Record breaking 27.6m tune into Global as Amanda Holden beats Greg James at breakfast
A record 27.6m weekly listeners tuned into Global Media’s radio shows in the first quarter as Heart, LBC and Capital took the top three commercial breakfast shows in London.
The figure, up 1m year-on-year, means total listening hours also came in at an unprecedented 266m between January and the end of March.
The growth was driven by a record-breaking 12.4m weekly listeners at Heart, which is the UK’s largest commercial radio brand.
Heart Breakfast with Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston pipped Greg James’s BBC Radio 1 Breakfast by over 200,000 listeners, the media group said.
Ashley Tabor-King CBE, founder and executive president of Global, said: “What an incredible day!! To have added a million listeners and achieve record reach, hours and share, hitting over 27 million listeners for the first time ever is a real moment.
“For connected listening to overtake analogue listening is testament to Global Player and all those who have worked so hard to create that platform. We are forever grateful to the millions of people who listen to our radio stations, and we will always work tirelessly to make everything our listeners hear the very best it can be.
“I’d like to acknowledge the continued work of every talented Globaller who truly deliver on our mission to make everyone’s day brighter!”
Global said its weekday line-up at LBC, which includes the likes of James O’Brien, Tom Swarbrick and Tonight with Andrew Marr, celebrated “massive growth” with every programe seeing reach, hours and share improve.
On the music side, Capital reached 8.3m weekly listeners, adding 469,000 year-on-year, while Smooth Radio celebrated a highest ever audience figure of 6.5m.
James Rea, chief broadcasting and content officer at Global, said: “This is a stunning set of record results for Global. I’m thrilled for our fantastic teams who work so hard to produce amazing content every day and we’re all incredibly grateful to our audiences right around the UK who continue to turn to Global’s brands in their millions.”
In its most recent financial results, Global reported an operating profit of £75.4m on revenue of £806m.
The firm appointed former STV boss Simon Pitts as chief executive in early March. He succeeds Stephen Miron, who had served in the top job for 16 years and oversaw Global’s rapid expansion.