Entertainment · TV & Streaming · 3 hrs ago
Sara Cox’s Radio 2 breakfast show draws 6.44 million listeners
Sara Cox took over Radio 2’s breakfast show on July 6, replacing Scott Mills, who the BBC had dismissed at the end of March.
Mills’s departure came shortly before news emerged of a police investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy.
Cox’s show averaged 6.44 million weekly listeners between July and September, according to Rajar figures.
That was a slight rise from 6.37 million in the previous quarter, when Gary Davies filled in.
The programme remains the UK’s most popular breakfast radio show, and Radio 2 was the country’s most listened-to station, with 12.67 million weekly listeners.
Radio 4’s Today programme lost listeners, falling from 5.61 million to 5.29 million in the same period.
Sara Cox’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show averaged 6.44 million weekly listeners from July to September, according to Rajar figures.
Cox became the show’s permanent presenter on July 6, replacing Scott Mills.
The audience was slightly higher than the 6.37 million recorded from April to June, when Gary Davies filled in.
The show remained the UK’s most popular programme in its morning slot.
Radio 2’s average weekly audience rose to 12.67 million from 12.37 million in the prior quarter.
- Who
- Sara Cox and the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
- What
- The show averaged 6.44 million weekly listeners from July to September.
- When
- The figures cover July to September 2026.
- Where
- BBC Radio 2 in the UK.
- Why
- Rajar released the figures as part of its audience research; the sources do not state a specific reason for the audience level.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The BBC sacked Scott Mills from the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
Gary Davies filled in as host, and the show averaged 6.37 million weekly listeners.
Sara Cox took over as the show’s permanent presenter.
The show averaged 6.44 million weekly listeners.
The latest listening figures were reported.
- Cox’s show audience
- 6.44 million weekly listeners, July to September
- Previous quarter audience
- 6.37 million weekly listeners, April to June
- Cox took over
- July 6, 2026
- Radio 2 audience
- 12.67 million weekly listeners
- Radio 4 Today audience
- 5.29 million, down from 5.61 million
2 sources
What people are saying
These results underline the strength of BBC radio, which continues to bring audiences together through outstanding live events, trusted journalism and world-class music.
Audiences spent 423 million hours with radio, podcasts and music on BBC Sounds, demonstrating the continued value of our content across live and on-demand listening.
I’m thrilled that we have grown our listeners to 12.7 million each week, making us the UK’s most popular single radio station.