Come September there literally will be a new dawn at Radio 1 as yesterday, loud-mouthed breakfast show presenter, Chris Moyles announced he was ‘stepping down’ from the job. Chris has always enjoyed a love/hate connection with the public as some love his self-styled ‘saviour of Radio 1′ act while others loathe it. However, whether you’re a fan or he makes you wish you were deaf, Chris can, for the moment always say he is the longest-serving Breakfast Show host. For 8 years, the nation has woken up to the DJ’s own brand of fun/terror (delete as appropriate) and now he’s passing on the baton to a younger model in Nick Grimshaw.
So, how do you all feel about this? As I said before, Chris’ style can be difficult to stomach, especially if you’re chowing down on a nice piece of marmite on toast or a bowl of cornflakes at 7am. He’s loud (does one need that at 7.30am when trying to rouse themselves for another day at the grindstone?), arrogant and very reliant on other, more likable presenters (Dom and ‘Comedy’ Dave spring to mind) to carry off his act. The other thing that cannot be ignored is the features he chooses to pad out his show. Segments such as ‘Car Park Catchphrase and ‘Dave’s Tedious Link’ have become tired and indeed, tedious with no real attempt to inject new life into the show. Chris has rested on his laurels, mind you, with all the extra weight Chris carries, he needs to rest on something! The poor lamb!
Radio 1 have always been keen to keep their younger audience and recently it was found that their average age of listeners had risen to over 30. Oh no, someone alert the church elders to this shameful development! Could this be the reason for Chris’ departure? The 37 year old’s position was always in doubt after the sackings of other ‘golden oldies’, Jo Whiley and Tim Westwood and now the axe appears to have fallen on Chris’ (fat) neck. Couldn’t happen to a ‘nicer’ chap!
The speculation began as to who would succeed Chris, with many believing that recently promoted to Drivetime, Greg James was a shoo-in for the job. His more laidback approach with more emphasis on the music would probably be seen as the antithesis to Chris’ ‘wacky’ style. In reality, it was revealed that the job had gone to likable Mancunian, Nick Grimshaw, whose style is very similar to that of James’. Good old Grimmy! I’m a fan of this gent and will be interested to see how it all pans out.
One has to feel for Greg though, as his promotion earlier this year at the expense of my own personal favourite, Scott Mills must have given him hope that he was being lined up for the top job. First Scott passed over, now Greg. Is Drivetime a poisoned chalice?
