Thursday, October 24, 2013

Move on, listeners

Things you can only say at the BBC: Ben Cooper, Controller Radio 1, on the Nick Grimshaw show dropping 1.1m listeners in a year: "After the biggest set of changes to Radio 1 for a generation, we’re really happy that the Breakfast Show sounds fresher, younger and more vibrant than ever and as a result 833,000 of the show’s ‘30 and over’ listeners have moved on to other stations.”

Other commentators note that the average age of the Breakfast audience is stuck at 34. Meanwhile Radio 2 powers on, up by a million, year on year. Director of Radio, Helen Boaden, says "Radio 2 is a remarkable success story and continues to reach huge audiences whilst never failing to surprise and amaze with the diversity of its output."  There are many who would argue that the network's range of music is narrowing; the success, though, is remarkable, given the Trust's stricture to deliver 50/50 speech/music in daytime.

Other odds and ends: another record quarter for LBC, at 1.1m. Highest ever figures for BBC Coventry and Warwickshire - who will be happy to put an awful behind-the-scenes year behind them. Radio Scotland has lost 40,000 listeners; Radio Tees has found a remarkable 43,000, and Radio Cymru has added 10,000. Radio 5 Sports Xtra recorded 1.5m, as Test Match Special listeners finally begin to understand how to find the station. How long before Radio 4 turns the wick off on long wave - or prays for Miliband price control on electricity ?

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