Rajar Q4 2023: Ken Bruce narrows gap between Greatest Hits Radio and BBC Radio 2 mid-morning audiences
The audience for Ken Bruce’s show on Greatest Hits Radio ticked up in Q4 2023 to 3.8m, marginally narrowing the gap between the Bauer station and Bruce’s former employer, BBC Radio 2, in the mid-morning slot.
Correspondingly, Radio 2’s Vernon Kay, who now hosts Bruce’s previous slot, saw his show’s audience decline 2.3% to 6.8m.
Bruce, who joined Greatest Hits in April 2023 after 31 years at Radio 2, brought his audience along with him to the commercial broadcaster. Greatest Hits’ mid-morning segment more than doubled its audience year on year (+117% in Q4). Compared with Q3, Bruce’s show grew audience by 2%.
The dip in Radio 2 listeners was felt most sharply between the first and second quarter, when Bruce left the show, but mostly stabilised in the latter half of the year. Audience in Q4 was down 17.9% year on year, but shrunk 2% quarter on quarter compared with Q3.
Bruce and Kay compete for similar audiences aged 35 and over. Similar to Bruce’s total audience, Greatest Hits saw an uptick in listeners aged 35+ (up 1.6%), while Radio 2 saw a marginal decline (down 2%).