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Thursday, October 25, 2018

BBC looses a record half a million listeners

Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 breakfast show has registered its lowest audience since 2012 after losing more than half a million listeners over the past year.

Evans had 8.9 million weekly listeners between July and September - down from 9.4 million during the same period in 2017, according to industry body Rajar.

Evans is leaving at the end of this year, with Zoe Ball taking over.

Radio 2 also notched up its lowest overall figures for six years, with 14.6 million weekly listeners.

That's down from 15.4 million at the same time last year.
Lewis Carnie, Head of Radio 2 said: "I'm proud that BBC Radio 2 remains the most listened to radio station in the UK, with 14.64 million listeners each week."

The figures come at a time of upheaval for the station. Jo Whiley joined Simon Mayo as a host of the Drivetime programme in May.

The move was unpopular with listeners, however, and and earlier this week Radio 2 announced the partnership would be ending.

Mayo is leaving the station altogether, while Whiley is returning to a specialist music evening slot. The new Drivetime host has not yet been announced.

Elsewhere in the Rajar figures, Radio 1 has gained around 350,000 listeners since the previous quarter, following its decision to extend the weekend schedule to cover Fridays.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme dropped slightly to 6.7 million listeners, but there was better news for 5 Live's breakfast show, hosted by Nicky Campbell and Rachel Burden.

They added 259,000 listeners on the second three months of the year to pull their listening figures back up above two million. 

Source: BBC news.

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