Times Radio, the voice of The Times, is celebrating its fifth year on-air with record audience figures and a growing reputation as the destination for intelligent discussion on the stories that matter.
According to the latest RAJAR results, the station now reaches 622,000 weekly listeners, with audiences tuning in for an average of eight hours per week, the highest figures in its history.
Times Radio has established a line-up of 21 regular Presenters, bringing together some of the most respected names in journalism and broadcasting. The schedule features big names such as Andrew Neil, John Pienaar, Kate McCann and Adam Boulton, alongside popular voices including Jane Garvey, Fi Glover, Hugo Rifkind, Stig Abell, Ayesha Hazarika and Alexis Conran.
This year alone, the station has launched two new programmes, Geoff Norcott on Friday evenings and Rod Liddle on Saturday mornings, both of which have already set record audiences for their time slots just months after launch.
Times Radio also continues to expand its digital reach, with its YouTube channel attracting nearly 1.5 million subscribers and generating around 2 million daily video views.
Times Radio has unrivalled access to the world-class journalism of The Times and The Sunday Times. Each week, around 100 Times Journalists and Columnists appear on the station to offer their expert insight and analysis, from William Hague and Alice Thomson to Camilla Long and Patrick Maguire. Listener surveys consistently show that hearing from Times Journalists is the number one reason audiences tune in.
In the five years Times Radio has been on-air, the UK has had four prime ministers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, and every one of them has appeared on Times Radio, alongside every major party leader.
The station’s reach goes beyond politics. Celebrities from Tom Hanks, Kate Winslet and Stephen Fry to David Walliams and Dawn French have featured in interviews. Since launching in 2020, Times Radio has conducted more than 200,000 interviews, spanning news, politics, culture, lifestyle and entertainment.
Tim Levell, programme director of Times Radio, says:
“We were always excited by the potential of Times Radio. But five years on, the trust and recognition given to Times Radio has exceeded even our high expectations. Not only do people around the UK spend around eight hours a week in our company. But a large number of politicians and business leaders and key decision makers are tuning in.
A recent survey suggested that nearly a third of all MPs listen to Times Radio Breakfast, making it more popular than many more established programmes. We’ve long felt like a “start-up”. Now, we feel like a regular part of many peoples’ lives – and are honoured and grateful that so many listeners have chosen to switch to Times Radio to get their news.”
