 BBC Radio 2 has lost one million listeners since veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce left the station, new figures revealed. The station saw its average weekly listeners drop by 7% from 14.5million in January to March 2023 to 13.5m in April to June – the largest quarterly fall for Radio 2 since audience research body Rajar resumed collecting data in September 2021 after it was paused at the start of the pandemic. Scottish broadcaster Ken left Radio 2 on March 3, having presented his mid-morning programme for more than three decades and began a new show on Greatest Hits Radio in April – taking with him his popular music radio quiz PopMaster. Veteran BBC DJ Gary Davies filled in as mid-morning host until May, when Bolton-born broadcaster Vernon Kay took over permanently. At the same time, Greatest Hits Radio saw a 13% jump in its average weekly audience, from 5.1m in January-March to 5.8m in April-June, along with a 59% increase year-on-year. Ken, 72, said: 'I've always said that it's not really about the numbers and it's not, for me at least, but I'm delighted to hear today's news for the team here at my new home, Greatest Hits Radio. The star was a fan-favourite on the BBC (Picture: Channel 4) He left for his new role in April (Picture: PA) 'My first four months have flown by and I've loved every minute of it – and there's much more to come.' The Rajar figures showed listeners to BBC Radio 4 have also fallen to their lowest level since the pandemic, averaging 9.0m in April-June, down 5% from 9.4m in the previous quarter and a drop of 1.3m year-on-year. However, there was better news for the BBC with Radio 1 where the average weekly audience stood at 7.7m in the latest quarter, up 2% on the previous three months and up 3% year-on-year. The broadcaster presented his final show last March (Picture: Getty Images) Vernon took over the spot from Ken (Picture: PA) Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, s){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
BBC Radio 2 has lost one million listeners since veteran broadcaster Ken Bruce left the station, new figures revealed.
The station saw its average weekly listeners drop by 7% from 14.5million in January to March 2023 to 13.5m in April to June – the largest quarterly fall for Radio 2 since audience research body Rajar resumed collecting data in September 2021 after it was paused at the start of the pandemic.
Scottish broadcaster Ken left Radio 2 on March 3, having presented his mid-morning programme for more than three decades and began a new show on Greatest Hits Radio in April – taking with him his popular music radio quiz PopMaster.
Veteran BBC DJ Gary Davies filled in as mid-morning host until May, when Bolton-born broadcaster Vernon Kay took over permanently.