History of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast show

The Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Radio 1 Breakfast is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK from 6:30am to 10am, Monday to Thursday. The show is the most listened to broadcast on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James who took over from Nick Grimshaw on 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter.

Other names: Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James

Hosted by: Greg James

Running time: 210 minutes (6:30 am–10:00 am)

Original release: 30 September 1967 – present

The first breakfast show presenter was Tony Blackburn, who spoke the first words on Radio 1 and remained in the slot for nearly six years. Other DJs who have hosted the breakfast show for more than five years are former host Nick Grimshaw, Mike Read, Simon Mayo and Chris Moyles. Moyles is the longest-serving Radio 1 breakfast show presenter, having hosted The Chris Moyles Show for eight-and-a-half years.

Nick Grimshaw (2012–2018)

Nick Grimshaw replaced Moyles as host of the breakfast show on 24 September 2012. Features include Call or Delete – a game carried on from his previous show on Radio 1, where celebrity guests choose to either prank call a contact on their phone or delete their number altogether. Other segments include The Nixtape – which sees Grimshaw select 30 minutes of party-oriented music before a DJ comes in to mix listener requests to close the week, Happy Monday, a half-hour of uplifting songs on Monday mornings, Showquizness, an irreverent daily quiz based around pop culture, Happy Hardcore FM, which sees listeners phone into the show to scream over happy hardcore beats, and the daily Waking Up Song, which features celebrities encouraging listeners to get out of bed to the sound of Pharoahe Monch. Grimshaw's incarnation of the breakfast show has received strong critical reviews through his tenure but has polarised public opinion, which is reflected in the show's often fluctuating listening figures – in February 2015, the show had 5.9 million listeners, with a small increase in listenership of 100,000. On 26 October 2017, it was reported that the show recorded 4.93 million weekly listeners between July and September – down from 5.5 million last quarter, a record low. The Newsbeat news and sport bulletins are presented by Tina Daheley at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30 and 9:30; there is also entertainment news from Sinead Garven at approximately 7:45 each morning.

Greg James (2018–present)

Greg James began his tenure as host of the breakfast show on 20 August 2018. Roisin Hastie reads the bulletins for Newsbeat every half-hour except at 09:00. Features include Yesterday’s Quiz and the Ten Minute Takeover, alongside Game of Phones and Unpopular Opinions.