Latest news with #Rajar
Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Update on BBC Radio 2's fortunes following Zoe Ball's breakfast show departure
Listeners to the Radio 2 breakfast show have fallen since Zoe Ball stood down as presenter, it has emerged. Several stand-in DJs have covered for Ball following her departure in late December, with Scott Mills only taking over the role full-time on January 27. The breakfast show attracted an estimated weekly audience of 6.45 million across January to March of this year, down from 6.83 million in the previous three months. But the slot continues to enjoy the largest audience on national radio at that time of the day, ahead of Radio 4's Today programme. Research body Rajar has published the data around three-and-a-half months into Mills' tenure, having previously presented an afternoon show on the same station. Gaby Roslin and Mark Goodier filled in throughout January before Mills, 52, started the role. It is worth noting Rajar's listernship figures, which includes this spell, does also show the estimated weekly audience was greater than the 6.28 million recorded in July-September 2024. Ball, 54, has since started presenting a Saturday lunchtime programme on BBC Radio 2. She also continues to do TV work, having hosted a segment of VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember coverage on the BBC earlier this month. But the mum of two was overwhelmed with emotion during her final breakfast show. Addressing her audience, the host said: "Thank you for tuning in, whether as a lone listener, as family, as a work gang on your morning jogs, dog walks, truck drives, train commutes, or hiding in bed, it's been a real privilege to keep you company through your morning manoeuvres. You're just there and I'm just here having a chat with a mate. It's such a special, intimate relationship." In addition to Mills' new role, BBC Radio 2 made a number of changes to its daytime lineup at the start of the year. Trevor Nelson now hosts a new afternoon show and DJ Spoony presents a late evening slot on Mondays to Thursdays. Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she was "thrilled" that Radio 2 remains the UK's most popular radio station, adding: "Congratulations to Vernon Kay who remains the most listened to show in the country with a weekly audience of 6.73 million to his mid-morning show, and to the Radio 2 breakfast show, which maintains its position as the UK's biggest early morning programme." Elsewhere, the commercial network Greatest Hits saw a slight fall in listeners for the fourth quarter in a row, though its average audience of 7.14 million is still nearly two million higher than it was two years ago, when it stood at 5.12 million. Among the smaller news-based stations, Times Radio recorded its best numbers since launching in 2020, with an average audience of 622,000 listeners across the three months to March, up 3% on the previous quarter and a jump of 24% on the year.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Radio 2 breakfast audience drops slightly following Zoe Ball's exit
Listeners to the Radio 2 breakfast show have fallen slightly since Zoe Ball stood down as presenter, in a period that saw several stand-in DJs host the programme before Scott Mills took over the role full-time, new data suggests. The show attracted an estimated weekly audience of 6.45 million across January to March of this year, down from 6.83 million in the previous three months – though higher than the 6.28 million recorded in July-September 2024. Mills began his breakfast stint on January 27, so he was not in the job for the whole of the period covered by the latest figures. Zoe Ball bowed out as presenter on December 20 2024 after nearly six years in the role, with Gaby Roslin and Mark Goodier filling in during January until Mills began. Despite the slight dip in listeners, Radio 2's breakfast slot continues to enjoy the largest audience on national radio at that time of the day, ahead of Radio 4's Today programme, which had an average audience of 5.70 million in the latest period, as well as the breakfast shows on Radio 1 (4.07 million) and commercial broadcaster Greatest Hits (3.11 million). The audience for the Today programme is down very slightly from 5.74 million in the previous three months, but up from 5.61 million in the equivalent period a year ago. The figures have been published by the research body Rajar, and also show that: – Radio 2 remains the most popular station in the UK with an overall weekly audience of 13.11 million in January to March this year, although this is down from 13.65 million in October-December 2024 and is the lowest figure since Rajar resumed reporting in autumn 2021 after a break during the Covid-19 pandemic. – Radio 4 had an average weekly audience of 9.33 million, up from 9.04 million in the previous three months and also up on 9.20 million a year earlier. – Radio 3's audience of 2.15 million is up 8% year-on-year and up 10% on the previous quarter, taking it close to its post-pandemic high of 2.17 million at the end of 2021. – Radio 5 Live saw a jump in listeners both on the previous quarter (up 1%) and year-on-year (up 10%), with an average audience of 5.38 million in January-March. Kate Phillips, interim BBC chief content officer, said: 'In a hectic world, I'm delighted to see audiences finding what they need from the BBC: reflection and delight from Radio 3 with its unrivalled, high quality classical music offer, and news and insights from our distinctive speech networks Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live.' Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she was 'thrilled' that Radio 2 remains the UK's most popular radio station, adding: 'Congratulations to Vernon Kay who remains the most listened to show in the country with a weekly audience of 6.73 million to his mid-morning show, and to the Radio 2 breakfast show, which maintains its position as the UK's biggest early morning programme.' Radio 2 launched a new weekday schedule at the end of January 2025 which, along with Mills taking over the breakfast show, saw Trevor Nelson host a new afternoon show and DJ Spoony present a late evening slot on Mondays to Thursdays. Elsewhere, the commercial network Greatest Hits saw a slight fall in listeners for the fourth quarter in a row, though its average audience of 7.14 million is still nearly two million higher than it was two years ago, when it stood at 5.12 million. Among the smaller news-based stations, Times Radio recorded its best numbers since launching in 2020, with an average audience of 622,000 listeners across the three months to March, up 3% on the previous quarter and a jump of 24% on the year. GB News averaged 559,000 listeners in the latest quarter, up 19% on the previous three months and up 23% year-on-year, while Talk – formerly Talk Radio – had an average of 485,000 listeners, down 4% on the quarter and down 36% on the year.
Evening Standard
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Radio 2 breakfast audience drops slightly following Zoe Ball's exit
– Radio 2 remains the most popular station in the UK with an overall weekly audience of 13.11 million in January to March this year, although this is down from 13.65 million in October-December 2024 and is the lowest figure since Rajar resumed reporting in autumn 2021 after a break during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Zoe Ball leaves Radio 2 Breakfast Show with audience boost
Zoe Ball bowed out of her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show with her largest audience for nearly two years, figures reveal. The radio DJ, 54, who presented the breakfast show since 2019, brought her hosting of the flagship BBC programme to an end on December 20 with an emotional farewell to listeners. An average of 6.8 million listeners tuned in to her programme each week across the final quarter of last year, according to research body Rajar. This is up 9% on the previous three months and is the highest figure for the show since the start of 2023. Ball was absent from the airwaves for part of the summer of 2024, returning briefly on August 8 before coming back full-time from September 23. Radio 2's Breakfast Show remains the most-listened to programme in the UK at that time of day, ahead of fellow BBC shows as well as commercial rivals such as Chris Evans on Virgin Radio and Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden on Heart. The next set of Rajar figures, due to be published in May and covering the first three months of this year, will give an early indication of whether Ball's replacement Scott Mills has held on to her audience. Mills took over the breakfast show on January 27. Radio 2's overall audience saw a similar jump to that enjoyed by Ball, averaging 13.6 million across the three months to December, up 3% both on the previous quarter and year-on-year. BBC Radio 2 head Helen Thomas said she was 'thrilled that Radio 2 remains the most popular radio station in the UK', and is 'immensely proud' of the station's schedule. She added: 'Zoe Ball continued to host the UK's most listened to breakfast show, and Vernon Kay celebrates fantastic figures which continue to grow.' Radio 4's audience slipped to 9.0 million in October-December 2024, down 7% on the previous three months but a fall of only 1% on the equivalent period in 2023. Changes in Radio 5 Live's audience often reflect the impact of high-profile sporting events and this is true of its latest figures, which show a drop from a post-pandemic high of 6.0 million in the third quarter of last year – a period that included the Olympics and the conclusion of Euros – to 5.3 million in the final quarter. Rajar's findings also show that: – Radio 4's Today programme had an average of 5.7 million listeners in the final three months of 2024, down 2% on the previous quarter but up 2% year-on-year. – The audience for Radio 3's breakfast programme is up 18% year-on-year from 698,000 to 827,000, though this is down 5% on the previous quarter. – Greg James' breakfast show on Radio 1 is up 4% year-on-year from 3.9 million to 4.1 million; no comparable figures for the previous quarter are available, because of a change in the programme's transmission time. Greatest Hits Radio has seen a slight fall in listeners for the third quarter in a row, though its average audience of just under 7.4 million is still higher than 12 months ago, when it stood at 6.8 million. The station has more than doubled the size of its audience in recent years, surging from 3.0 million at the end of 2021 to nearly 7.7 million in early 2024, driven by big-name signings such as Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo. Its rapid growth looks to have come to a halt, however. Among the smaller news-based stations, Times Radio enjoyed its best numbers since launching in 2020, with an average audience of 604,000 listeners across the three months to December, up 8% on the previous quarter and a jump of 23% on the year. GB News averaged 468,000 listeners in the latest quarter, down 23% on the previous three months but 9% up year-on-year, while Talk – formerly Talk Radio – had an average of 504,000 listeners, down 13% on the quarter and down 30% on the year.
