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Why the BBC won't be disappointed if older listeners follow Chris Moyles out of Radio 1

By Mike Williamson

July 11, 2012 | 4 min read

Mike Williamson, head of radio at media buying giant Carat, says Chris Moyles' exit from the Radio 1 Breakfast Show signals the station's attempt to reconnect with a younger audience. But is Nick Grimshaw the man to do it?

'Out with the old' - Chris Moyles is leaving Radio 1

This morning Radio 1 announced a huge change to their line up. Chris Moyles will leave their flagship breakfast show in September with Nick Grimshaw taking over the reins. This isn’t a small step change; this is a bold long term shift in their audience strategy.

The departure of 38-year-old Moyles is not unexpected. New Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper has been under pressure to bring the average age of Radio 1 down as its licence is for targeting 15-29 year olds. Its current average listener age is 32. Moyles’ 8 year run as breakfast DJ - the longest serving Radio 1 breakfast presenter ever - has taken the audience too old. He leaves with an audience of 7.1m weekly listeners.

It was widely expected that Greg James would be his replacement. James was promoted to the weekday drivetime slot earlier this year (the second most coveted show on Radio 1) and has been a regular on BBC’s festival coverage for the past two years on both TV and radio. He would have been the safe choice – ensuring some of Moyles’ loyal listeners stay with Radio 1.

Grimshaw was not seen as a favourite as he currently only hosts evening specialist shows on Radio 1. But his credentials for attracting a much younger audience are clear and he will definitely deliver against this objective. Outside of his Radio 1 specialist shows, Grimshaw has several major presenter roles on youth TV programmes - most notably on T4 and BBC’s youth strand ‘Switch’. He is a regular on the London celebrity party circuit and in the gossip columns.

With Grimshaw and James on the two flagship Radio 1 shows, along with other new young presenters such as Gemma Cairney (ex 1Xtra), the BBC’s long term strategy is clear: they are aligning their schedule to attract the younger end of their 15-29 year old target market. And I can see them sticking with these new presenters for a good few years.

The short term is likely to see loyal Moyles listeners switch to other stations, as Grimshaw is a very different presenter. But this is what the BBC want and need to happen. Will the 30+ year old Moyles listeners switch to Chris Evans’ Radio 2 show? Will they move over to commercial stations and irreverent breakfast DJs such as Christian O’Connell’s Absolute Radio show? Can Grimshaw attract enough 15-29 year olds to cover the leaving older listeners?

The first full set of listening figures for the new breakfast show host will not be released early 2012. So there will be plenty of time for the BBC to do a huge amount of marketing across their platforms to minimise any drops in their listener base.

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