Sir Terry Wogan leaves breakfast show on ratings high
Sir Terry Wogan left his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on a high, matching his biggest ever audience, according to figures from industry body Rajar. The presenter attracted 8. 1 million listeners in the last three months of 2009, equalling his 2008 record, as he ended his 27-year run on the show.
His BBC rival Chris Moyles attracted 7. 24m listeners to his Radio 1 show, up 200,000 on the previous three months.
Sir Terry stepped down in December. He returns to Radio 2 on 14 February.
Commanding lead
Meanwhile, the BBC's digital station 6 Music, whose presenters include Jarvis Cocker and Elbow's Guy Garvey, continued to grow in popularity, with 695,000 listeners - up 76,000, or 12%, on the same period in 2008.
Commercial radio listening rose slightly for the quarter, by 149,000, to 31. 4 million. Classic FM remained the most popular station, with 5. 1 million listeners.
Global's Big Top 40 has built up a commanding lead as the nation's biggest chart show. , with just over two million listeners, compared with the 1. 31 million who listen to BBC Radio 1's Top 40 on Sunday.
Rajar's figures showed that 46 million, or 89. 6%, of the UK population aged 15 and over tuned in to the radio each week.
This figure is up from 45. 5 million during the same period last year, and up almost 250,000 listeners from the previous quarter.
Source: BBC