The Today program on Radio 4 has lost the most listeners among all BBC breakfast programs over the past year, according to official numbers.
The flagship news and current affairs show has lost more than 500,000 listeners, as part of a wider trend of diminishing listenership across BBC radio stations.
The average audience for Today from 6am to 9am, hosted by Mishal Husain and Nick Robinson, decreased by 9 percent, from 6.5 million listeners in July to September 2021 to 5.9 million in the same time this year.
The breakfast show on BBC Radio 5 Live also lost almost 300,000 listeners over the same time period, falling by 20% from 1.7 million to 1.4 million.
In November of last year, Rick Edwards replaced Nicky Campbell as the principal presenter, coinciding with the decline.
The BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, hosted by 51-year-old Zoe Ball, was the only one of the network’s early morning radio programs to have a gain in listeners, with 151,000 more listening in over the course of a year.
Both Radio 4 and 5 Live have experienced a decline in their total average audience of almost one million listeners annually, a decline of 9% and 18% respectively.
The average audience for Radio 3, which broadcasts classical music, decreased by 21.1%, from 2,2 million to 1.7 million.
The findings, provided by the research organization Rajar, indicate that all of the major BBC stations experienced a loss in listeners during the past year.
The audience for Radio 1 and Radio 2 decreased by 1%, which is a lesser decline.
While BBC radio stations have witnessed a decline in listenership, commercial radio stations such as Global and Bauer have seen an increase.
According to Rajar, BBC stations have been listened to for 37 million fewer hours than last year, while commercial stations have drawn listeners for an additional 43.5 million hours.
In recent months, Radio 1’s Scott Mills, 49, has replaced Radio 2’s Steve Wright in his 2pm to 5pm shift after 23 years.
The 68-year-old veteran announcer hosted his last program in September, but continues to anchor Sunday Love Songs on Radio 2.
In August, 60-year-old Vanessa Feltz left her BBC Radio programmes after nearly 20 years to join TalkTV.
In the same month, 67-year-old host Paul O’Grady departed his Radio 2 program after being forced to share his time slot with 36-year-old comic Rob Beckett.
Boom Radio, which only began broadcasting in February of last year, has nearly doubled its audience, earning praise from Sir Cliff Richard, 82.
From July to September 2022, the digital radio, which was broadcast by veteran DJs from their bedrooms and garden sheds, attracted 443,000 weekly listeners.
Sir Cliff stated, “It’s very tough for me to listen to the radio these days because I can’t often relate to rap and similar music.” But our time was packed with great music, and we hope that some of the younger listeners may experience the same emotion we did when we listened to these recordings as the originals.
According to the most recent statistics, the BBC World Service had an increase in listeners in the spring, probably as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. However, its audience has declined by 15% in the past three months and by 14% compared to the same period last year.
A BBC spokesman stated, “Millions of listeners continue to rely on the Today programme for trustworthy and unbiased news… occasional fluctuations, especially during the summer months, are to be expected.”