BBC stations Radio 4 and 5 Live have suffered a sharp drop in listener numbers for both their breakfast shows and total audience over the past year, new figures show.
Radio 4’s flagship Today current affairs programme, which runs from 6am to 9am, saw its average audience slip from 6.5 million listeners in July to September 2021 to 5.9 million in the same quarter this year – a drop of 9%.
5 Live’s breakfast show recorded an even larger percentage fall over the period, down 20% from 1.7 million listeners to 1.4 million, which coincides with Rick Edwards replacing Nicky Campbell as lead presenter in November 2021.
