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: 27 days, up to 17-04-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 9509
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 3936
Variety factor for this station is : 41.3%

50% OF PLAYS is 390 Songs (9.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 125 MOST played songs (3.1% of the total)
or 2924 LEAST played songs (74.2% of the total)

Most played airs on average every: 6h 13m
10th most played song airs every: 10h 7m
125th most played song airs every: 2d 16h 48m
390th most played song airs every: 6d 18h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 3677 (93.4%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
59 after 20 DAYS

Different songs played in 1 month: 4257
..in 3 months: 8614, in 6 months: 14079
..in 9 months: 18808, in 12 months: 23534

Top 10 Most Played:

1 [104 plays] Chappell Roan – The Giver
2 [99 plays] Sabrina Carpenter – Busy Woman
3 [90 plays] Alex Warren – Ordinary
4 [89 plays] Doechii – Anxiety
5 [87 plays] Benson Boone – Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else
6 [81 plays] Drake – NOKIA
7 [80 plays] Tom Grennan – Boys Don’t Cry
8 [73 plays] Ariana Grande – Twilight Zone
9 [65 plays] Mumford and Sons – Rushmere
10 [64 plays] AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith – Crush

Analysis: 23 days, up to 17-04-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8307
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 475
Variety factor for this station is : 5.7%

50% OF PLAYS is 42 Songs (8.8% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 22 MOST played songs (4.6% of the total)
or 391 LEAST played songs (82.3% of the total)

Most played airs on average every: 2h 46m
10th most played song airs every: 4h 29m
22nd most played song airs every: 5h 21m
42nd most played song airs every: 10h 24m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 240 (50.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 15 DAYS

Different songs played in 1 month: 488
..in 3 months: 584, in 6 months: 794
..in 9 months: 907, in 12 months: 1174

Top 10 Most Played:

1 [199 plays] Lola Young – Messy
2 [193 plays] Benson Boone – Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else
3 [154 plays] Alex Warren – Ordinary
4 [138 plays] Doechii – Anxiety
5= [132 plays] each for…
+ Chappell Roan – The Giver
+ David Guetta and Sia – Beautiful People
7 [126 plays] Myles Smith – Nice To Meet You
8 [125 plays] Tate McRae – Revolving Door
9 [124 plays] Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen – I Had Some Help
10 [123 plays] Sam Fender – People Watching

Analysis: 23 days, up to 18-04-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7237
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 514
Variety factor for this station is : 7.1%

50% OF PLAYS is 47 Songs (9.1% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 21 MOST played songs (4% of the total)
or 412 LEAST played songs (80.1% of the total)

Most played airs on average every: 3h 42m
10th most played song airs every: 3h 56m
21st most played song airs every: 8h 14m
47th most played song airs every: 20h 26m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 247 (48%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
4 after 14 DAYS

Different songs played in 1 month: 532
..in 3 months: 699, in 6 months: 1067
..in 9 months: 1728, in 12 months: 2144

Top 10 Most Played:

1 [149 plays] Tate McRae – Sports Car
2 [148 plays] Reese – Where Have You Been
3= [147 plays] each for…
+ Morgan Seatree ft. Florence + The Machine – Say My Name
+ Tyla – Push To Start
5= [146 plays] each for…
+ Chrystal – The Days
+ Sza – Bmf
7 [145 plays] Weeknd and Playboi Carti – Timeless
8 [144 plays] David Guetta and Sia – Beautiful People
9 [142 plays] Doechii – Anxiety
10 [140 plays] Lady GaGa – Abracadabra

Analysis: 27 days, up to 18-04-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7122
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 680
Variety factor for this station is : 9.5%

50% OF PLAYS is 63 Songs (9.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 25 MOST played songs (3.6% of the total)
or 545 LEAST played songs (80.1% of the total)

Most played airs on average every: 4h 56m
10th most played song airs every: 6h 36m
25th most played song airs every: 9h 23m
63rd most played song airs every: 1d 4h 10m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 416 (61.1%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
2 after 23 DAYS

Different songs played in 1 month: 695
..in 3 months: 859, in 6 months: 1186
..in 9 months: 1323, in 12 months: 1458

Top 10 Most Played:

1 [131 plays] Alex Warren – Carry You Home
2 [128 plays] Lady GaGa and Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile
3 [126 plays] Myles Smith – Stargazing
4 [116 plays] Gracie Abrams – That’s So True
5= [114 plays] each for…
+ Benson Boone – Beautiful Things
+ Mark Ambor – Belong Together
7 [112 plays] Rose and Bruno Mars – Apt
8 [103 plays] Myles Smith – Nice To Meet You
9 [101 plays] Lola Young – Messy
10 [98 plays] Teddy Swims – Bad Dreams

Analysis: 24 days, up to 18-04-2025
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 6558
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1377
Variety factor for this station is : 20.9%

50% OF PLAYS is 275 Songs (19.9% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 159 MOST played songs (11.5% of the total)
or 968 LEAST played songs (70.2% of the total)

Most played airs on average every: 6h 51m
10th most played song airs every: 1d 14h 24m
159th most played song airs every: 2d 9h 36m
275th most played song airs every: 2d 16h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 891 (64.7%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
1 after 21 DAYS

Different songs played in 1 month: 1380
..in 3 months: 1387, in 6 months: 1444
..in 9 months: 1488, in 12 months: 1673

Top 13 Most Played:

1 [84 plays] Lady GaGa – Abracadabra
2 [82 plays] Sugababes – Jungle
3 [71 plays] Boyzlife – Dancing With The Echoes
4 [62 plays] Kesha – Yippee Kiyay
5 [51 plays] Louise – Confession
6 [34 plays] Louise – Borderline
7 [21 plays] Craig David – Sos
8= [15 plays] each for…
+ Dana Dawson – 3 Is Family
+ Eiffel 65 – Blue
+ Five – Got The Feelin’
+ Jamiroquai – Canned Heat
+ Karen Ramirez – Looking For Love
+ Omc – How Bizarre

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

We’re monitoring all the most important UK radio stations 24-7, so if you’d like the full “chapter and verse” on what they’ve all been playing, and the full month most played songs lists, then we can provide them – We’ve even got some data going back to 2008!!  Our charges start at just £12 (exc VAT) for one station, so that’s a FULL LISTING of every song or classical piece a station has played, with dates and times, plus a stats package with the full “most played” chart for the month listing EVERY song they’ve played and how many times, ranked from most played to least…  so if they’ve played 3174 different songs, that’ll be a 1 to 3174 chart! 

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