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BBC Radio One has lost almost a fifth of its listeners in the past five years, latest figures show.
According to an audienceresearch survey from Rajar, the station has lost 18 per cent of its listeners since since 2012, with Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show attracting 500,000 fewer listeners in just the past year.
Chris Evans’ breakfast show on Radio Two also lost 200,000 listeners in 2016, while 1Xtra, BBC Radio Two and 6Music all showed a loss in audience.
On the plus side, Radio Four’s 60-year-old Today programme posted a gain of 400,000 listeners last year, which the BBC’s director of radio and music Bob Shennan put down to “world-class journalism which scrutinises the headlines, holds those in power to account and enlightens them with stories that shape our society.”
“In an era of fake news, echo chambers and significant shifts in global politics,” he said, “the role of Radio 4′s Today as the trusted guide to the world around us is more important than ever.”
Paul Rodgers, the head of 6 Music which showed only a minor fall from 2.34 million to 2.33 million over five years and a 5.8 per cent increase in 2016, said: “Record listening hours and share, and a second highest ever reach demonstrate that BBC Radio 6 Music continues to thrive and drive digital listening with its unique music mix, more live sessions than any other station in the UK, and its brilliant presenting roster of musicians and music-lovers who are loved and trusted by our audience. Special mention goes to Steve Lamacq, Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, and Lauren Laverne whose shows all now attract over a million listeners, with Cerys on Sunday achieving 615,000 – a real milestone for a single show – plus fantastic record audiences for many other presenters as well.”
