Radio DJ Chris Moyles is to go head-to-head with BBC Radio 1’s breakfast host Nick Grimshaw when he returns to the airwaves later this month.
Moyles will present the breakfast show on Radio X – the new name for Xfm.
It will be Moyles’ first radio job since he left Radio 1 in 2012 after eight years hosting the breakfast show.
Vernon Kay, Johnny Vaughan and the Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson will also have their own shows on Radio X, which will launch on 21 September.
Kay will present the weekday mid-morning show, Vaughan will be on air in drivetime and Wilson will appear at weekends.
Xfm’s current breakfast host Jon Holmes will move to weekend breakfasts.
Moyles attracted eight million listeners at the peak of his Radio 1 show. Grimshaw currently attracts an audience of around 5.8 million.
Radio X promises to play the “best fresh rock and guitar-based music across the UK” and be the “first truly male-focused” station, targeted at 25-44 year olds.
Big personality
Ashley Tabor, founder of parent company Global and former flatmate of Moyles, said: “Radio X will focus on fresh rock and guitar-based music alongside huge personalities. And personalities don’t get any bigger than Chris Moyles.
“Chris is a broadcasting genius and as Global makes a multi-million pound investment in launching Radio X on a national scale, I couldn’t think of anyone better to host the station’s breakfast show.
“Along with Vernon Kay, Johnny Vaughan and Ricky Wilson, the UK has never had a radio station like Radio X before.”
The relaunch will mark the demise of Xfm, 23 years after it was launched as an alternative music station.
Xfm had different line-ups in London and Manchester, but broadcasting regulator Ofcom has given permission for Global to stop broadcasting local programmes in those cities.
Instead, Xfm’s old FM frequencies in London and Manchester will both carry Radio X, while the station will also be available nationally on DAB digital radio.
Source: BBC
