BBC's highest paid star Chris Evans loses nearly half a million listeners
The Radio 2 breakfast show presenter was revealed as the BBC's highest paid talent, earning more than 拢2m a year.
Friday 4 August 2017 06:16, UK
The BBC's highest paid star has lost nearly half a million listeners in the second quarter of the year.
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans drew a little over nine million listeners a week in the second quarter of 2017, down from nearly nine and a half in the same period last year.
The figures come from radio audience research body Rajar, which lists Evans' breakfast show as the most listened to radio programme on air despite the slip in numbers.
This comes after the presenter topped the list of BBC's highest paid stars, earning between £2.2m and £2.5m a year.
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The Radio 2 DJ and former Top Gear star said he asked his mum for advice after his salary was made public. She told him to "earn what you can, when you can, while you can".
Going the opposite way is Radio 1's breakfast show presenter, Nick Grimshaw, whose audience numbers saw a 350,000 weekly rise.
The show drew in 5.5 million weekly listeners in the second quarter of this year, up from 5.43 million in the same period last year.
Bob Shennan, director of BBC radio and music, described the quarterly figures as "fantastic news for radio, illustrating its enduring appeal in a crowded digital marketplace".
LBC saw an audience increase of about 300,000 weekly listeners after the sacking of Katie Hopkins in May.