LBC sees audience numbers rise after Katie Hopkins departure

The presenter left the station following comments made about the Manchester attack in May

(LBC)

The departure of Katie Hopkins from LBC earlier this year has not seemed to have a negative effect on the radio station's audience, figures have found.

According to audience research body Rajar, the talk radio station recorded 2m listeners - its highest national reach - in the period from April to the end of June despite the presenter leaving after controversial comments made about the Manchester attack in May.

This is an increase on the 1.7m listeners recorded in the same period in 2016 aided by Nick Ferrari and James O'Brien's record figures of 1.2m and 905,000 listeners, respectively.

Rajar's findings also reveal that the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show presented by Chris Evans - the channel's highest paid star - lost almost half a million listeners in the past year.

Figures show that the DJ saw a 370,000 decrease between the first and second quarter of 2017 - he drew 9.01m listeners a week between April and June 2017 compared with 9.47m over the same period in 2016.

It was revealed last month that Evans, as the corporation's biggest earner, was making between £2.2m and £2.25m - more than four times the channel's highest paid woman, presenter Claudia Winkleman.

Radio 1's breakfast show, presented by Nick Grimshaw, has seen a 350,000 increase in its weekly listeners reaching 5.5m while the station has seen its entire audience jump by almost half a million (9.6m compared to 9.1m) in the first three months of the year.

Also increasing its audience is Radio 4 which reached its biggest audience since records began in 1999 (11.55m listeners a week).

The station's Today programme saw a surge with 7.66m listeners during the year's second quarter compared to 7.13m just three months earlier.

Bob Shennan, director of BBC radio and music, described the BBC's figures as “fantastic news for radio, illustrating its enduring appeal in a crowded digital marketplace.”

Elsewhere, Classic FM which has seen a weekly increase of more than 200,000 while Kiss saw a drop from 2.1m to 2m in the last quarter.

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