The number of Australians tuning into commercial radio at breakfast soared by 20 percent to more than 8.4 million people across the five major metro markets, compared to 7 million a year ago, the industry body CRA says.

According to the latest GfK radio ratings, the number of commercial drive time listeners increased by 14 percent to more than 7.2 million people, while weekend listening surged nearly 16 percent to 9.8 million people.

Overall, the survey showed nearly 12.1 million people listened to commercial radio each week, beating the all-time high of 12 million recorded in the previous GfK survey released in August.

“We’re thrilled that commercial radio is continuing to break audience records with each survey and is growing listeners across all parts of the day,” said Commercial Radio & Audio chief executive officer Ford Ennals.

“Listening in car and at work have both shown healthy increases and breakfast radio has also come roaring back as Australians adapt to hybrid working arrangements.”

Eighty-one percent of Australians aged 10+ listened to commercial radio each week during the survey period.