The bigger picture

For a change, let's annotate the BBC's press release on the latest quarterly radio listening figures. 

"Classical music and live sport kept BBC listeners entertained over the summer of Q3, there was a boost for speech with increases for both Radio 4 and 5 Live while Radio 2 continues to be the nation’s favourite radio station. [Radio 2's weekly reach is down 6.8% year on year; the breakfast show has lost 855,000 listeners year on year; Vernon Kay is 1.6m down on Ken Bruce's show, year on year]

"Overall BBC Radio reached 31.7 million people each week for live output across the stations, with a share of 44%, highlighting how much audiences value live radio to inform, educate and entertain.[Year on year, BBC Radio's reach was down 1.3m, and share down 2.9 percentage points. Reach of 15-44 year-olds dropped 5.3%, reach to over 45s dropped 3.3%]

"5 Sports Extra has delivered a stand-out performance with an increase of 61% on the quarter (28% YoY) with coverage of The Ashes, Wimbledon and the Women’s World Cup reaching 2.2milion [sic] listeners.

"The Proms were a big hit for BBC Radio 3 which continues to champion live classical music, launching the First Night of the Proms with an all-day outside broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall. [Radio 3's reach was up a healthy 17.2% year on year, and nudged above 2m for the first time since 2016. Share of audience unchanged year on year]

"Radio 4 and 5 Live buck the speech radio trend with increased listeners for both networks including an uplift for The Today Programme and 5 Live Breakfast.  [Radio 4's weekly reach was down 4.9% year on year, The Today Programme lost 375,000 listeners year on year; Radio 5 Live is up 14.1% year on year, to 5.5m, 5 Live Breakfast added 94,000 listeners]"