Zoe Ball, the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, quit her role on the station last year, presenting her final programme on December 20, 2024
Listeners to the Radio 2 breakfast show have fallen since Zoe Ball stood down as presenter, it has emerged.
Several stand-in DJs have covered for Ball following her departure in late December, with Scott Mills only taking over the role full-time on January 27. The breakfast show attracted an estimated weekly audience of 6.45 million across January to March of this year, down from 6.83 million in the previous three months.
But the slot continues to enjoy the largest audience on national radio at that time of the day, ahead of Radio 4’s Today programme. Research body Rajar has published the data around three-and-a-half months into Mills’ tenure, having previously presented an afternoon show on the same station.
Gaby Roslin and Mark Goodier filled in throughout January before Mills, 52, started the role. It is worth noting Rajar’s listernship figures, which includes this spell, does also show the estimated weekly audience was greater than the 6.28 million recorded in July-September 2024.
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Ball, 54, has since started presenting a Saturday lunchtime programme on BBC Radio 2. She also continues to do TV work, having hosted a segment of VE Day 80: A Celebration to Remember coverage on the BBC earlier this month.
But the mum of two was overwhelmed with emotion during her final breakfast show. Addressing her audience, the host said: “Thank you for tuning in, whether as a lone listener, as family, as a work gang on your morning jogs, dog walks, truck drives, train commutes, or hiding in bed, it’s been a real privilege to keep you company through your morning manoeuvres. You’re just there and I’m just here having a chat with a mate. It’s such a special, intimate relationship.”
In addition to Mills’ new role, BBC Radio 2 made a number of changes to its daytime lineup at the start of the year. Trevor Nelson now hosts a new afternoon show and DJ Spoony presents a late evening slot on Mondays to Thursdays.
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said she was “thrilled” that Radio 2 remains the UK’s most popular radio station, adding: “Congratulations to Vernon Kay who remains the most listened to show in the country with a weekly audience of 6.73 million to his mid-morning show, and to the Radio 2 breakfast show, which maintains its position as the UK’s biggest early morning programme.”
Elsewhere, the commercial network Greatest Hits saw a slight fall in listeners for the fourth quarter in a row, though its average audience of 7.14 million is still nearly two million higher than it was two years ago, when it stood at 5.12 million.
Among the smaller news-based stations, Times Radio recorded its best numbers since launching in 2020, with an average audience of 622,000 listeners across the three months to March, up 3% on the previous quarter and a jump of 24% on the year.