The great lockdown lie-in: Radio 1 moves breakfast show as listeners get up later

Lockdown lie-ins have changed the radio breakfast show with audiences now more likely to tune it at 10am than 8am, according to new figures.

Listening to the radio in the car fell 49 per cent from pre-lockdown levels and in the workplace by 64 per cent as schools closed and people shifted to working from home.

The data from April, compiled by the industry body, Rajar, showed how our habits changed as normal life was suspended.

Rajar said; “With no school runs or commuting to work, we saw that listeners were not rising as early and starting their newfound morning routines slightly later. The breakfast peak moved accordingly from 8am to 10am.”

Some broadcasters feel that the trend is here to stay for a while at least. Radio 1 announced yesterday that it is shifting its breakfast show, hosted by Greg James, half an hour later.

The programme has run from 6.30am-10am since 2007, when it was hosted by Chris Moyles. From September 1 it will have a new 7am-10.30am time slot.

The BBC said its research had shown that people in their late teens and early 20s who normally go out to work or college are now getting up later.

The RAjar figures also showed that the average length of a radio listening session rose by eight per cent when lockdown began, to an hour and 42 minutes.

By the end of May, over five million listeners said they had discovered a new radio station.