Ken Bruce has addressed the drop in viewing figures for BBC Radio 2’s morning show since his departure.
The veteran radio host regularly presented the Radio 2 show from 9.30am to midday for more than 30 years, until he quit in March 2023 to join Greatest Hits Radio. His old BBC slot was taken over by Vernon Kay.
Audience figures for Radio 2’s weekday morning slot were reported to have dropped significantly after Bruce left, from a weekly average of 8.1 million to 6.6 million in October 2025.
“Am I aware that audience figures for the Radio 2 show have fallen since I left? Yes,” Bruce, 74, said in an interview with Saga magazine published on Monday (24 November).
“Did some follow me over to Greatest Hits Radio? Yes,” he continued. “You won’t hear me gloating or badmouthing the BBC, though.
“My new show’s doing well – apparently the audience has doubled since I joined – and that’s all that matters.”
A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “Radio 2 is the UK’s most listened to single radio station with 12.8 million listeners each week, and Vernon Kay firmly remains the country’s most popular radio show, with a growing weekly audience of 6.6 million who are choosing to tune in each weekday morning.”
Bruce remarked of Kay’s takeover: “I’m always asked if I listen to Vernon Kay, who took over the old show on Radio 2, and I always say, ‘No.’
“It’s not because I’m boycotting the BBC – I still listen to Radio 3 and archive shows on 4 Extra – it’s because I’m part of a new family now, Bauer Radio.”
Bruce said at the time of his departure that the BBC had failed to offer him a new contract and he wanted a challenge.
Appearing on the Beyond the Title podcast last year, Bruce warned against the broadcaster trying to make Radio 2 “cool”.
“There should always be a clear division between Radio 1 and Radio 2,” he said, adding: “It’s a state of mind – not just about the music played.”
“When you’re over 35, you’re more comfortable with yourself and don’t mind being uncool. Radio 2 thinking it’s cool is the worst thing we can do.”
A spokesperson for the station said at the time: “Radio 2, the UK’s most listened to radio station with 13.2m listeners each week, continues to target an audience aged 35+, a target that has remained unchanged for decades.
Radio 2 remains the UK’s most popular radio station, with listening figures stabilising after a sharp drop earlier this year that coincided with the relaunch of its weekday schedule.
The BBC station had an estimated weekly audience of 12.79 million across July to September of this year, up slightly from 12.62 million in April to June.
Changes included Scott Mills replacing Zoe Ball as host of the breakfast show, with Trevor Nelson launching a new afternoon slot and DJ Spoony presenting a late evening programme on Mondays to Thursdays.
Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “Congratulations to Scott Mills, whose breakfast show remains the number one breakfast show in the country with 6.2m listeners, and Vernon Kay, whose weekday mid-morning show continues to be the most-listened to programme on UK radio, with a weekly audience of 6.6m.”
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