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 Radio 2, 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 particularly at Capital and Kiss at the weekend when the evening Jocks particularly are allowed to chuck in a handpicks or two, most likely in the mix!
(Note: Radio 1’s figures below do NOT even 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: 23 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8187
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 3404
Variety factor for this station is : 41.5%
50% OF PLAYS is 343 Songs (10% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 92 MOST played songs (2.7% of the total)
or 2514 LEAST played songs (73.8% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 6h 8m
10th most played song airs every: 8h 7m
92nd most played song airs every: 2d 21h
343rd most played song airs every: 5d 18h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 3203 (94%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
65 after 19 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [90 plays] ANOTR – Talk To You (feat. 54 Ultra)
2 [84 plays] BTS – SWIM
3 [82 plays] Lady Gaga and Doechii – Runway
4 [79 plays] Olivia Rodrigo – Drop Dead
5 [78 plays] Ella Langley – Choosin’ Texas
6= [76 plays] each for…
+ Sonny Fodera – My Loving (feat. Chrystal)
+ Tame Impala and JENNIE – Dracula – JENNIE Remix
8 [74 plays] Harry Styles – American Girls
9 [72 plays] Holly Humberstone – Cruel World
10 [68 plays] Noah Kahan – Porch Light
Analysis: 25 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8920
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 539
Variety factor for this station is : 6%
50% OF PLAYS is 50 Songs (9.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 24 MOST played songs (4.4% of the total)
or 446 LEAST played songs (82.7% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 2h 41m
10th most played song airs every: 4h 41m
24th most played song airs every: 7h 53m
50th most played song airs every: 12h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 267 (49.5%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 14 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [223 plays] Bruno Mars – I Just Might
2 [210 plays] sombr – Homewrecker
3 [205 plays] Alex Warren – Fever Dream
4 [144 plays] Tame Impala and JENNIE – Dracula
5 [142 plays] Raye – Where Is My Husband!
6 [137 plays] BTS – SWIM
7= [130 plays] each for…
+ Sekou – Dangerous Lover
+ SIENNA SPIRO – Die On This Hill
9 [129 plays] sombr – 12 to 12
10 [128 plays] Djo – End Of Beginning
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 10448
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 434
Variety factor for this station is : 4.1%
50% OF PLAYS is 42 Songs (9.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 20 MOST played songs (4.6% of the total)
or 345 LEAST played songs (79.4% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 2h 49m
10th most played song airs every: 3h 23m
20th most played song airs every: 6h 3m
42nd most played song airs every: 12h 27m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 144 (33.1%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 19 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [230 plays] Raye – Where Is My Husband
2 [229 plays] Djo – End Of Beginning
3= [228 plays] each for…
+ Dave ft. Tems – Raindance
+ Olivia Dean – Man I Need
+ Zara Larsson – Midnight Sun
6= [226 plays] each for…
+ Bebe Rexha – New Religion
+ Taylor Swift – The Fate Of Ophelia
8 [211 plays] Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Poppy Baskcomb – Think About Us
9 [203 plays] Milky and Mal Grab – Just The Way You Are
10 [191 plays] Bruno Mars – I Just Might
Analysis: 23 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 7418
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 716
Variety factor for this station is : 9.6%
50% OF PLAYS is 59 Songs (8.2% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 25 MOST played songs (3.4% of the total)
or 587 LEAST played songs (81.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 3h 54m
10th most played song airs every: 5h 3m
25th most played song airs every: 9h 31m
59th most played song airs every: 1d 3h 36m
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 466 (65%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 15 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [141 plays] Raye – Where Is My Husband
2 [136 plays] Taylor Swift – The Fate Of Ophelia
3 [133 plays] Bebe Rexha and Faithless – New Religion
4 [132 plays] Sonny Fodera, D.O.D and Poppy Baskcomb – Think About Us
5 [127 plays] Alex Warren – Ordinary
6 [124 plays] Alex Warren – Fever Dream
7 [123 plays] Olivia Dean – Man I Need
8 [121 plays] Olivia Dean – So Easy
9 [117 plays] Taylor Swift – Elizabeth Taylor
10 [109 plays] Zara Larsson – Midnight Sun
Analysis: 27 days, up to 06-05-2026
NUMBER OF PLAYS IDENTIFIED: 8643
Number of DIFFERENT Songs Played: 1381
Variety factor for this station is : 15.9%
50% OF PLAYS is 203 Songs (14.6% of the total)
A THIRD OF PLAYS represents:
The 98 MOST played songs (7% of the total)
or 1035 LEAST played songs (74.9% of the total)
Most played airs on average every: 3h 10m
10th most played song airs every: 11h 34m
98th most played song airs every: 1d 16h 30m
203rd most played song airs every: 2d 6h
No. of songs with 5 or less plays: 929 (67.2%)
Lowest Number of NEW SONGS on any day:
ZERO after 25 DAYS
Top 10 Most Played:
1 [204 plays] Blue – Flowers
2 [200 plays] Jason Derulo – Sexy For Me
3 [183 plays] Take That – You’re A Superstar
4 [102 plays] Taylor Swift – Elizabeth Taylor
5 [101 plays] Zara Larsson – Midnight Sun
6 [100 plays] Harry Styles – American Girls
7 [74 plays] Zayn – Sideways
8= [63 plays] each for…
+ Melanie C – Undefeated Champion
+ Ne-Yo – Up Out and Gone
10 [56 plays] Bruno Mars – Risk It All
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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