BBC Radio 1 lost nearly half a million listeners in the first quarter of 2022, new figures show. The flagship channel enjoyed an average weekly audience of 7.7 million in the three months to April 3, down 491,000 from 8.2 million in the final quarter of 2021, according to research body Rajar.
It is also down nearly 600,000 from 8.3 million in the third quarter of last year, which was the first time data on radio audiences had been published since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Greg James’ breakfast show on Radio 1 recorded a smaller drop, with an average of 4.1 million listeners across the first quarter of 2022, compared with 4.5 million in the previous quarter and 4.3 million in the period to September.
The BBC said James’ show is the nation’s most popular breakfast show among 15 to 29-year-olds and that Radio 1 is the most popular station for the same age group. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have contributed to a sharp rise in figures for the BBC’s World Service, which added over a quarter of a million listeners in the first three months of the year to take its average audience to 1.5 million.
