Record quarter for BBC Sounds as flagship speech, sport and news titles drive growth on and off platform

A standout quarter for titles including The Archers in its 75th anniversary year, The Traitors: Uncloaked, In Our Time, Newscast and Americast helped drive BBC Sounds to a record start to 2026, with 718 million plays of radio, podcasts and music between January and March – up 5% on the same period last year

For audio plays from across the BBC including BBC Sport, BBC News, BBC Bitesize and visualised podcasts on iPlayer, there was an average weekly audience of 5.8 million, peaking at a record 7.2 million during the week of The Traitors: Uncloaked finale (w/c 19th January), an increase of a million plays on the previous quarter’s peak.

Beyond BBC platforms, our podcasts and on demand radio programmes were downloaded 231 million times on third-party platforms last quarter. Audiences continued to discover our programmes on socials with a total of 1.1 billion social video views of BBC audio content between January and March, up 21% compared with the same period last year.

Between January and March, there were 265 million plays of on demand radio and podcast content, alongside 1.5 million plays of music mixes on BBC Sounds. Additionally, there were 11 million signed-in accounts across the quarter.

Mohit Bakaya, Controller of BBC Radio 4 and Director of BBC Speech Audio, said DRAFT QUOTE: “This has been another exceptional quarter for our speech audio output, with audiences continuing to seek out distinctive storytelling and shared cultural moments. From the enduring popularity of The Archers in its 75th anniversary year, to the continued strength of In Our Time and the immersive storytelling of Uncanny, it’s clear that our programmes remain at the heart of how audiences connect with BBC audio.   It’s especially encouraging to see how these titles are finding new and younger listeners alongside their loyal audiences, whether on BBC Sounds, via third party platforms or in visualised form. It speaks to the timeless appeal of great speech content, rooted in creativity, originality and trust, and our ongoing commitment to championing the very best storytelling from across the UK.”

Jonathan Wall, Director, BBC Sounds said: “BBC Sounds has had a brilliant start to 2026. It’s great to see audiences coming in record numbers, and also finding our content through podcasts and socials off platform. I’m pleased to see younger listeners enjoying new titles like Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknell Podcast and Audio Lab’s MF Doom: Long Island to Leeds, which show the value of backing fresh ideas and distinctive new voices. It’s also great to see some of our Tour de Force famous shows like The Archers, Desert Island Discs and In Our Time, in fine form.”

In its 75th anniversary year, The Archers continued to prove its enduring appeal. A gripping ‘whodunnit’ storyline kept listeners on the edge of their seat and making it the most popular on demand radio programme overall and the second most listened to among under 35s, behind long time favourite, Elis James and John Robins.

With new presenter Misha Glenny, In Our Time continued to be one of the most popular on demand radio programmes on BBC Sounds, for all adults and for listeners under‑35 listeners. Desert Island Discs and Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James also performed strongly with both broad and younger audiences.

During another intense news cycle, Newscast was the most listened to podcast of the quarter for all adults and for under 35 year olds, and Americast ranked as the second most popular podcast among all adults.

Following another exceptional series, The Traitors: Uncloaked retained its faithful audience by placing in the top ten podcasts for adults of all ages on BBC Sounds, as well as helping drive younger listeners to the platform as the second most popular podcast for under 35 year olds.

Following the New Year’s Day recreation of its first-ever episode with members of the cast playing their ancestors, The Archers Podcast secured a place in the top ten for listeners of all ages.

Greg James captured younger listeners’ hearts on his Longest Ride for Comic Relief, helping Radio 1’s All Day Breakfast with Greg James pick up highest proportion of under 35 year olds. As we secured the streaming rights to ‘the biggest football match in Sunday League history’ between the Royal Oak and Nags Head, Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknell Podcast was also among the top ten podcasts with the highest proportion of younger listeners, followed by one of the acclaimed new podcasts from this year’s BBC Sounds Audio Lab cohort, MF Doom: Long Island to Leeds.

The Sleeping Forecast was the most listened to BBC Music Mix in Q1, followed by Radio 1’s Dance Anthems and Mindful Mix.

Podcast acquisitions performed well last quarter, led once more by Sherlock Holmes Short Stories. A Short History Of… ranked second and The Rest Is History was third.

The Global News Podcast was the most downloaded programme globally on third party platforms, followed by 6 Minute English and Newscast.