The broadcaster Eddie Mair has been announced as the new presenter of LBC’s drivetime programme, putting him in direct competition with his old Radio 4 show PM in a battle for listeners. The radio presenter, who worked with BBC for 30 years, will start his new show on 3 September in a 4pm to 6pm timeslot.
The replacement for Mair is yet to be decided by Radio 4 . A series of guest presenters, including the political correspondent Chris Mason and Scotland editor Sarah Smith, have been sitting in over the summer.

Since Mair has shifted to LBC the radio station expects a large number of Mair’s listeners will follow him to LBC, which in recent years has expanded from being a London-only talk station to a national brand. Even though there are speculations that BBC’s Today Programme and other news programmes are losing listeners, LBC is a main contender for BBC.

Mair quit the BBC earlier this year after leaked stories appeared in the press suggesting he was refusing to follow the lead of other prominent male BBC presenters and cut his salary, which was in the £300,000 to £350,000 bracket, following a series of scandals over unequal pay at the broadcaster. He insists he left the broadcaster because he was enticed by the prospect of working on a new project for LBC, rather than an argument over money.

Either way, he will be attempting to build an audience on a substantially lower-profile station. According to industry figures LBC reaches 2.1 million listeners nationwide every week, compared with the 10.6 million who tune in to Radio 4.
As part of the changes Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader who is thought to be on a rolling six-month contract at the station, will move to an earlier 6pm to 7pm timeslot. His show has caused internal tensions at the station about who should be given a platform on LBC, resulting in audio leaking of Farage intervening in an off-air argument between LBC’s political editor Theo Usherwood and former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who was appearing on the programme.
Iain Dale, who has presented LBC’s drivetime show since 2013, will be moving to a new 7pm-10pm evening show, where he will review the day’s news, and launch a Wednesday night rival to Radio 4’s Any Questions called Cross Question, which will feature politicians and prominent figures answering questions posed by LBC listeners.