BBC chairman denies Radio 4 is chasing younger listeners at expense of its older base

The BBC’s chairman has rejected claims that the corporation is running down Radio 4 to chase younger listeners.

Sir David Clementi acknowledged that neglecting older audiences ‘must be a risk’.

But he said radio stations had to move with the times or they would still be broadcasting 1950s shows such as Listen With Mother or Workers’ Playtime.

He told the Oxford Media Convention yesterday: ‘Radio 4 is the best regulated radio station in the world because our listeners are on to us every time we move anything by a single minute – we get tons of letters.

‘So I don’t think we need to worry about that.’

Sir David was speaking after critics warned Radio 4 may be badly hit by 50 voluntary redundancies at the in-house radio production team.

Some of the money saved will be ‘reinvested in the key strategic objective of attracting more young listeners and viewers to BBC services’, according to an email sent to staff last week.

Anger has been focused at BBC director of radio James Purnell, 49, the former Labour Cabinet minister.

A former senior BBC figure told The Times: ‘The risk for Radio 4 is that it becomes victim of a culture of contempt for older audiences. James is a Blairite through and through… and they never value the old.’

The row comes as Radio 4’s audience plummets. The most recent figures for the last quarter of last year showed it had 10.5million listeners a week, down from 11.3million in the same period of 2017. 

Sir David, 70, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England who joined the corporation in 2017, said the BBC needed to draw in younger audiences through changes to content and by offering new ways to tune in, for example through the Sounds app.

Anger has been focused at BBC director of radio James Purnell, 49, the former Labour Cabinet minister. A former senior BBC figure told The Times: ‘The risk for Radio 4 is that it becomes victim of a culture of contempt for older audiences. James is a Blairite through and through… and they never value the old’ [File photo]

He also said the BBC has had a ‘real terms decline’ in funding for ‘much of the last decade’ and called for an open debate about future licence fee rises.

He added: ‘All our competitors are getting more money. The BBC is… having to do more with less money.’

The BBC said it was making voluntary redundancies across all radio stations and Radio 4 was not being singled out.

But one presenter told The Times: ‘Radio 4 is in danger of being destroyed. The jewel in the crown is being shut down and asset stripped like a Midlands car factory.’

Another insider added: ‘We risk going after people who aren’t interested in us while losing those who do.’