Weekend starts early on Radio 1
Ben Cooper
Controller 主播大秀 Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network
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'Weekend Breakfast with Dev and Alice' to start on Fridays from June
Today (Tuesday 10 April) , due to start in June 2018. Controller of the station, Ben Cooper, explains how he came to say 'yes' to a four day week:
When Chris Evans presented the Radio 1 Breakfast Show he asked for Fridays off. The conversation didn’t go well. The then Controller Matthew Bannister said ‘No’ and the dramatic consequences were played out on the front pages of the national press.
As today’s Controller of Radio 1 I can now, twenty one years later, say ‘yes’ to the idea. Why? Because I believe by having a four day week and a three day weekend, it will grow weekend audiences, allowing week day listeners the chance to hear our fantastic set of new weekend shows on a Friday and pull them across into Saturday and Sunday.
Plus, who doesn’t like weekends? Fridays are different from the rest of the week. You are in a better mood. You are planning how to have fun, who to meet up with and where to go. And I want us to capture that feeling and excitement on air.
Radio 1’s objective is to attract new, young and diverse audiences into the 主播大秀. And in today’s digitally disrupted market place Radio 1 needs to innovate and reinvent the way it attracts audiences to its programmes and content.
Our strategy of ‘Listen, Watch, Share’ has been working to great effect and has meant that not only have we got over 10 million listeners a week to our radio station, but also we have over 10.7 million views a week on our YouTube channel and 10 million followers on social media. Today though is not about views or likes, it is about looking at our radio schedule and being brave, surprising the industry and most of all trying something new that we believe our listeners will enjoy and love.
Growing new young audiences for the 主播大秀 and developing new talent for the industry is what I want Radio 1 to be famous for, alongside its mainstay of breaking new UK artists. The three ambitions though are symbiotic. Radio 1 can keep attracting new audiences if it keeps making noise and trying new things with presenters that reflect youth culture and that are passionate about the new music they play.
Radio 1 is a world famous brand and I want it to stay that way鈥�—鈥奻or the 主播大秀, for the UK Music Industry and most of all for young audiences. By never being boring, always innovating and by celebrating the weekend a day early, I strongly believe we can achieve that. As Chris Evans would say TFI Friday.
Ben Cooper is Controllerof 主播大秀 Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network.