No, this isn't the end of Radio 1

A Telegraph headline reads: "Nick Grimshaw’s exit means the end of the radio pop personality - and possibly Radio 1 itself" and asks "is anyone listening?"

Firstly, as my esteemed Shine Radio colleague writes, significantly more people hear Radio 1 in a week than buy The Telegraph in a month.

Is anyone listening? they ask.

Most recent Radio 1 reach = 8.9m (weekly)

Most recent Telegraph circulation 317,817 (monthly) https://t.co/vs29n7peI7

— Steve Martin (@smartin) July 2, 2021

Having recently signed up for a free trial, in order to read a single article that was behind a paywall, I took the trouble to read the piece.

• It states that radio’s overall 15-24 reach has "plunged" when it hasn’t fallen dramatically in the last decade (hours has taken a bigger hit).

• It suggests "kids don’t want personalities" - clearly not the case given the success of podcasts, reality TV, YouTube, TikTok etc. They need to be the right personalities and a multi-platform presence is crucial.

• It asks who the "big names" are - ignoring the fact one of Nick Grimshaw’s replacements was runner-up on last year’s most-watched TV show.

• It doesn’t mention any of Radio 1′s youth-oriented speech content.

In case you were thinking about doing so, I wouldn't bother subscribing!