Radio entertainment and showbiz

Latest listening figures show record audience for BBC Radio 6 Music as it celebrates 20 years on air

The latest radio listening figures from industry body Rajar show that BBC Radio 6 Music has achieved its highest ever audience with 2.8 million listeners tuning in each week.

This comes as the station recently celebrated its 20th birthday.

BBC Radio 2 has seen a dip from 14.9 million in Q4 2021 to 14.6 million in Q1 2022, with The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show down to 7.4 million, from 7.5 million the previous quarter.

BBC Radio 1 has lost listeners across the day – down 6% to 7.7 million and Greg James at breakfast is down from 4.5 million to 4.1 million listeners.

Chris Moyles on Radio X at breakfast is still ahead of Chris Evans on Virgin Radio. Both Moyles and Evans saw a slight drop in numbers for Q1 2022 compared to Q4 2021 – Moyles from 1.2 million to 1.1 million and Evans from just over 1 million to 964,000.

Capital, KISS, Magic, Smooth and Heart all saw a fall in audience, but Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden is the biggest commercial radio show in the UK and the biggest commercial breakfast show with 3.9 million listeners.

The Hits Radio Network reach increased by 2.4% to 5.8 million, while the Greatest Hits Radio Network continues its growth with a 26% increase to reach 4.2 million.

Simon Mayo has increased the audience for his Drivetime show on GHR by nearly 20% with 1.6 million now tuning in to his show each week, he says: “It’s so fantastic to be back on Drivetime. We are all having a blast and thrilled the audience keeps getting bigger”.

LBC has done well, achieving 3.5m weekly listeners – its highest reach in its 49-year history and Nick Ferrari at Breakfast has a record 1.4 million listeners each week. Times Radio increased from 502,000 to 703,000 and talkRADIO has a new record up from 542,000 to 650,000 listeners.

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