Steady as she goes at Radio 2 with Scott and Vernon audience increases

Published on February 5, 2026 - 10:39 am

The latest audience figures released today show that although BBC Radio 2’s audience has slipped a little, there is some good news for the station.

RAJAR’s Quarter 4 2025 figures show that Radio 2 remains the biggest single station in the UK with an audience of 12.7 million weekly listeners, but the numbers are down 6.7% from the same period last year and the last quarter has dropped 0.6% from the previous quarter.

The good news is that both Scott Mills and Vernon Kay have seen increases in their audiences. Scott’s weekly audience on his Breakfast Show is 6.5 million, his highest since taking over in late January 2025. Vernon Kay’s mid-morning show is now 6.7 million, up for his second quarter, and remains the biggest show in the UK.

These numbers are still short of where Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce were at their peaks on the station as each of them achieved over 8 million listeners.

However, the increases for Scott and Vernon are good news for Radio 2, which has also seen listeners listening longer in the last quarter of 2025. Listeners are tuning for an average of 11.02 hours a week, a four year high for the station.

Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 says she is “thrilled that Radio 2 continues to be the UK’s most listened to single radio station,” adding that Scott Mills remains the UK’s most listened to Breakfast Show with his highest figure since taking over Radio 2 Breakfast and Vernon Kay continues to be the most listened to show on UK radio.

She adds: “Many thanks go to the Radio 2 listeners, who are tuning in for just over 11 hours each week, a four-year record.”

Other highlights from the latest survey show that Heart remains the UK biggest radio brand, reaching 12.7 million each week, LBC UK achieved its best reach nationally with 3.4 million weekly listeners, The Magic Radio Breakfast Show with Gok Wan and Harriet Scott is up 13 per cent year-on-year and both Talk Radio and talkSPORT had a good increases in weekly listeners and time spent listening.