Everybody these days wants feedback! Within seconds of buying something online or in a shop, they are demanding your views of how you felt, even if you really don’t care or have no intention of ever shopping there again!

At Boom, we try not to ask you too frequently about how you feel about what we do – but we receive such a huge response, we hope you don’t feel the surveys are intrusive.

Often, we’re asked what the results indicated – and we’re happy to share some of the headlines from our September '26 questionnaire.

Firstly, thanks for your time and honesty.  Whilst we receive many emails each day with particular comments from particular listeners, this exercise lends valuable insight into how thousands of listeners feel.  Whilst we’d love to adjust our programmes to suit each individual listener, of course we can’t – all we can do is the best we can for our listeners at large – and these surveys certainly indicate if there’s a groundswell of opinion about a particular topic.  

It’s clear you listen on all manner of devices! 61% of Boom listeners tune in on a DAB+ radio, with smart speakers (like Alexa) close behind at 58%. Phone/Tablet is the next most popular at 39%. Many people listen in more than one way.

We are delighted that 47% suggested Boom is “getting better”, with 50% saying we are “staying the same”. Those figures are very similar to the sorts of figures over the last five years.  It’s a phenomenal result and we are humbled. Thank you.

3% of those who took part felt we were “getting worse” and every single one of those people went on to tell us why.  We are grateful for your honesty. Taken together, however, the comments did not reveal a single change that would satisfy that group (we wish it would!) Indeed, acting on some comments would directly antagonise others.  There was a perception from some that we have become  ‘safer’ or more ‘playlist driven’ but that’s not something we can remedy as we haven’t actually changed anything. It’s perhaps a symptom of some listeners listening for such long periods that what was once a surprise is becoming less so!

In terms of the music we play, 94% feel the balance of eras is about right and not too old or too young! That figure is about the same as it’s always been since we launched - which was great to see, given our music policy is much the same as when we began.

84% of Boom listeners say Boom cheers them up, 61% said strongly! Less than 1% disagreed with that statement.  98% said they like the friendliness of Boom presenters – with less than 2% saying we talk too much!

82% agreed that they hear ‘lots of great surprises in the music played (37% agreed strongly) - with only 3% disagreeing. At Boom, we know the sorts of scores that other radio stations get for similar perceptions - so we are delighted to see these impressive levels at Boom, which have remained fairly consistent across our life.

We have to carry ads. No ads would mean no Boom. Fewer ads would also mean no Boom. In this study, only 14% felt we carry ‘too many ads’  - and over two-thirds (67%) agreed that ‘Boom carries fewer ads compared to other commercial stations’. That was a relief to see – given we do!

We asked you about our programme features, from School Call to Your Song, Your First Car to the Gardening slot and Children’s Favourites spot on Sunday. Suffice to say, all are being well received. It’s always good to check!

Rest assured the freeform comments at the end have all been read and digested. The vast majority were positive – or included positive comments. On other common themes:  we do acknowledge that sometimes it is not the volume of advertising that annoys but the repetition of a single ad - you can read more about those challenges in our FAQs. On hourly news bulletins, we accept that some listeners would rather we did not have them, but the majority are certainly in favour. And our DAB+ coverage is not operated by us so it’s not something we are able to change ourselves.  The remainder of the themes have largely been addressed above. The other common thread was a lot of listeners saying ‘please don’t change!’.

As for your favourite year for music. Well. It seems it’s still 1967! Followed by 1968, 1969 – and then good old 1976!

Thanks again for taking part. We appreciate your help.