Review of services: Radio 24 Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 It has been a year of remarkable growth for BBC Radio as it rose to the challenge of developing and launching five new digital services that will double the number of BBC radio networks from five to ten in a single year.Two of them are already on air; the others will follow by the end of 2002. Above: Live and Exclusive – Paul Weller in concert for Radio 2 in the BBC Radio Theatre. Right: On the beach – Trevor Nelson broadcasting from Cyprus on Radio 1. Far right: Radio 1’s Sara Cox in action. The year ended with Radio 2, Radio 4 and Radio Five Live all achieving record reach figures (as did BBC Local Radio, see page 33).This gave the BBC an overall weekly reach of 67.5% – the highest figure recorded under the present RAJAR system – and a total share of listening of 52.6%. Radio 2 added two million new listeners in a single year. For the second year running it was Sony Station of the Year.The overall fall in the amount of listening to Radio 1 during the year was a concern, although its reach rose, particularly among its target audience of 15 to 24 year olds.The underperformance of all the networks – with the notable exception of Radio 1 – among ethnic minority audiences requires attention. Plans are being developed by each service to try to strengthen their appeal to black and Asian listeners. Overall network radio share has risen in most regions, notably the Midlands and North.A major development was the creation of a new factual programmes unit in Manchester; BBC Music Live attracted around 250,000 people to live music events in Leeds, Bradford and York during May 2001; Radio 2 presented a special series of programmes from Nottingham and Cardiff; and Radio 1 produced The Sessions in the Nations, with different weekly shows broadcast simultaneously in Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland.Total network radio spend outside London remained at 31%. The internet sites for each network have built on the early success they achieved when launched in 2000 and now reach an estimated two million users a month. In the past year monthly page impressions have risen from 17 million to 36 million, including a 75% increase in traffic to the Radio 1 site. BBC Radio 1 Radio 1’s aim is to be the number one youth station. It plays 85% new music – more than any of its close competitors – and has remained the favourite station of its target audience of 15 to 24 year olds, reaching 52.9% of this age group each week. However, its share of listening across the population (aged 4+) fell from 9.6% to 8.8%, and in its target age group from 24.5% to 23.9%, across the year. Breakfast Show with Sara Cox peaked at 7.8 million listeners a week in the second quarter of 2001 – a three-year high. Sara’s programme is the touchstone for millions of young people and an important launchpad for Radio 1’s campaigns on exams, getting into work and money management.The failure to rein in comedian Ali G when he appeared as a guest was a serious lapse, given the age profile of many of the listeners and stricter new guidelines have been put in place to avoid similar incidents.The strength and depth of Radio 1’s specialist music was enhanced this year with several new DJs joining the station including Fergie,Yousef and Lottie. In line with its public service remit, Radio 1 appointed a politics specialist, Polly Billington, with a brief to engage with younger listeners. She successfully fronted the network’s General Election coverage, which included interviews with the three main party leaders in clubs around the UK in front of young audiences who also put their points directly to the leaders. Since then, she has tackled a series of policy issues including drugs, crime and education with strong interactive elements developed through Radio 1’s website, which now attracts over one million regular users. Radio 1’s emphasis on live performance saw the development of the One Big Sunday concept last summer with large-scale events staged in Swansea, Manchester, Irvine, Middlesbrough, Plymouth and Leicester, where major artists played to over 60,000 young fans. Six open-air Dance Parties were staged around the UK and a major New Year event took place in Belfast. One disappointment was the enforced cancellation of the Love Parade in Newcastle after the City Council was unable to satisfy local police over health and safety plans. UK number one BBC Radio 2 added two million new listeners and became the UK’s most popular radio station ¦ BBC Radio 1 8.4% ¦ BBC Radio 2 15.7% ¦ BBC Radio 3 1.2% ¦ BBC Radio 4 11.4% ¦ BBC Five Live 4.5% ¦ BBC Local Radio (inc. Nations) 11.4% ¦ Local commercial radio (254 stations) 37.7% ¦ National commercial radio (3 stations) 7.7% ¦ Other commercial radio 1.9% Total radio share (%) Q1 2002 Source: RAJAR age 15+. Difference due to rounding. Total BBC Radio share Q1 2002 52.6% (Q1 2001 52.1%). Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 25 88-91 FM Review of services: Radio 26 Right: Britain’s number one – 7.5 million people each week joined Terry Wogan for breakfast. BBC Radio 2 The station’s primary aim in the past year has been to continue to strengthen its appeal to new audiences while maintaining its commitment to its core older listeners. A key measure of its success is that it has increased its audience in both categories and become the most listened-to station in the UK.Twenty-two per cent more 35 to 54 year olds tuned in, taking the total to over five million, with the number of older listeners (55+) also rising by 9% to 5.3 million. Breakfast with Wogan became the most listened-to breakfast show in Britain with 7.5 million people tuning in every week. This was one million more listeners than in 2001 – a feat matched by Ken Bruce and Steve Wright. At weekends Jonathan Ross added 660,000 new listeners during the year. Jimmy Young was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List and his move was announced to a new weekend slot from next year. Commercial competitors are increasingly targeting the Radio 2 audience. One of the key features that will continue to distinguish the station from its rivals is its programme range, which last year extended from comedy such as Jammin’ and documentaries such as Alan Whicker’s series on 70 years of British television, to a season of Sunday Summer gala concerts by the BBC Concert Orchestra and Faith in the Nation week, celebrating and exploring the broad spectrum of beliefs within the UK today. Another essential element is the network’s commitment to live music and events. In the past year these have ranged from Live and Exclusive concerts featuring Sting, the Bee Gees, Elton John, The Corrs and Paul Weller, to coverage of Celtic Connections, the Cambridge Folk Festival and the Country Music Awards from Nashville. New musical talent is actively supported through the Young Folk Awards, Chorister of the Year and the National Youth Brass Band and Big Band Competitions. The rich tradition of Radio 2 music documentaries continued with, among others, The Colour of Music, narrated by Lionel Richie, The Bob Dylan Story, presented by Kris Kristofferson, and Bill Wyman’s look back at the history of British rhythm and blues, R’n’B in Bright Lights. BBC Radio 3/BBC Proms Radio 3 has increased its emphasis on new work and live performance in the past year, while also developing its jazz, world music, drama and cultural programming. Its commitment to offering listeners complete classical musical works, in context, remains unique in UK radio, as does its patronage of the five BBC orchestras and the BBC Singers. The importance of live music was further strengthened with the introduction last July of Sunday Live, showcasing music from the best international festivals such as Salzburg, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. Distinguished orchestral leadership was maintained with Gianandrea Noseda succeeding Yan Pascal Tortelier at the BBC Philharmonic and Ilan Volkov replacing Osmo Vanska at the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The BBC Proms attracted an average of 730,000 Radio 3 listeners – up 30,000 on last year – and over half of the concerts were completely sold out.They also attracted bigger live audiences, including a sharp rise in the number of first-time visitors (an encouraging 19% of the total). Proms in the Park sold out in Gateshead and the Eden Project in Cornwall, and attracted audiences of nearly 5,000 in Liverpool and 40,000 in London’s Hyde Park.The programme for the Last Night of the Proms was significantly changed at short notice to reflect the international concern and mourning that followed 11 September. Left: Jonathan Ross’s Saturday show grew its audience to 5.3 million, bringing over 660,000 new listeners to Radio 2. Right: Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks were Europe/Middle East winners at the Radio 3 Awards for World Music. 27 capt The first BBC Jazz Awards, jointly produced with Radio 2, and the strengthened emphasis on world music exemplify Radio 3’s commitment to musical breadth. 444,000 people a week now listen to jazz on the network – a 30% rise on last year.World Music Day (1 January) saw live link-ups with musicians in studios around the world, including a historic live music transmission from Kabul, and Radio 3’s first Awards for World Music were enthusiastically received by press and public alike. In speech, Radio 3’s Night Waves won critical acclaim for providing the most ambitious cultural review and investigation on air.The network also continued its commitment to longform drama and commissioned work from exciting new writers such as David Greig and Ursula Rani Sarma for The Wire. BBC Radio 4 Radio 4’s commitment to original journalism and its renewed emphasis on comedy have been key features of the past year. Audience growth has been another, with the network now attracting ten million listeners a week – 800,000 more than a year ago. Growth was achieved across the UK, except in Wales, but relative levels of listening remain low in the nations and the north of England. This led to the decision to create a new Manchester-based factual programmes unit for Radio 4. Established in January, it contributed 70 programme items from across the north, including some for Radio 3, in its first six weeks of existence. Original journalism comes in many forms. In the past year on Radio 4 it has ranged from File on 4 and Face the Facts to Farming Today’s coverage of the foot-and-mouth story, to In Our Time, Letter from America and award-winning documentaries such as Roots of Homophobia and The Day They Made it Rain. It has also brought innovations such as Dawn Chorus Day, which followed the sun round the earth in the course of a day, reflecting on the different animal and bird All that jazz 444,000 people each week now listen to jazz on BBC Radio 3 – 30% more than last year Julian Joseph Left: Andy Kershaw, winner of two Sony Golds and a Silver this year for his world music programmes on Radio 3. Right: British and US national anthems were played back to back in a break from tradition at the Last Night of the Proms on 15 September last year. Above: Sue MacGregor (left) who retired from Radio 4’s Today programme after 18 years, shares her Desert Island Discs with Sue Lawley. Left: Chris Watson taking soundings on Radio 4’s innovative Dawn Chorus Day. Review of services: Radio 28 Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 choruses, and Today programme co-presentations from Kabul, Islamabad, Jerusalem,Washington, New York and Kuala Lumpur in the wake of 11 September. In the breadth and depth of its programming, the network increasingly appeals to people with an intelligent interest in public and foreign affairs seeking exploration and analysis. Comedy, led by Dead Ringers and the winner of this year’s Sony Gold Comedy award, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, attracted nearly five million listeners a week while new successes included The Now Show, Think the Unthinkable, the surreal comedy series The Boosh and The In Crowd, featuring new writing and performing talent from north-west England. Radio 4’s award-winning In Touch has covered issues such as the changes in copyright law that allow greater access to books for visually impaired people and the cultural issues surrounding British Asian communities. Audiences for plays, stories and readings all increased during the year. Drama spanned The Archers, with over 4.5 million listeners; Little Dorrit with Sir Ian McKellen; a new Alan Bennett play, Hymn; The Stone Diaries, run across a single week in January, and A Woman in Waiting, which won the Sony Gold award for drama. Finally, the decision to re-run the 20 year old radio classic Lord of the Rings was vindicated when, over 13 successive Saturdays, it drew the highest audience for a radio drama in ten years. BBC Radio Five Live Audiences to Five Live rose to 6.4 million – more than 750,000 higher than last year.The breakfast and drivetime duos of Julian Worricker and Victoria Derbyshire and Peter Allen and Jane Garvey both won Sony Gold awards, Chiles on Saturday won the Sony Gold Sports award and Alan Green was voted Speech Broadcaster of the Year. Audiences for live sport rose to more than four million listeners a week. Sport on 5 has been extended to offer sports journalism, live coverage and breaking stories seven days a week and the station’s all-important contract for Premiership football commentary rights has been successfully renegotiated. The station rose to the challenge of reporting 11 September and its aftermath. Simon Mayo’s new afternoon slot introduced a new approach to politics coverage, Nicky Campbell mounted a special live simulcast with the BBC Asian Network to report on the effects of the Gujarat earthquake and Fi Glover increased the late night audience. Her fresh approach included broadcasting an entire programme on British race relations from a Cleckheaton curry house. Documentaries are an increasing part of Five Live’s schedules. My Sporting Life, presented by Denise Lewis, examined sport as an agent of social cohesion while 73 Million to One raised serious doubts about the conviction of solicitor Sally Clarke for the murder of her two children. Right:The Children’s Cello Choir of the Amazon in Radio 4’s Music from the Rainforest. Far right: Radio Five Live’s Wright (right) and Bright (left). Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 29 capt Simon Mayo joined Radio Five Live last May to present a new weekday afternoon show. Sports Extra! The BBC launched its first new digital radio station, BBC Five Live Sports Extra, offering increased choice for sports fans England defeat India, February 2002 Above: Phill Jupitus, the first voice on new digital radio service 6 Music. Digital radio The first two of the BBC’s new digital radio services approved by the Secretary of State last September are now on air. BBC Five Live Sports Extra launched on 2 February with coverage of Manchester United against Sunderland and will provide licence payers with greater value from the rights held by the BBC. One month later 6 Music took to the air with a menu of classic live recordings from the BBC’s archives mixed with favourites from the 70s, 80s and 90s and a distinctive playlist of iconic artists brought to the airwaves by presenters who are knowledgeable and passionate about music. The three remaining services will be launched by the end of 2002. 1Xtra, a sister station to Radio 1, will provide the best in contemporary black music. Network Z (working title) will offer a mix of entertainment, comedy, the best in radio drama and readings and dedicated children’s programmes.The UK-wide BBC Asian Network will build on the foundations laid by the existing regional AM service to examine life in Britain today and across the world from a distinctively Asian perspective. All the BBC’s digital services are available on digital radio, digital satellite television and via the internet (rights permitting). Most are also available to digital cable subscribers. BBC radio will extend digital transmission coverage from 60% to 85% of the UK population by early 2004 and the supply of affordable digital radio sets, a critical driver for growth, is at last in prospect. Early riser – Victoria Derbyshire, who co-presents Five Live’s Breakfast programme with Julian Worricker.