Radio 1 Revamps To Give Youth Focus

BBC Radio 1 has revamped its schedule to give the station a stronger youth focus, employing Kelly Osbourne as a presenter and adding half an hour to Chris Moyles’s breakfast show.

Under the altered timetable, Moyles show will start at 6.30am from October 15, whilst chart show presenters JK and Joel are no longer.

Moyles, the self-proclaimed “saviour of Radio 1”, added almost 3% to the station’s weekly reach Q1 to Q2 for the early slot, and almost 7% year on year, to push the station’s reach up to more than 7.2 million in the morning. (see Heart 106.2 FM Reclaims Breakfast Crown In London).

Kelly Osbourne joins the station as the new host of The Surgery, part of the new “teen zone” on Sunday evenings that will include a new show hosted by Annie Mac.

Early breakfast show and chart show hosts JK and Joel have left Radio 1 after three-and-a-half years, as have house music DJs the Trophy Twins.

Friday nights will be focused on dance music and Saturday nights on urban music. Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates will host the chart show and a new audience request show.

Nihal will DJ the weekend breakfast show and TV duo Dick and Dom are being drafted in for a new Sunday morning show, while former student DJ Greg James takes on the early breakfast slot.

“It’s important that we keep up the pace of change and innovation both on air and online,” said Andy Parfitt, the controller of Radio 1, 1Xtra and Teens.

“This simplifies and strengthens Radio 1 and is an important step in providing programmes focused on the under-18 audience.

“The Sunday PM lineup, which I’m delighted includes Kelly Osbourne, is a great addition to a zone that will include Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates and Annie Mac.

“The new Radio 1 schedule, coupled with the recently announced changes for 1Xtra, really give us the chance of turbo charging the BBC’s performance with young audiences over the coming years.”

Other changes include a new show for Rob da Bank and the move to simulcast Trevor Nelson’s Saturday night show on 1Xtra.

Radio 1 saw its reach rise by 4.3% year on year, taking it to almost 10.9 million listeners (see Radio 2 Records Rise In Weekly Reach).

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk