In 2021, Hungarians listened to the radio on average four hours a day, which is a very high figure, considering that the numbers had been calculated including data on non-radio listeners. In the same year, of the numerous established radio stations, the commercial Retro Rádió was Hungarians’ favorite, with a daily reach of over 1.6 million people, even though several other stations had a bigger musical repertoire. It was followed by Kossuth Rádió, reaching over 1.1 million listeners on a daily basis. When it comes to community radio stations, Jazzy Rádió had the biggest reach totaling 51 thousand listeners in 2021.
In addition to traditional radio stations, online radios are also gaining popularity in Hungary. According to the results of a survey conducted in 2021, the majority of internet users listened to online radios, with 17 percent of the respondents doing so every day. In 2020, the most popular online radio station was Szent Korona Rádió, reaching over nine thousand people on a weekly basis. Male and female listeners had fairly different tastes, as in the same year, Hungarian women mostly listened to Hit Rádió, while men preferred Szent Korona Rádió.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak of 2020 brought changes in many people's media consumption habits. As the findings of a survey pointed out, nearly 40 percent of Hungarians started listening to more radio news programs following the outbreak of the pandemic. On the other hand, half of the respondents had not changed this aspect of their media consumption.
