Lauren Laverne is taking over presenting duties on the BBC Radio 6 Music Breakfast Show.
Launching in early 2019, Laverne will move from her current mid-morning slot to the early show. After 11 years at Breakfast, Shaun Keaveny will present weekday afternoons, with Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie vacating that slot to continue as joint hosts of a 6 Music Weekend Breakfast Show.
With a new start and finish time for the weekday Breakfast Show, Chris Hawkins’ Early Breakfast will be extended by 30 minutes.
The move by Laverne also opens up an opportunity for Mary Anne Hobbs, who will switch from early weekends to the mid-morning weekday show.
It’s the biggest shake-up of the 6 Music schedule since 2012, a period in which ratings have grown substantially. BBC Radio 6 Music is the biggest digital-only station with 2.44 million listeners in the most recent RAJAR results (not far off its record of 2.53m). 6 Music won the Radio Station award at this year's Music Week Awards.
Paul Rodgers, head of 6 Music, said: “Much-loved presenters playing amazing music is at the heart of what 6 Music does, and these schedule changes will help deliver an even greater range of music on the station across daytime and weekends.”
Lauren Laverne said: “I’m so excited about our new show and delighted to be part of the next phase of 6 Music’s evolution. Whatever the day brings for our listeners we intend to get them ready for it with a fantastic selection of music and guests who have something worth hearing to say. I can’t wait to get started!”
These schedule changes will help deliver an even greater range of music on the station
Paul Rodgers
Mary Anne Hobbs described her new show as “a dream job”.
“I am delighted to have been given such a unique opportunity to build on my great passion for new music,” she added.
Shaun Keaveny said: “The last 11 years, four months and three days of breakfast radio has allowed me to create an entire world of daftness, aided and abetted by my most wonderful listeners, who I’m chuffed to be able to leave in the care of my relay partner, Lauren Laverne. Breakfast radio has reduced me to the kind of person that cries at traffic lights and remonstrates with shopping trolleys, so I give joyful thanks for the opportunity to take my show into the afternoons and sleep past 5.13am. There I’ll try my best to eventually build a show that’s a worthy successor to the legacy of Mark and Stuart, two of my genuinely favourite broadcasters.”
Mark Radcliffe said: “With kids at university to support, I'm still going to be gainfully employed on Weekend Breakfast which means I stay at 6 Music, a station I love, and continue what's been a really creative partnership with Stuart. Last time I did a breakfast show it was little short of disastrous and so this time I'm looking forward to making a better fist of it. What could possibly go wrong?”
The station will be inviting both in-house BBC production teams and independent radio production companies to help shape these new shows in a commissioning round which will open at 1pm on August 9.
The 6 Music announcement comes as Nick Grimshaw presented his final BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Grimshaw will swap shows with drivetime host Greg James, who takes over Breakfast next month – read Music Week’s interview with head of programmes Aled Haydn Jones about the transition.
The 6 Music schedule changes are below:
Monday to Friday:
5am-7.30am - Chris Hawkins (moving from 5am-7am)
7.30am-10.30am - Lauren Laverne (moving from 10am-1pm)
10.30am-1pm - Mary Anne Hobbs (moving from 7am-10am, Saturday and Sunday)
1pm-4pm - Shaun Keaveny (moving from 7am-10am)
Saturday and Sunday
7-10am - Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie (moving from weekdays, 1pm-4pm)
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