Modern love – young people over-index on 70s, 80s and 90s digital stations

01.08.2025 - Top story - United Kingdom

From Bowie and Zeppelin to Prince, Madonna, and Oasis, the 70s, 80s, and 90s were full of icons, and its no surprise radio listening habits are still influenced by these stars. But what might come as a surprise is how popular decade stations are with younger people who weren’t alive to experience the hits as they came out. Rajar’s Q2 results showed when they do tune in to the radio, 15-24 year olds are overindexing on listening to national decades stations. Of the 7.8m adults who listen to at least one decade themed station each week, just under 1m are 15-24 year olds. This compares to the fact that just 7% of total radio listening hours are comprised of the same age group. The audience figures come as leading radio broadcasters Bauer and Global have increasingly leaned into developing stations based on segmenting music by decade.

(The Media Leader) Read more