Rylan Clark is tipped to be among favourites to take over from Ken Bruce after legendary DJ, 71, became latest older star to leave BBC Radio 2 – as insiders say veteran host could pocket £500,000-a-year at Golden Hits Radio
- Ken leaving after presenting station’s mid-morning weekday show for 31 years
- He will start his new job at Greatest Hits Radio in April after 45 years at the BBC
- Mr Bruce told millions of listeners news this morning and urged them to follow
- Broadcaster, 71, will present a show from 10am to 1pm on the Bauer radio station
- BBC Radio 2 yet to announce the host and details of the new mid-morning show
Rylan Clark has been tipped among the favourites to take over from Ken Bruce after the legendary DJ became the latest older star to leave BBC Radio 2.
Bruce, 71, has jumped ship after 45 years for commercial rival Greatest Hits Radio, where radio insiders predicted he could be on £500,000 a year.
Radio consultant Paul Chantler suggested Radio 2 could look for a younger name to replace him, and named former X Factor star Rylan Clark as a possible candidate.
Clark, 34, praised Bruce in a Twitter post today, writing: ‘A beautiful man who’s always been so lovely to me at BBC Radio 2.
‘Going to be so missed on air, but personally I’ll miss having a beer in a foreign country discussing anything and everything whilst at Eurovision. Thanks for always being so lovely.’
Ken Bruce announced today that he was leaving BBC Radio 2. Rylan Clark (right) has been tipped to replace him
Today Clark praised Bruce in a Twitter post today, calling him ‘a beautiful man who’s always been so lovely to me at BBC Radio 2’
Mr Chantler told MailOnline: ‘Bauer, are trying to build Greatest Hits Radio into much more of a rival to Radio 2. They will undoubtedly get an excellent return on their investment in Ken through sponsorship of the daily PopMaster competition which advertisers will love to be associated with because of its popularity.
‘Radio 2 is definitely pitching itself towards a younger audience now, having just brought in Scott Mills and phasing out classic songs from the sixties and seventies during daytime programming.
‘It’ll be interesting to see who replaces Ken. My guess is Rylan, who’s become a favourite on Saturdays and is has wide appeal thanks to his TV profile.
‘It seems the BBC is abandoning older music listeners. Commercial stations like Boom Radio and Serenade Radio are taking care of the tastes of the 50+ audience leaving Radio 2 to appeal to 35 to 50 year olds.’
Mr Chantler added: ‘By the way, I’m surprised the BBC didn’t do more to protect the PopMaster competition from being ‘stolen’ by a commercial rival. PopMaster has a big potential value to Bauer.
‘The BBC could have taken steps to prevent that legally even if Ken moved . Look what happened with TV’s Top Gear which stayed with the BBC even though Jeremy, Richard and James as presenters moved to Amazon. It appears someone in the BBC has missed a trick here.’
Bruce announced today that ‘the time is right’ for him to move on from the weekday mid-morning show he’s presented since 1986 – with just a two year gap between 1990 and 1992 – having first walked into the corporation in 1977.
He informed his 9million listeners this morning that he would quit in March – but he is not retiring, heading into commercial radio and taking his much-loved PopMaster quiz with him.
And in an advert for his new mid-morning show, he urged people to follow him as fans vowed to never listen to Radio 2 again when he leaves complaining that older presenters are being swapped for younger, less talented broadcasters, like Scott Mills.
Ken said: ‘Nothing stays the same forever. I’ve done everything it is possible to do at Radio 2. I’ve always felt I’ve got something more to prove. I hope that when people hear the news they will say: ‘Sorry to hear you’re going Ken, but maybe I’ll follow you to wherever it is you’re going’.’
Ken Bruce said he has done all he could at the BBCV and wants a fresh challenge for the end of his career
Listeners have vowed never to return to Radio 2 when Ken is gone
Radio 2 fans have accused the BBC of ageism as a string of older DJs step back, including Pauk O’Grady, Steve Wright, Graham Norton and Simon Mayo, replaced by ex-Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, RuPaul’s Michelle Visage, Waterloo Road’s Angela Griffin, and DJ Spoony
Mr Bruce is the latest veteran to leave the station, but he insists it is his decision. Last summer Paul O’Grady exited Radio 2 after Steve Wright, 68, Graham Norton, 59, and Simon Mayo, 64, all left and were replaced with a younger line up. Vanessa Feltz, 60, and Craig Charles, 58, have also moved on.
Experts say Greatest Hits Radio boss Ben Cooper, who joined Bauer last year from the BBC where he ran Radio 1, is adding Mr Bruce to his roster of Simon Mayo and Jackie Brambles as they try to steal listeners from the increasingly younger-focused BBC Radio 2.
Ken’s listeners have claimed they could hear he was ‘less enthusiastic about playing some of those newer records’ that his bosses insisted on as they try to bring in younger listeners.
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Members of the Ken Bruce Preservation Society of superfans on Facebook are also suggesting that he’s been unhappy with the Radio2 playlist for some time.
One upset listener declared that the news was so shocking that ‘there should be one week of national mourning’, adding of the BBC: ‘Ken Bruce not doing PopMaster is like the ravens leaving the Tower’.
Another said it was a further sign of the ‘mass exodus’ at the BBC, calling the Glaswegian: ‘A truly great broadcaster who made it sound so easy & utterly effortless. Second only to Wogan’. One critic said: ‘With Ken Bruce leaving and Steve Wright gone they might as well shut Radio 2 down’
The 71-year-old, who is leaving in March, joined the corporation in 1977 as a BBC Radio Scotland presenter and his first regular slot on Radio 2 was the Saturday Late Show in 1984. The following year he fronted the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, taking over from Sir Terry Wogan.
Radio 2 will announce the host and details of the new mid-morning show at a later date.
The broadcaster, 71, will present a show from 10am to 1pm on the Bauer radio station, alongside presenters including Simon Mayo at Drivetime and Jackie Brambles in the early evening.
Ken said: ‘Nothing stays the same forever and I have decided the time is right for me to move on from Radio 2 when I reach the end of my current contract in March. It’s been a tremendously happy time for me: I’ve made many friends and worked with many wonderful colleagues. However I feel that after 45 years of full-time broadcasting on BBC Radio it’s time for a change.
‘I would stress that this is entirely my decision but some new opportunities have come up and I would like to continue my career in a slightly different way in the next few years, the details of which will be revealed shortly.
‘I will always be very proud of my association with the BBC and Radio 2 in particular and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to make the mid-morning show a success’.
This move follows a number of high-profile departures and reshuffling at BBC Radio of recent, including Scott Mills leaving BBC Radio 1 after 24 years at the network to join Radio 2 for a new weekday show.
The radio DJ took over the 2-4pm slot from presenter Steve Wright, who stepped down from his afternoon show at the end of September after 23 years.
Wright continues to present his Radio 2 Sunday Love Songs programme as well as specials on the station.
Paul O’Grady also quit his Radio 2 Sunday afternoon show, which he presented for around 14 years, because he was not happy with a schedule shake-up which saw him share the slot with comic Rob Beckett.
Shortly after the Radio 2 confirmed his exit – Bauer Media said Ken was off to Greatest Hits Radio, where other hosts include ‘The Professor of Pop’ Paul Gambaccini, who has been so critical of the BBC.
Ken Bruce said ‘What better way to celebrate my forty-five years in radio than with a new adventure and a brand-new show on Greatest Hits Radio.
‘I say brand-new but there will still be PopMaster, me and my musings and all the great records you know and love from the 70s, 80s and 90s. I’m looking forward to getting started and to you joining me for my very first show. See you in April’
Bruce has also presented Radio 2’s coverage of Eurovision since 1988, and has been a regular presenter of Sunday Night is Music Night.
Ken in the studio in 1984. He joined the BBC in 1977
Ken Bruce (pictured with his good friend Rod Stewart) is leaving the BBC after 45 years, quitting Radio 2 for Greatest Hits Radio
Ken with stars Sir Cliff Richard and Beyonce
His Radio 2 show is famous for a number of segments including PopMaster, a quiz to test music knowledge which has run for 25 years, Tracks of My Years, where a famous person chooses their favourite records and more recently, The Piano Room, featuring live music from a range of great artists.
Lorna Clarke, director of BBC Music, added: ‘Ken is an extraordinary broadcaster with an exceptional career over many decades.
‘He has been part of every significant occasion marked by BBC Radio 2 and we, his faithful audience and the Radio 2 all-star line-up, will miss his warm humour and wit. Congratulations on a brilliant career.’
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