Bob Shennan answers critics by saying success of Chris Evans and others has prevented station bringing in female voices
BBC Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan has blamed the unprecedented popularity of its all-male daytime lineup for the lack of a regular female voice in the station's weekday schedule.
Shennan was responding to critics including Jane Garvey, presenter of Radio 4's Woman's Hour, who have highlighted the lack of a regular female voice.
Shennan told Radio 4's Feedback: "What you have got to understand about these daytime programmes is they are massively popular.
"Chris Evans has an audience nearly the size of Radio 1, Ken Bruce has an audience over 8 million, Jeremy Vine's show is the biggest current affairs show on BBC radio, Simon Mayo has the biggest ever drivetime audience.
"The really important thing is for us to recognise the practicality of the situation we are in."
Shennan said he had introduced many new female voices onto the station including Vanessa Feltz, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox and Anneka Rice.
He added: "I am working really hard to make sure we augment those big stars in daytime ... so that when the time comes, when a change is made, we have the best possible selection from whom to choose."
Shennan described a recent error on the Bob Harris night-time show, which saw a 20-minute segment of the show simulcast at the same time as another part of the pre-recorded programme as "excruciatingly embarrassing".
He added: "Although our programmes are brilliant we need to make them audible to audiences."
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BBC Radio 2 controller Bob Shennan has blamed the unprecedented popularity of its all-male daytime lineup for the lack of a regular female voice in the station's weekday schedule.
Shennan was responding to critics including Jane Garvey, presenter of Radio 4's Woman's Hour, who have highlighted the lack of a regular female voice.
Shennan told Radio 4's Feedback: "What you have got to understand about these daytime programmes is they are massively popular.
"Chris Evans has an audience nearly the size of Radio 1, Ken Bruce has an audience over 8 million, Jeremy Vine's show is the biggest current affairs show on BBC radio, Simon Mayo has the biggest ever drivetime audience.
"The really important thing is for us to recognise the practicality of the situation we are in."
Shennan said he had introduced many new female voices onto the station including Vanessa Feltz, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox and Anneka Rice.
He added: "I am working really hard to make sure we augment those big stars in daytime ... so that when the time comes, when a change is made, we have the best possible selection from whom to choose."
Shennan described a recent error on the Bob Harris night-time show, which saw a 20-minute segment of the show simulcast at the same time as another part of the pre-recorded programme as "excruciatingly embarrassing".
He added: "Although our programmes are brilliant we need to make them audible to audiences."
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.