Chris Moyles sees Radio 1 breakfast show beaten by Radio 4 Today programme

 
25 October 2012
The Weekender

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It’s not much fun for a DJ to be ditched because he’s not "young" enough.

So it must be even worse for Chris Moyles as he is replaced by 28-year-old Nick Grimshaw to hear that he’s also been beaten by the old guys on Radio 4’s Today Programme.

Moyles's Radio 1 breakfast show had the worst audience figures in six years, as more than 200,000 listeners tuned out in the last quarter.

But the highbrow, agenda-setting Today programme saw the reverse, with 200,000 more listeners choosing to wake up to the voices of John Humphrys and James Naughtie.

Just 6.73 million listeners aged 15 plus tuned in to hear Moyles’s guffaws and car-driver phone-ins, according to the latest radio audience figures issued by industry body Rajar.

The Today Programme achieved 6.94 million listeners.

Moyles, who promised to be the “saviour of Radio 1” when he joined eight and a half years ago, hosted his last breakfast slot last month before heading into the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Radio 1 has yet to announce plans for any future shows.

Radio 2's Chris Evans saw his audience plunge by more than 400,000 in the summer months although he was still the most-heard breakfast DJ with an audience of 8.55.

Digital station Radio 6 Music - which was under threat of closure in 2010 - saw its audience hit a record high with 1.62 million.

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