BBC Radio Devon's audience plummets

BBC Radio Devon’s audience has plummeted to its lowest level for more than two decades.

Figures obtained by the Express & Echo show the station had an average of 180,000 listeners a week from July to September, down 34,000 from the previous three months.

The number of listeners went up by 24,000 between September 2014 and April 2015, but dropped 7,000 in the following three months.

The latest figures represent a fall of 17,000 over the past year and 88,000 since September 2005.

They are the lowest recorded for any quarter since audience data for local radio stations was first published in June 1999.

The decline follows several high-profile presenter changes this year.

In January breakfast show presenter Matt Woodley was moved aside to make way for former BBC Radio 1 DJ Simon Bates.

In June listeners’ favourite Judi Spiers was axed by the station after 15 years.

Hundreds signed a petition to keep her at the station, with some describing her as “the voice of Radio Devon”.

Station insiders have said the decline in listeners is being described by management as the “Judi Effect” and that it was something they had anticipated.

She was replaced by David FitzGerald, while Pippa Quelch became the voice of his afternoon show.

BBC Radio Devon editor Mark Grinnell defended the decision to drop Judi Spiers at the time.

He said: “I want to assure you that the decision was not taken lightly. Judi has presented in the same slot for a long time and like a lot of Local Radio presenters she has a passionate audience.

“However, after a lot of thought, we felt the time had come for a change. All BBC Local Radio stations schedules – as well as national and other commercial stations - do evolve from time to time.

A variety of reasons are taken into account on these occasions, including the measured performance of both the station and the programme, the balance of the line-up and the station's editorial aims.”

* Radio Exe’s audience dropped 2,000 to 22,000 between April and September 2015.

Heart South West lost 10,000 listeners between July and April with an average of 398,000 listeners a week.