Sir Terry Wogan leaves Radio 2 breakfast on a high

Sir Terry Wogan signed off from his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show in style, with 8.10 million listeners tuning in to his show every week during the last quarter of 2009, matching his previous record reach (Q1 2008).

Sir Terry announced his decision to stand down from the show on 7 September and bid an emotional farewell to listeners during the last Wake Up To Wogan on 18 December.

He begins his new, two-hour show, Weekend Wogan – live from the 350-seat Radio Theatre in BBC Broadcasting House, London – on Sunday 14 February at 11.00am.

Tim Davie, Director, BBC Audio & Music, said: "Terry is a legendary broadcaster and these figures show his popularity has never been higher. I'm now looking forward to tuning in to his new show later this month, along with all the TOGs.

"I'm also pleased to see growth amongst our digital-only stations and robust figures across the BBC Radio portfolio."

During the measurement period (21 September – 20 December 2009), all BBC Radio had a weekly reach of 33.26 million (from 33.52m last year and 33.58m last quarter) and a share of 55.2% (from 55.7% last year and 55.0% last quarter), according to data released today by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd).

BBC Radio 1 drew 10.76 million listeners per week in the quarter, compared to 10.58 million last year and 11.11 million last quarter. Its share – at 9.8% – is slightly down on last quarter (9.9%) and last year (10.1%).

The Chris Moyles Show now has 7.24 million listeners – from 7.04 million last quarter and 7.30 million last year.

Radio 2 has a weekly reach of 13.47 million listeners – steady on 13.46 million last year and 13.62 million last quarter. Share – at 16.5% – is up on both the quarter (15.9%) and the year (15.8%) and matches the network's record high.

BBC Radio 3 has a weekly reach of 1.87 million listeners – from last year's 1.98 million and last quarter's high of 2.19 million. The network's share is 1.1% (down from 1.3% last year and 1.4% last quarter).

BBC Radio 4's reach is 9.84 million, up from last year (9.81m) and down from last quarter's record (10.21m). Share is the network's joint highest at 12.5%, up from 12.4% last quarter and last year.

BBC Radio 5 Live (including Sports Extra) has 6.19 million listeners – compared to 6.11 million last year and 6.53 million last quarter. BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra contributed 663,000 in the quarter. Share for Radio 5 Live (including Sports Extra) is 4.6% – down from 5.0% last year and 5.3% last quarter.

In digital-only services, BBC 6 Music's audience grew to 695,000 listeners – up on last quarter's 624,000 and last year's 619,000.

BBC Radio 7 also added listeners posting a weekly reach of 931,000 – up both on last quarter (884,000) and last year (850,000).

The BBC Asian Network remains steady with 360,000 listeners, as did BBC 1Xtra with a reach of 531,000.

The BBC World Service has a reach of 1.23 million.

Article Copyright BBC