The Stage

Chris Evans remains UK radio’s most popular breakfast show presenter

Published Thursday 2 February 2012 at 14:38 by Matthew Hemley

Chris Evans remains the most listened to breakfast show presenter on UK radio, according to official figures released today.

Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show drew in 8.9 million listeners a week in the last three months of 2011, with Radio 2 remaining the UK’s most popular station overall.

It pulled in 14.3 million listeners a week, compared with BBC Radio 1, which had an average of 11.7 million people tuning in.

In London, Capital Radio is the most popular station, with figures released by audience measurement body Rajar showing it pulled in 2.3 million listeners a week in quarter four of 2011, putting it just ahead of Magic.

Capital also broadcasts London’s most popular breakfast show, with 1.3 million listeners a week, compared with Magic, which had 848,000 people tuning in each week, and Heart, which attracted 814,000 listeners a week.

According to the figures released today, 40.1% of adults in the UK now own a digital radio set, compared with 35.8% in the last quarter of 2010.

Digital station Radio 4 Extra, which broadcasts drama from the BBC’s archive, as well as a number of new commissions, pulled in 1.6 million listeners a week in the last quarter of 2011.