Media

BBC comeback for Chris Moyles unlikely, says Mirror

By | Published on Wednesday 5 June 2013

Chris Moyles

Chris Moyles seems unlikely to return to the BBC radio airwaves, according to The Daily Mirror. The tabloid says that talks between the Beeb and Moyles about a new radio outlet have faltered, and there doesn’t currently seem to be any appetite at either Radio 1 or the Corporation’s other national stations to create a new format around the former breakfast show host.

When Moyles was replaced with Nick Grimshaw in the primetime slot on Radio 1 last year, bosses at the station indicated that the outgoing DJ, whose current contract ran into 2014, would reappear in the schedules at some point with a new show.

Most talk was of a late night slot where the DJ’s ranty speech-heavy programme style might be most appropriate. But, as previously reported, The Sun said last year that Moyles wasn’t impressed with that idea. Negotiations then stalled to the point that Radio 1 revamped its late night schedules at the start of the year without including the former breakfast presenter in the mix.

Since then discussions have gone quiet, insiders say, and Moyles is no longer invoicing the station for his services. And despite some speculation that Moyles could follow other Radio 1 alumni onto Radio 2 or 5Live, it seems that bosses at both those channel aren’t sure his style is right for their audiences.

Says The Mirror’s source: “[Chris] wasn’t very keen on [Radio 1’s] offer of a late night slot and stalled talks for a long time, so bosses gave it to another pair of DJs in January. Some of the other suggestions were launching new projects on Radio 2 or on Radio 5Live, but executives weren’t convinced he was right for their audiences. It looks like if there is any chance of a radio comeback, it won’t be on the BBC”.

Prior to Moyles’ departure from Radio 1 there was speculation that the DJ might jump ship to one of the commercial radio networks, most likely Global Radio’s Capital FM, though it’s unlikely he’d enjoy the kind of freedom (or fees) there that he got at Radio 1.

And it has to be said, you don’t sense the former Radio 1 breakfast man is especially desperate to get back on the air just at the moment, which makes it less likely that he’d be willing to compromise too much to fit into an existing radio format.



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