Damazer axed R4's UK theme 'by mistake'

Former BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer controversially axed the station's early morning UK Theme by mistake after misreading an audience report, it has emerged.

In 2006, Damazer opted to ditch the Fritz Spiegl-composed medley of tunes, which had opened Radio 4's daily schedule for more than 30 years.

It was replaced by an early-morning news summary, but the move led to hundreds of complaints pouring into the BBC and even a question being asked in the House Of Commons.

Damazer, who left the BBC last month to take up a post at Oxford University, said that he decided to axe the theme after audience figures seemed to suggest that only a few hundred people were listening at 5.30am.

According to media reports, Damazer admitted to colleagues at his leaving party that he had actually misread the figures, and the actual audience at the time was 800,000.

The problem came about because research body Rajar registered listener levels in 15 minute intervals, meaning the early morning audience did not register until 5.45am.

Earlier in the year, Damazer said that he had no regrets in removing the theme, but admitted that he had totally underestimated the sensitivity of listeners.

Since axing the UK Theme, the audience for Radio 4's early morning timeslot has grown steadily, reaching around 900,000 listeners in the first three months of 2010.