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Radio 2 has lost nearly half a million listeners since launching its new weekday schedule earlier this year, which included Scott Mills replacing Zoe Ball as host of the flagship breakfast show. The BBC station had an estimated weekly audience of 12.62 million across April to June, down from 13.11 million in the previous three months.
This marks the lowest total for Radio 2 since the current method of measuring listeners was introduced by research body Rajar in autumn 2021, following a break during the Covid-19 pandemic. The figures represent the first full set of quarterly data since Radio 2 overhauled its weekday schedule at the end of January 2025.
Mills takes breakfast crown
The schedule shake-up saw Trevor Nelson begin a new afternoon show and DJ Spoony present a late evening slot on Mondays to Thursdays. 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.
The Radio 2 breakfast show had an average weekly audience of 6.22 million in the three months to June, down from 6.45 million in January to March. Despite the dip in listeners, the slot continues to enjoy the largest audience on national radio at that time of day.
Today programme holds steady
Radio 4's Today programme had an average audience of 5.64 million in the latest period, slightly down from 5.70 million in the previous three months but up from 5.47 million a year ago. Radio 1's breakfast show attracted 3.86 million listeners, while commercial broadcaster Greatest Hits drew 3.24 million.
Radio 3's breakfast programme lost a fifth of its listeners, dropping from 798,000 in January-March to 639,000 in April-June. This period coincided with the departure of long-term host Petroc Trelawny and his replacement from April 7 by Tom McKinney.
BBC maintains radio dominance
Radio 4 had an average weekly audience of 9.23 million in the latest quarter, down slightly from 9.33 million in the previous three months but up from 8.98 million a year earlier. Radio 5 Live saw a jump in listeners both on the previous quarter and year on year, with an average audience of 5.51 million in April-June.
Radio 1's average weekly audience of 7.48 million is up slightly on the quarter by one per cent, but down eight per cent year on year. Radio 2's weekly audience has fallen by nearly two million in three years, down from an average of 14.53 million listeners in April-June 2022.
Veteran presenters depart airwaves
This period has seen veteran DJs disappear from the Radio 2 airwaves, including Ken Bruce, who left for Greatest Hits in March 2023. Steve Wright died in February 2024, and Johnnie Walker died in December 2024.
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: "I'm hugely proud that in a quarter where Radio 2 shone a light on Eurovision, celebrated Elaine Paige's 60 years in showbusiness, launched the RHS Radio 2 Dog Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and presented a VE Day 80 concert, Radio 2 firmly remains the UK's most listened to single radio station." She congratulated Mills, whose breakfast show "remains the number one breakfast show in the country", and Vernon Kay, whose weekday mid-morning show "continues to be the most listened to programme on UK radio, with a weekly audience of 6.6 million".
Commercial rivals face challenges
Mohit Bakaya, director of speech and controller of Radio 4, said: "I'm delighted to see Radio 4 and 5 Live continue to deliver for audiences with increased listening figures year on year. BBC Radio remains the number one UK radio brand and listeners continue to turn to us for trusted news and analysis, as well as the big sporting moments in the national calendar."
BBC stations accounted for 42.1% of all time people spent listening to radio in the UK in the latest quarter, down from 43.1% in the previous three months and 48.1% three years ago. The commercial network Greatest Hits saw listeners drop for the fifth quarter in a row, though its average audience of 6.66 million remains higher than two years ago.
Among smaller news-based stations, Times Radio had an average of 616,000 listeners, its second highest numbers since launching in 2020. GB News averaged 547,000 listeners, while Talk had an average of 487,000 listeners.
(PA/London) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
