.

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talkSPORT lead the pack delivering a reach of 3.4m listeners per week.

The feat saw the station land an increase of 15.8% year-on-year with sport living Brits listening for a record 21.8m hours – up 31.5%

talkSPORT Breakfast has recorded its best reach figures in this quarter since 2019 (1.3m), while White and Jordan have hit a record at 1.1m weekly reach while Kick Off (Mon-Fri, 1900-2200) delivered its best audience since 2013.

The Virgin Radio UK network clocked up an extra 2% of listeners (2m) per week.

Thanks to shows from the likes of Graham Norton, 60, and Chris Evans, 57, the station now boasts  11.6m weekly listening hours, up 6% year-on-year.

The Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, 45, joined the network in January this year – launching his drivetime show from 4pm – 7pm.

Meanwhile, TalkRadio also saw an impressive increase – rising 6% (727K) to record 4.6m weekly listening hours year on year.

Mike Graham, 62, Julia Hartley-Brewer, 55, and Jeremy Kyle, 58, are just some of the big names with regular shows on the station.

Ever outspoken, Piers Morgan, 58, continues to deliver the world’s best high-profile interviews, driving over 1.9m YouTube subscribers.

The unprecedented success means News Broadcasting has retained its market-leading position as the UK’s biggest digital broadcaster.

Across the nation, 84% of hours are coming from digital ( including DAB ) and 35% from streaming.  

News UK EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton, said: “Another record for News Broadcasting – with the highest-ever listening hours in our history.

“Our world-class broadcasting talent is delivering across our national roster of stations, including talkSPORT, Virgin Radio, TalkRadio and Times Radio, as well as U105 in Northern Ireland.

“News Broadcasting remains the UK’s most digital broadcasting group, with 84% of listening hours from digital and 35% from streaming, positioning us brilliantly for continued digital audience and revenue growth.”

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