News Broadcasting, the radio arm of News UK, has reported a record quarter for talkSPORT, driven by its coverage of the summer's football World Cup. Figures published on Thursday 29 October 2026 for the RAJAR survey period from 29 June to 20 September show the talkSPORT network reaching its highest-ever total of listening hours.

A World Cup summer for talkSPORT

The network recorded 24.9 million listening hours, up 8.4% on the same period last year, and reached 3.8 million listeners a week, up 11.1% year on year. Its breakfast show drew 1.5 million weekly listeners, while the White and Jordan programme reached 1.3 million and Hawksbee and Jacobs 1.2 million. News UK links the performance to its position as the official audio broadcaster for the tournament, with live commentary across all 104 matches.

Growth across the wider group

Across all its stations — talkSPORT, Times Radio, Virgin Radio UK, Talk and U105 in Northern Ireland — News Broadcasting reported 6.5 million weekly listeners and 43.8 million listening hours, with 87% of listening coming through digital platforms. Times Radio grew its weekly audience by 10% year on year to 619,000, with 5.5 million listening hours, while Virgin Radio UK's network reached 1.9 million weekly listeners.

What the figures measure

The results underline how a major sporting summer can lift speech and sports radio, even as listening habits shift further towards phones, smart speakers and online streams. RAJAR defines weekly reach as adults who listen for at least five minutes in an average week, so the figures measure breadth of audience as well as total hours.

Sources: News UK, RadioToday, Press Gazette.