Pop Music / Current Hits Stations
“Hot AC” Pop Hits offerings from the BBC (Radio 1), Global (Capital), Bauer (Hits Network, Kiss and Heat) – featuring the latest chart cuts and biggest current Pop, R’nB and Dance etc targeting mostly under 35’s. You’ll notice that Radio 1 is playing many more different songs, in fact TEN TIMES more songs than Capital and Kiss, though the Hits Network and Heat do have a slightly bigger range. Radio 1 has to play a certain percentage of new music just like Radio2 as per its Ofcom commitments but 50% of both Capital and Kiss’s outputs are made up of less than about 40 songs! I bet the jocks get bored of playing them, but do the listeners get bored of hearing them less than 3 hours after the last play??
Radio 1 manages to keep up the song variety well into the 3rd and 4th weeks of listening, still playing between 50 and 100 fresh songs a day, whilst you’ll notice that all of the commercial stations in this genre are bumping along the bottom with very few, if any, new songs on any day after just the first week, though there is a little extra variety permitted from all stations at the weekend!
(Note: Radio 1’s figures below do NOT include some evening and overnight hours which are simulcasts of other Radio 1 stations of a more specialist nature such as Extra or Dance, as those hours are included in the individual analyses of those stations already).
Analysis: 26 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9424
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 3889
Variety factor for this station is : 41.2%
50% OF PLAYS is 381 Songs (9.7% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 109 MOST played songs (2.8% of the total)
or 2887 LEAST played songs (74.2% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 7h
10th most played song airs every: 9h 36m
109th most played song airs every: 2d 21h 20m
381st most played song airs every: 6d 12h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 3647 (93.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
53 after 24 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 4230
..in 3 months: 8561, in 6 months: 14040
..in 9 months: 18965, in 12 months: 23579
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [89 plays] Dave – Raindance (feat. Tems)
2 [86 plays] Robyn – Dopamine
3= [83 plays] each for…
+ HAVEN. – I Run (feat. Kaitlin Aragon)
+ Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Poppy Baskcomb – Think About Us
5 [80 plays] Fred again.., Sammy Virji and Reggie – Talk Of The Town
6 [77 plays] Tate McRae – Nobody’s Girl
7 [76 plays] Charli xcx – Chains of Love
8 [74 plays] PinkPantheress – Stateside (feat. Zara Larsson)
9 [71 plays] Wet Leg – pokemon
10 [65 plays] Skye Newman – U and UF
Analysis: 25 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9129
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 580
Variety factor for this station is : 6.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 53 Songs (9.1% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 26 MOST played songs (4.4% of the total)
or 486 LEAST played songs (83.7% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 2h 48m
10th most played song airs every: 4h 43m
26th most played song airs every: 8h 27m
53rd most played song airs every: 12h 30m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 283 (48.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 13 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 617
..in 3 months: 734, in 6 months: 883
..in 9 months: 999, in 12 months: 1093
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [214 plays] HAVEN. feat. Kaitlin Aragon – I Run
2 [196 plays] Raye – Where Is My Husband!
3 [193 plays] Ed Sheeran – Camera
4 [148 plays] David Guetta, Teddy Swims and Tones And I – Gone Gone Gone
5 [134 plays] Alex Warren – Ordinary
6 [131 plays] Ed Sheeran – Sapphire
7 [129 plays] Justin Bieber – Daisies
8= [127 plays] each for…
+ KATSEYE – Gabriela
+ Myles Smith – Stay (If You Wanna Dance)
+ SIENNA SPIRO – Die On This Hill
+ sombr – 12 to 12
Analysis: 27 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9368
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 500
Variety factor for this station is : 5.3%
50% OF PLAYS is 41 Songs (8.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 19 MOST played songs (3.8% of the total)
or 398 LEAST played songs (79.6% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 3h 6m
10th most played song airs every: 3h 55m
19th most played song airs every: 5h 47m
41st most played song airs every: 19h 3m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 210 (42%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 22 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 508
..in 3 months: 619, in 6 months: 730
..in 9 months: 906, in 12 months: 1077
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [208 plays] Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas – Blessings
2= [206 plays] each for…
+ Justin Bieber – Daisies
+ Raye – Where Is My Husband
4= [204 plays] each for…
+ Disco Lines and Tinashe – No Broke Boys
+ Haven – I Run
6 [202 plays] Taylor Swift – The Fate Of Ophelia
7 [199 plays] Dave ft. Tems – Raindance
8 [196 plays] Kpop Demon Hunters – Golden
9 [188 plays] Olivia Dean – Man I Need
10 [165 plays] Drake and Central Cee – Which One
Analysis: 24 days, up to 05-01-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6932
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 865
Variety factor for this station is : 12.4%
50% OF PLAYS is 53 Songs (6.1% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 26 MOST played songs (3% of the total)
or 748 LEAST played songs (86.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 4h 43m
10th most played song airs every: 5h 14m
26th most played song airs every: 11h 31m
53rd most played song airs every: 16h 27m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 618 (71.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
3 after 21 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 902
..in 3 months: 1092, in 6 months: 1198
..in 9 months: 1324, in 12 months: 1420
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [122 plays] Taylor Swift – The Fate Of Ophelia
2= [118 plays] each for…
+ Myles Smith – Nice To Meet You
+ Raye – Where Is My Husband
4 [117 plays] Kpop Demon Hunters – Golden
5 [116 plays] Ed Sheeran – Camera
6= [113 plays] each for…
+ Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas – Blessings
+ Lewis Capaldi – Survive
8 [112 plays] Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen – I Had Some Help
9 [111 plays] Ed Sheeran – Sapphire
10 [110 plays] Alex Warren – Ordinary
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-12-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 10196
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1433
Variety factor for this station is : 14%
50% OF PLAYS is 221 Songs (15.4% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 95 MOST played songs (6.6% of the total)
or 1045 LEAST played songs (72.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 4h 30m
10th most played song airs every: 8h 49m
95th most played song airs every: 1d 13h 30m
221st most played song airs every: 2d 2h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 868 (60.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
4 after 22 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 1447
..in 3 months: 1473, in 6 months: 1493
..in 9 months: 1505, in 12 months: 1539
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [116 plays] Taylor Swift – Opalite
2 [115 plays] Jade (Thirlwall) – Church
3 [114 plays] Anne-Marie – Depressed
4= [96 plays] each for…
+ Kylie Minogue – X-m-a-s
+ Olly Murs and The Ordinary Boys – Christmas Starts Tonight
6 [95 plays] Jonas Brothers ft. Kenny G – Coming Home This Christmas
7 [77 plays] Blue – Beautiful Spiritual
8 [58 plays] Olly Murs – Run This Town
9 [56 plays] Boyzlife – Lovebirds
10= [55 plays] each for…
+ Lily Allen – Madeline
+ Robyn – Dopamine
Jack 2 was indirectly replaced with Hits Radio on 29th Oct 2023 following the purchase of the Jack stations by Bauer.
Previous Analysis from Oct 2023: 25 days
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6414
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 853
Variety factor for this station is : 13.2%
50% OF PLAYS is 141 Songs (16.5% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 60 MOST played songs (7% of the total)
or 599 LEAST played songs (70.2% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 6h 3m
10th most played song airs every: 9h 40m
60th most played song airs every: 1d 16h
141st most played song airs every: 2d 2h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 476 (55.8%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 16 DAYS
Different songs played in 1 month: 871
..in 3 months: 937, in 6 months: 973
..in 9 months: 1323, in 12 months: 1526
Top 11 Most Played:
1 [99 plays] Dance The Night – Dua Lipa
2 [86 plays] Cruel Summer – Taylor Swift
3 [78 plays] Don’t Say Love – Leigh-Anne
4= [76 plays] each for…
+ Tension – Kylie
+ Vampire – Olivia Rodrigo
6= [75 plays] each for…
+ Giving Me – Jazzy
+ Whistle – Jax Jones x Calum Scott
8 [71 plays] Used To Be Young – Miley Cyrus
9 [70 plays] How Does It Feel – Tom Grennan
10= [62 plays] each for…
+ Good Luck – Mabel, Jax Jones / Galantis
+ React – Switch Disco feat. Ella Henderson
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