The Chris Moyles Show
The Chris Moyles Show is the name of the British BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show since Chris Moyles took over on the 5th January 2004. It begins at 6.55am and ends at 10am. Moyles' short lived 1999 TV series on UK Play was also of the same name.
Show Format
Chris' show lasts just over three hours, with news and sport read half hourly between 07:00 and 08:30, and again at 09:30. A typical half hour segment will contain between ten to fifteen minutes of chat, discussing the team members' lives, Radio 1's features, music or popular culture. There are regular celebrity guests or interviews, with the occasional live music performance.
Car Park Catch-Phrase
Possibly the best known competition on the show is Car Park Catch-Phrase where two listeners, inside their car have to beep their horn to guess a catch-phrase, which is hosted using voice samples from the Ulster comedian, Roy Walker. Even though simple catch-phrases are used and carefully chosen obvious clues provided by Moyles, many callers fail to spot the correct phrase.
Features
Popular reoccuring features that have appeared on the morning version of the Chris Moyles show include:
- BB Aled
- Buzz Off
- Car Park Catch-Phrase - see above
- Celebrity Two Word Tango ("borrowed" from Dick and Dom in da Bungalow)
- Chicks Win Ticks
- Guess Who
- Reverse-A-Word - Later made into a one-off special by Challenge TV
- Rob DJ's Monday Night Pub Quiz
- Sting Ring
- Tedious Link
- Whattity What
Team Members
Moyles' show is distinct in that it relies on a number of on air contributions from background staff. Of these, Comedy Dave has worked with Chris the longest; though since 2004 he has also presented his own show along side Mark "Chappers" Chapman. Chris went through a number of producers and Broadcast Assistants (BA's) during his period in Drivetime. Since he began on the breakfast show, 'the team' has consisted of the following members:
- David Vitty (Comedy Dave) - Director Of Comedy
- Rachel Jones - Producer since 2003
- Aled Haydn-Jones (BB Aled) - Day Producer and Big Brother Reporter. He had previously worked as the BA
- Dominic Byrne - Newsreader since the move to mornings. He also does regular celebrity interviews and has a 'One Road Travel' feature, in which the travel news of one randomly selected road is read, paryoding the travel news of local radio shows
- Carrie Davies - Sportsreader since 2004
- Juliette Ferrington - the original morning show's sportsreader, who left to solely work for Radio Five Live
- Will Kinder (Greyhead) - After producing the afternoon show, he left Radio 1 before returning as the Daytime Producer until 2005; he has now moved on to other work with Radio 1
- Longman - Chris' best friend and sandwich shop owner, who contributes occasionally, most commonly over the phone
- Roy Walker - Comedian and presenter of the Car Park Catchphrase feature
- Jocelin Stainer - Current BA and formerly assistant to Aled
Listener Figures
Since taking over from Sara Cox in January 2004 the show's audience has increased by over 1 million listeners, to over 7 million weekly listeners in October 2005, according to RAJAR figures[1]. Since the show began it has risen to become the most popular radio show for young people in London, overtaking Johnny Vaughan's Capital Radio show, beating it by 3,000 listeners in October 2005.
It remains the second most popular show on The BBC's Listen Again Service, behind The Archers, and as of 2005 is the most downloaded podcast in the UK iTunes Music Store.
In June 2005 Radio 1 signed an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio to broadcast much of their content in America, with the Chris Moyles show as one of the main selling points (with a suitable time delay ensuring it remains a 'breakfast' show).
In 2005, as part of the BBC's podcasting trial, a weekly podcast entitled 'The Best of Moyles' is released. Updated every Thursday, the podcast features highlights from the 5 previous broadcasts.