BBC Radio 1’s £350,000-a-year DJ Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show has recorded its lowest ever number of weekly listeners at 4.9million in the third quarter of 2017
Radio 1’s flagship Breakfast Show has suffered a blow after registering its lowest ever weekly listening figures this past quarter.
Hosted by £350,000-a-year DJ Nick Grimshaw, it recorded just 4.9million listeners between June and September, dropping from 5.5million in the previous quarter, according to Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR).
It is the first time his show has plunged below the 5million mark since he took over from Chris Moyles in September 2012.
Moyles himself enjoyed a more successful run, rare dropping below 7million listeners per quarter.
Grimshaw started strongly with 6.7million listeners in his first quarter but the show has fluctuated between 5million and 6million ever since.
The station as a whole added listeners, pulling in 9.7million listeners a week in the third quarter of 2017, compared to 9.59 million in the second, but marking a slight drop since the same period last year, when it drew 9.9 million.
Ben Cooper, controller of BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network, hailed Radio 1 as the ‘most relevant youth brand in the UK today with…a record five million subscribers on YouTube and 9.45million subscribers on social media’.
A source at the station added: ‘Grimmy is the number one breakfast show in the UK for young audiences and that’s all they really care about.
‘Teens are addicted to their phones so you can see why Radio 1 does so well on YouTube and Facebook.’
Meanwhile Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 breakfast show grew its listeners pulling in 9.35million a week in the three month period, compared to 9.01million in the second quarter.
BBC Radio 4’s Today programme saw a drop in its audience after enjoying a huge growth last quarter.
The news show pulled in 7.06million listeners a week in quarter three, dropping from the 7.66million a week in the second quarter, up from 7.1million .
Grimshaw, pictured, replaced Chris Moyles in 2012 and has averaged between 5million and 6million ever since, although there has been a decline since Moyles’ tenure when he averaged more than 7million listeners most years
Digital station BBC Radio 6 Music attracted a record 2.43 million listeners a week this quarter, an increase from 2.24 million last time around.
Bob Shennan, director of BBC Radio and Music, said: ‘These are great results for BBC 6 Music which is one of the most exciting radio innovations in the last 20 years and is second to none for its brilliant roster of music curators across the schedule.
‘It’s pleasing to see continued growth of all our digital stations with their unique range of programming from classic comedy and sports to urban music and specialist DJs.’
Rajar bases its figures on an annual sample of approximately 100,000 respondents aged 15 and over.
Participants are asked to keep a diary recording their radio listening for a week.