Figures revealing a surge of 1.6 million listeners for Ken Bruce’s show on Greatest Hits Radio (GHR) will have been a gut punch to the BBC.
A year after quitting Radio 2, where he felt underappreciated by bosses, the genial Scot has increased the average audience for his mid-morning GHR slot from 2.2 to 3.8 million – an impressive 73 per cent rise.
At the same time, Bruce’s mid-morning replacement on Radio 2, Vernon Kay, continues to lose listeners, and is now getting about 1.5m fewer than the 8.2m his predecessor regulalrly entertained on the BBC.
Kay is said to be down by more than 30,000 on the previous quarter, with 6.75m listeners, figures from audience body Rajar show.
“They say time flies when you’re having fun and that must be true because I can’t believe it’s been a year at Greatest Hits Radio already. It’s truly been incredible,” said Bruce.
Thanking listeners “old and new who’ve spent time with me over the past year,” Bruce, 73, added, “It’s great to know all of you are enjoying the very best music from the 70s, 80s and 90s.”
Playing the songs his listeners want to hear is a key factor in Bruce’s success. Meanwhile, Radio 2’s shrinking audience follows a shift in music policy, with noughties pop and dance hits replacing golden oldies.
Bruce said he struggled with the playlist changes, which have driven listeners aged 60 and above to GHR as well as Boom Radio, a new station dedicated to luring disaffected Radio 2 listeners which now has 600,000 loyal fans.
The highpoint of Bruce’s show, and its audience peak, remains the PopMaster trivia quiz. Bruce retained the rights to the game, after the BBC declined to pursue a trademark.
An extensive marketing campaign by GHR owner Bauer Media ahead of Bruce’s arrival let his audience know that the quiz would be following the DJ to his new home. All they needed to do was switch the dial.
PopMaster has since become a successful Channel 4 quiz show, helping promote his daily radio slot.
GHR recorded a 50 per cent increase in its weekly audience across its schedule, now standing at 7.69m.
Radio 2 is down 9 per cent over the same period. But despite the losses, there is some relief at Broadcasting House that a listener exodus which followed Bruce’s departure appears to have stabilised.
Ten To The Top, Kay’s PopMaster daily quiz replacement, is quietly becoming a popular fixture and the TV host-turned-DJ is liked by listeners, insiders say.
One industry figure said: “Vernon has settled in well but he keeps a low profile even though he’s married to Tess [Daly]. The BBC needs to find features to make his show a must-listen.”
Whilst Bruce is enjoying being the centre of attention at GHR, he has sacrificed his position as the most-listened to DJ in Britain by moving to a station which still remains millions shy of Radio 2’s mass audience.
It is also unknown the extent to which factors such as Steve Wright’s sudden death has affected Radio 2’s latest listening figures.
And there is more to the latest numbers than meets the eye.
GHR owner Bauer Media is rebranding heritage local radio stations, such as Viking FM and Wave Swansea, as Hits Radio stations. This is beginning to feed into the Rajar figures.
Industry expert Adam Bowie wrote in his Rajar blog: “Greatest Hits Radio is having an outsized impact on overall commercial radio listening as can be seen by its continued growth.
“Some of this comes from Bauer absorbing more FM stations into GHR (it was mostly Wave 105, now GHR South Coast, this quarter), but it’s undoubtedly real underlying growth too.”
A BBC spokesperson: “Radio 2 continues to be the UK’s most popular radio station with a weekly audience of 13.23m listeners, as well as being the home of the two biggest radio shows in the UK – The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show and Vernon Kay’s mid-morning show.”
Ben Cooper, Bauer Media Audio UK’s chief content office, who is leaving this month, said: “A year of Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits Radio has changed the landscape of our industry, with huge gains in audiences for the station and Bauer as a whole.”