Latest news about BBC Radio 4

Record listening figures for Greg James and Dotty on Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra

Latest Rajar data (Q2 2019, 1 April - 23 June 2019) shows Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra have drawn in more listeners each week. BBC Radio 1 had a weekly reach of 10.56 million listeners aged 10+, an increase from 10.18m last quarter and 10.25m last year. BBC Radio 1Xtra also saw increases this quarter, with 1.17 million weekly listeners (10+) up on 1.13m last quarter and 1.11m last year. Highest number of listeners for Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James as he adds a quarter of a million new listeners since he started last year...

RAJAR Q2 2019: London and national brands round-up

Zoe Ball has lost more than three quarters of a million listeners to her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, according to the latest audience research from RAJAR. The show’s reach is down 781,000 quarter-on-quarter to 8.266m for the three months survey period up to the 23rd June 2019. In Q1/19 she had 9.047m listeners; in Q2/2018 Chris Evans reached 9.038m. Radio 2’s audience at breakfast is now the lowest its been since Q3/2010, when Evans was fairly new in the job.

Nadiya Hussain, Dany Cotton, Harriet Wistrich, Amika George and Cressida Cowell to takeover BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour

BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Takeover returns, where five incredible women each choose the content for one edition of Woman’s Hour from 22-26 July 2019. The line-up across the week is cook, author and television presenter Nadiya Hussain; retiring Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Dany Cotton; activist Amika George; the lawyer who represented victims of the ‘black cab rapist’ John Worboys and founder of The Centre of Women’s Justice, Harriet Wistrich; and Children’s Laureate and author of the How to Train Your Dragon series, Cressida Cowell...

Kirsty Young steps down from Desert Island Discs

Kirsty Young is leaving BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs after 12 years as host. Since 2006, Kirsty has presented 496 episodes of the programme as well as fronting the programme’s 70th and 75th anniversary celebrations. Lauren Laverne, who has been hosting the show in recent months, will continue to host Desert Island Discs for the foreseeable future as planned. Kirsty Young said: “After 12 incredibly happy and fulfilling years on Desert Island Discs I’ve decided to step down permanently.

Zoe Ball joins top earners list at the BBC

New BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Zoe Ball has joined the BBC big earners top 10 list whilst Jeremy Vine took at £110k pay cut. Vanessa Feltz also makes it inside the top 10 list, which this year includes three women for the first time, along with Claudia Winkleman. Chris Evans is still in the list, as it covers the period from April 2018 to March 2019, so will only represent nine months of work. He got £1.25m for 150 editions of the Breakfast Show (or £8.3k per programme).

Charlie Higson joins Scala Radio for new series

Actor, comedian, author and former singer Charlie Higson is to host a new series entitled ‘The Playlists’ on Scala Radio. Known widely as one the creators, writers and actors of The Fast Show, Charlie co-produced BBC Radio 4’s spoof series Down the Line, has also appeared in ITV’s Broadchurch, and in the 1980s featured in band, The Higsons. For his new five-part series, Charlie will be sharing samples of curated classical music playlists that have helped him find the right words and set the atmosphere for writing over the years.

6 Music’s Lauren Laverne named Radio Broadcaster of the Year

Lauren Laverne has been named Radio Broadcaster of the Year at the 45th Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. The national breakfast presenter was honoured for her work on BBC Radio 6 Music as well as Desert Island Discs and Late Night Woman’s Hour, both on BBC Radio 4. The chair of the BPG radio jury, Julian Clover, said: “Our winner moves seamlessly between speech and music radio"...

Greg James to present his first show on BBC Radio 4 this May

Radio 1 Breakfast Show host Greg James will present a new series - Rewinder - on Radio 4 this May. This is the first time James has presented on Radio 4. In this new Saturday morning series Greg, who is a passionate radio enthusiast, digs deep into the BBC’s archives using current stories as a portal into the past. Each week he takes topical news events, talking points and trends, and tracks down audio from the past which might add to our understanding or make us reflect or laugh...

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 2019 nominations

BBC radio presenters Danny Baker, Lauren Laverne, Cerys Matthews and Paddy O’Connell have been shortlisted in this year’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. Comedian Romesh Ranganathan is also among this year’s nominees for the BPG’s Podcast of the Year award, acknowledging the growth and quality of streamed and downloadable audio. The 45th annual BPG awards, sponsored by Virgin Media, will be presented next month at...

Commercial radio ignored in Greatest Radio Shows list

The Radio Times has named what it considers to be the ’30 greatest radio shows of all time’ – but every single one is a BBC programme. The magazine’s new edition contains a six-page feature counting down the shows – from Radio 3’s Private Passions at number 30 to Desert Island Discs at number 1. But the feature has attracted criticism that no commercial radio shows are included. Former radio executive John Myers wrote on Twitter: “I’m sorry, but this is the most insulting and ill informed article on radio I’ve read in a long time."...