Radio 1 audience back on the rise
Chris Moyles
Moyles saw himself as the "saviour of Radio 1"
The audience for BBC Radio 1 has risen above the 10 million mark for the first time since July 2003, official figures have revealed.
And DJ Chris Moyles has attracted an extra 910,000 listeners to his Radio 1 breakfast show since taking over.
The audience for Moyles, who replaced Sara Cox in January, has risen from 7.1m to 7.4m in the past three months.
Johnny Vaughan's takeover of Capital FM's breakfast show has proved less successful, shedding 144,000 listeners.
He took over the slot on the London radio show from Chris Tarrant in April and the official Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar) ratings show he has lost 331,000 since starting.
Capital said it had expected there to be a fall as it changes its focus to females in the 25-34 year group.
We always said it would take 18 months for Johnny to bed in, but we are extremely happy with the show and we have definitely got the right guy
Capital spokesman
"The listeners who have left are the over-50s who grew into middle age with Capital and with Chris," said a spokesman.
Summer drop
"We always said it would take 18 months for Johnny to bed in, but we are extremely happy with the show and we have definitely got the right guy."
Terry Wogan retains his lead as the most listened to breakfast DJ, with his BBC Radio 2 show attracting 7.6m.
Radio 2 as a whole saw an overall slide in listenership from June to September from 13.4m to 13.04m.
Radio 3 saw a slight increase while Radio 4 dipped from 9.7m to 9.4m.
A bumper summer of sport including Euro 2004 and the Olympics helped Radio Five Live record its second highest audience of 6.4m.
Unsurprisingly, the summer months saw a decrease in combined listeners across all stations from 43.9m in the June figures to 43.7m for the September results.
But the BBC's digital stations enjoyed a good summer with both 6Music and BBC 7 adding listeners.
― Radio Hound, Thursday, 21 October 2004 10:45 (twenty-one years ago)
At what cost these increases in viewing figures?
I hope it's not me getting old... but the playlist just seems so wrong these days (no Annie was just shocking), and what's up with these local radio rejects saturating prime-time (Scott Mills, JK and Joel) as well as the baffling survivor status of Jo Whiley???
Is the general dumbing down an easy way to allow the rumoured Channel-4 takeover without much public outcry "Well, it's just like a commercial channel anyway"?
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 21 October 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)
I'm struggling with the concept of Chris Molyes actually attracting
anything....
.... unless, of course, he's actually developed his own field of gravity.
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 21 October 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)
jesus. surely britain isn't such a nation of idiots that people are actively tuning in to that fat bell-end?
anyone who manages to set the fucking fire alarm off on air is a grade-A cock, with extra spunking action.
anyway: there's only one way to wake up in the morning, and that's today on R4.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Thursday, 21 October 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)
two years pass...
Kelly Osbourne is set to join Radio 1, and Chris Moyles' breakfast show will get an extra 30 minutes, in a shake-up of the station's schedule.Osbourne, who joins the West End cast of Chicago next week, will host Radio 1's Surgery - part of the new "teen zone" on Sunday evenings.
The Chris Moyles Show will now start at 0630, while chart hosts JK and Joel are leaving the station after three years.
The schedule changes will come into effect on 12 October.
The Chris Moyles Show, which has 7.26 million listeners, will start 30 minutes earlier from 15 October.
Moyles, whose listener numbers are catching up with the UK's most popular breakfast DJ Terry Wogan on Radio 2, said: "I'm really pleased with my extension.
"We always run out of time on the show so it'll be great having an extra half hour a day. Although because it means getting up earlier I'll probably be late more often!"
As a result of the revamp, current hosts of the Radio 1's Chart Show and early breakfast show, JK and Joel, will leave the station after three years.
Newcomer Greg James, 21 - who was plucked fresh from student radio - will take over their early breakfast slot, while Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates will take over the chart show.
Speaking of their departure JK and Joel said: "We've had a great time at Radio 1... and have presented some of the biggest shows on the network".
Anniversary
Friday evenings will now be dedicated to dance music genres, while urban music becomes the focus of Saturday nights.
Sunday evenings will now become the "teen zone" aimed at under-18s, along with Radio 1's Surgery hosted by Osbourne.
The "teen zone" focuses on issues surrounding young people from relationships to education.
Other changes will see Nihal take over from Cotton and Yates on the weekend breakfast show, while TV duo Dick and Dom are being drafted in for a new Sunday morning show.
The overhaul comes as the station approaches its 40th anniversary.
Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said: "It's important that we keep up the pace of change and innovation both on air and online.
"This simplifies and strengthens Radio 1 and is an important step in providing programmes focussed on the under-18 audience."
― Herman G. Neuname, Thursday, 6 September 2007 19:00 (eighteen years ago)