RADIO 1 HITS 12-YEAR LISTENER LOW

Foo Fighters headlining the main stage on Sunday night
www.bbc.co.uk

Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift and Jamie T all took the stage this weekend at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, a jealousy-inducing event that also stands as the only time in my life when I’ve had a sudden sense of anger that I don’t live anywhere near Norwich. The variety in the line-up symbolises Radio 1 as it was in its heyday: undeniably well-rounded and popular. However, whilst the successes of Radio 1’s Big Weekend are ominously present in all the photos and videos, in this same week it’s been published by The Guardian that Radio 1’s audience has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade.

One of the worst impacted by the drop is Nick Grimshaw, presenter of the breakfast show and rumoured future judge on the X Factor, who achieved only 5.5 million listeners a week during the first three months of this year. Flicking through some of his shows on iPlayer, it becomes prominent that his wit and charisma doesn’t compromise his ability to play good, current hits, but there’s no denying that the focus is on breadth rather than depth (it’s slightly ‘something for everyone’). Something for everyone sounds great for boosting listener numbers, but during the morning nobody has a lot of time and I know I’d rather put Spotify on shuffle than listen to a radio show where I truly enjoy one in ten songs.

Nick Grimshaw was voted 5th in GQ's '50 best dressed British men'
www.telegraph.co.uk

In the past, the only times I’ve tuned into Radio 1 are when I’m overly enthusiastic for a Reading and Leeds announcement and switch on the radio fifteen minutes early – and I never really enjoy what I hear. As I write I’m giving the station a listen, it’s nine pm and Tyler Oakley is the presenter. As much as he is excitable and very current, it’s clear the focus of the show isn’t going to be on the music.

Someone texts in the station: ‘Tyler, I just got my braces off and it feels so weird!’

Thanks for that! I’m jumping to the conclusion that whoever texted this is the average age for the removal of braces, so probably under fourteen. Instantly the demographic of listeners is exposed, and it’s a bit off-putting. Radio 1 is undoubtedly aimed at a youthful market, but when the presenter is a Youtuber and the text-ins are somewhat childish, it’s hard to believe they’re not writing the show solely for thirteen year olds.

Tyler has over 6 million Youtube subscribers

The Guardian’s report gave a suggestion that one cause for the lapsing listeners is that young people simply spend more time on ‘online persuits such as Facebook’ than listening to the radio. This stereotype never fails to get my goat – can we really blame the Internet for every habit of the youth of today? The archetypal image of adolescence has drifted from rebellion and boredom to complete social isolation, and this label seems to be provided as the conclusion for any statistic related to an under eighteen; that is to say, I don’t believe the downfall of Radio 1 can be blamed on Facebook.

Neither do I think the reduction in popularity can be blamed on Spotify: listening to your own music is a different experience to listening to the radio. For me, the lacking appeal lies in the mishmash of songs and the enormous variety in what we know as ‘popular’ today. It seems a monumental task to appeal to the masses in a generation that enjoys such an extensive assortment of genres and artists - perhaps a mixture of styles is successful on a one-off occasion such as the Big Weekend, but translating this into a 24 hour radio show is evidently going to be problematic.

Taylor Swift at the Brits earlier this year
www.capitalfm.com