BBC Radio 2 hits listeners low after big changes – but one rival soars
The station has made some big changes to its line-up over the past year.
BBC Radio 2 has dropped to its lowest recorded ratings in 22 years, new figures show.
According to ratings released by Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar), the long-running station has lost more than a million listeners within the last financial quarter.
Despite 12.6 million still tuning in, the quarter period – which spanned 31st March to 22nd June 2025 – is still the lowest the station has drawn since 2003.
The major drop coincides with the loss of Zoe Ball from the Breakfast show, which she left after six years in December 2024.
She was replaced by former Radio 1 favourite Scott Mills, and was later announced to be taking over the Saturday afternoon slot instead.
In contrast, while numbers have dwindled for Radio 2, a rival station has been enjoying a boom – which seems fitting considering the channel name.
Boom Radio, which is aimed at the "boomer" generation of ages 55+, launched in 2021 and has achieved record highs for the station to date.
Airing from the homes of the DJs, Boom Radio has proven to be a formidable rival for the attention of the older demographic – with former BBC DJs including David Hamilton and Simon Bates joining their ranks.
The station now has 711,000 weekly listeners, up a massive 14 per cent compared to last year’s numbers.
Bauer Media’s music stations Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio are also seeing improvements, reaching a combined 12.9 mllion.
While numbers for BBC Radio 2 may be down, it still holds the title for the most listened to shows in the UK – with Vernon Kay’s weekday show raking in 6.6 million people.
Scott Mills’s Breakfast show, which airs weekdays from 6:30am, is not far behind, with 6.2 million people listening.
But Heart Radio, according to owner Global, has 415,000 more listeners than BBC Radio 2.
On the announcement of the figures, the BBC said in a statement: "Radio 2 firmly remains the UK’s most listened to single radio station with an audience of 12.6 million listeners each week."
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Authors
Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.
