Greg James ‘so happy’ as Radio 1 Breakfast Show gains listeners

Greg James has celebrated with a heartfelt message to colleagues and fans after it was revealed his Radio 1 Breakfast Show has had a boost in audience numbers.

James, who took over the programme from Nick Grimshaw nearly a year ago, has helped the listenership grow by nearly 150,000 per week in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the first quarter, according to the latest figures released by audience research body Rajar.

His programme, which airs Monday to Thursday, scored 5.19 million weekly listeners over the past three months, up from 5.04 million in the first three months of the year.

James is up by just over 300,000 listeners compared with when he started in the breakfast slot in the third quarter of 2018 – the programme recorded 4.88 million weekly listeners in that time period.

James posted on Instagram: “The listening figures circus is happening again and rightly, most people don’t care because it’s really f****** tedious but… just wanted to take this opportunity to say that it makes me so happy that a year on people have taken to this show that we worked so hard on coming up with.

“A lot of love goes into it every day and we’re having so much fun. I work with the most talented radio people around and the show is an enormous team effort.

“We wanted to create a mad little world that welcomed everyone and celebrated stupid stuff and did things to bring you some joy at death o’clock.

“Most importantly though we wanted to make sure that you were the stars of it.”

James, 33, joked that he is “merely the wacky ring-master” of the show, thanking his listeners for making it their own show.

The DJ added: “So, in a way, well done for smashing it m8. Let’s not celebrate too hard though as I feel like we’ve only just got going – it’s just the beginning.”

He signed off: “Right now however, I’m off to drink 800 bottles of wine and watch The Ashes from a sun lounger ALL DAY. Ciao! Back on Monday at 6:30am Xx.”

According to the BBC, the latest figure of 5.19 million listeners is James’s highest number since he took over the breakfast slot.

Rajar’s main data is based on listeners aged 15 and above, but using BBC research that also takes into account listeners over the age of 10, James has grown his figures by 250,000 since last August.

The data from Rajar shows he has grown the audience by 307,000 for those over the age of 15.

Bob Shennan, director of BBC Radio and Music, said: “It’s brilliant that our new and fresh Radio 1 Breakfast Show is doing so well, on air as well as digitally on BBC Sounds, social media and YouTube.

“Greg James is a superb DJ and we know his listeners love the show.”

Former drivetime host Grimshaw, who did a job swap with Grimshaw, launched his Breakfast Show on August 20 last year.