Radio 3’s latest listening figures (RAJAR) reveal that the network has performed strongly during Controller Alan Davey’s first year in post, recording its highest audience total in three years, with the highest Breakfast figures since 2013, the highest morning figures on record (Essential Classics) and the second highest drivetime (In Tune) figures in the shows’ history.
In my first year it’s been an honour to lead the BBC Radio 3 family which includes BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms and the BBC performing groups, all of whom play an essential part in our purpose to connect audiences with remarkable music and culture.
I’m really proud of our constantly evolving offer which is unique, and lovingly curated by our brilliant team of experts and passionate producers.
We’ve enjoyed a strong year of special programming including Why Music? with the Wellcome Collection, a great Proms season, WOMAD, EFG London Jazz Festival, Northern Lights, New Year New Music and our International Women’s Day composers’ focus, as well as the programmes we do day in, day out, with live music on every night and more than 90 opera relays – more than any other broadcaster in the world.
We’ve also created a 'late night zone' of experimentation with a new Jazz programme (Jazz Now), a revamped Late Junction, and developed the idea of 'slow radio' with full-length dramas, operas, symphonies and special pieces of music like Max Richter’s 8-hour through-the-night lullaby, Sleep, or 'The Well Tuned Piano' – a 5-hour piano meditation on the colour magenta by La Monte Young, broadcast through the night... or the first full broadcast in surround sound of Stockhausen’s Hymnen.
The record figure for our morning show, Essential Classics – the highest in 10 years – shows the tweaks we’ve made there are really paying off. These include introducing contemporary music and fixed features such as 'Music in Time'.
I’m also proud of Breakfast’s highest reach in three years: we’ve intentionally set out to let the music breathe, cutting back on news bulletins and allowing longer pieces of music. And our drivetime show, In Tune, with its unique live music and culture news, has delivered its second highest audience figure on record.
As we move into our 70th anniversary year, I’m delighted that Radio 3 – broadcast and streamed as always in beautiful uncompressed sound – continues to play such a special role in the daily lives of our listeners. That is down to the people who work here – knowledgeable, enthusiastic individuals who make great programmes with consummate skill and pride in what they do.
