Radio 2 and 6 Music Service 
Review – Report Summary 

The Trust carries out regular in-depth reviews of each BBC service. Last summer we ran a 
public consultation to get your views on Radio 2 and its sister station 6 Music. We’ve also 
been talking to the radio industry and doing audience research to give us a clear picture of 
these stations’ strengths and weaknesses. 

Radio 2 

With around 13 million listeners each week, Radio 2 is the nation’s favourite radio station. 
This success means there is an opportunity to use the station’s scale and influence to take 
more creative risks and be more distinctive, particularly in day time, even though this more 
ambitious approach carries with it the risk that audience numbers could fall. This means, for 
example, refreshing comedy and arts programming and integrating some of this distinctive 
content into the peak time schedule. 

We’d like the station to do more to appeal to audiences who are currently less likely to 
listen, including ethnic minorities. We’d also like it to promote the benefits of newer 
technologies like digital and internet radio to hard to reach groups like older listeners. 

Radio 2’s remit is to appeal to everyone over 35 but commercial radio stations have raised 
concerns that Radio 2 is targeting younger people at the expense of older listeners. We’ve 
found that the average age of a Radio 2 listener is 50 and have asked the station to ensure 
that this does not fall. We’ve also asked BBC management to address the recent decline in 
listeners aged over 65. 

6 Music 

6 Music is well liked by its listeners, although these are relatively few in number. Over the last 
four years the station’s audience has grown faster than any other BBC digital radio-only 
service but the station is still only reaching one per cent of the adult population. Low 
audience is compounded by low awareness, with just 20 per cent of the adult population 
aware that the station exists. 

The station must raise awareness and grow its audience. In doing so it should also seek to 
attract enthusiasts of alternative popular music from audience groups which are currently less 
likely to listen, particularly older listeners. 

Audiences believe that 6 Music offers something which is not available on other radio stations 
and analysis shows that there is very little song overlap between Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 1 
and commercial radio. 

The challenge for 6 Music will be to grow its audience without changing the aspects which 
currently set it apart from other radio stations. One of the ways the station should do this is 
by ensuring presenters are not only popular but also have musical credibility to act as trusted 
guides for alternative music enthusiasts. 

Both Radio 2 and 6 Music are taking steps to become more efficient and plan to save around 
£14 million by 2013. The Trust will closely monitor these savings and report progress in our 
annual report. 


To read our detailed findings and recommendations please click on the following link: 
www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/service_reviews/service_licences/reviews_r2_6music.shtml