Ken Bruce left the broadcaster to start a show on Greatest Hits Radio (Picture: PA)
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, said: ‘Radio 2 remains the UK’s most popular radio station with 13.5m loyal listeners who tune in each week to the best music from the past seven decades, presented by some of the country’s most loved presenters.
‘Congratulations to the brilliant Zoe Ball who continues to host the most listened to breakfast show in the country.’
The BBC’s overall share of the time people spend listening to radio in the UK has also fallen to a new post-pandemic low.
The corporation’s stations accounted for 43.2% of total listening in April-June, down from 46.3% in January-March and the 48.1% recorded in April-June 2022.
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When radio audiences reporting resumed in autumn 2021, the figure was 50.9%.
The BBC announced cuts last October to local radio services, which planned for stations sharing more content and broadcasting less programming unique to their area, although some of the proposals have been revised.
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Ken left the station for a new show on Greatest Hits Radio last April.