THEY are the familiar voices it was hoped could steady the ship through turbulent times.

But it seems even a shake-up of old and new faces hasn’t managed to stop the slide at Radio Solent.

The BBC station has recorded its lowest-ever share of the listening audience, according to the latest industry figures.

That is despite Nick Girdler returning to Solent after a threeyear absence, Katie Martin replacing Charlie Crocker on the weekday early afternoon slot, and former Meridian newsreader Debbie Thrower being drafted in for a temporary role.

Radio Solent recorded 7.1 per cent of the total audience in the region for the quarter ending March, according to analysts RAJAR, down from 11 per cent at the end of 2007.

The result reflects a 9,000 fall in the number of people tuning in to the Southampton-based BBC station in the past 12 months, when former boss Mia Costello was replaced by new chief Chris Carnegy.

Mr Carnegy said he was neither “thrilled, nor horrified”

by this quarter’s results.

He said: “It’s not dramatic in either direction – it’s broadly steady, which is satisfactory in a part of the country that has an increasingly competitive radio market.”

As reported by the Daily Echo, when Ms Costello’s sabbatical was initially announced corporation bosses said she would return within a year, but her stay at the Beeb’s College of Journalism has now been extended until at least the start of 2011.

By contrast to the public service broadcaster, Hampshire’s commercial stations are all celebrating hitting the right notes with the public after boosting the numbers of people tuning in.

The Coast, which was formerly Original 106, has seen a 36 per cent jump in listeners in the last year.

Galaxy, which used to be Power FM, saw its audience share rise from 3.9 per cent to 6.1 per cent thanks to a 12 per cent increase in listeners in 12 months. And Wave has also added almost five per cent to its listener numbers in the last year.