A combination of fantastic live and on-demand content has boosted BBC Sounds listening with a record 5 million weekly users accessing the platform across the last two weeks of January and early February (22 Jan – 3 Feb) which included content associated with the much anticipated final of The Traitors and big weeks in sport with huge appetite for Premier League coverage on 5 Live.

There was also a record for time listeners spent accessing on-demand content on BBC Sounds, driven by listeners devouring podcasts and on-demand Radio 4 programmes including season 2 of Things Fell Apart with Jon Ronson which has had over 1.7 million plays, specials of Just One Long Thing with Michael Mosley, new series Ian Hislop’s Oldest Jokes, and Jamie Dornan’s episode of Desert Island Discs.

New podcast, The Traitors Uncloaked, which was visualised for BBC Two and iPlayer, delivered big numbers with over a million plays on BBC Sounds, and listeners flocking to hear host Claudia Winkleman interview the Traitors finalists live on her Radio 2 show.

Piano Room Month generated a record day on BBC Sounds for Radio 2 on Monday 5 Feb as Tony Hadley performed from Maida Vale alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra. Other artists performing in the Piano Room include Gabrielle, Beverley Knight and Rick Astley.