‘Ken Bruce effect’ continues as BBC radio is the biggest loser
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BBC radio suffered a wholesale decline last year while Greatest Hits Radio added 2.8 million listeners thanks to the “Ken Bruce effect”.
Radio 2 and Radio 4 each lost about one million listeners, with the latter down by almost 10 per cent. Radio 1, Radio 3 and Radio 5 Live also registered losses, as did the World Service.
BBC local radio, which has undergone a series of cuts and mergers in the past year, lost 793,000 listeners.
However, the BBC’s losses appear to be commercial radio’s gain. When Ken Bruce announced that he was quitting Radio 2 for Greatest Hits Radio, the commercial station had 3.97 million listeners. Loyal listeners who followed him to his new home appear to have stayed for the station’s other output.
The Greatest Hits audience has risen to 6.75 million, according to the latest figures from the industry body Rajar.
Bruce’s mid-morning audience is up by 117 per cent to 3.8 million listeners, while the drivetime show hosted by Simon Mayo – another former BBC star – is up by 71 per cent to 2.5 million.
Absolute, Heart, Magic and Boom Radio also registered increases.
BBC 6 Music success
The only BBC station to keep its audience last year was 6 Music, which had a modest increase of 15,000 listeners.
Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer, explained the decline by suggesting that audiences are moving to on-demand programming and podcasts.
“There’s fierce competition for people’s time and, with the success of the global streamers and digital listening reaching record levels, we know that audience habits are changing and they expect more choice and control over their content,” she said.
“I’m pleased that BBC Sounds continues to grow as audiences discover on-demand programming from us whenever they want to, and are able to choose from a wide range of high-quality BBC podcasts and music content to suit their moods.”
BBC Sounds hit a record 4.86 million users in the last quarter of 2023. The most popular programmes on-demand include Desert Island Discs, In Our Time, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Life Changing.
Most popular podcasts for the under-35s included Newscast, a discussion of the day’s main events, and Uncanny, which investigates supposedly paranormal encounters.
Younger people are driving the exodus from BBC radio. Listener figures are down 4.9 per cent among those aged 45 and above, but the figure rises to 7.4 per cent for those aged 15-44.
