[J.E.D]

It took a while and i hope these are all accurate...
The RAJAR listening figures for the Breakfast Show 2003 - Now

Blue = Increase
Red = Decrease

In Millions of Listeners and just the 15+ Age group..

Sara Breakfast
2003
Q4- 5.52

Moyles Breakfast
2004
Q1- 5.93 (+400,000)
Q2- 5.79 (-140,000)
Q3- 6.14 (Highest for 3 years) (R1 over 10 Million again, 10.04 vs 9.73 in last Q)
Q4- 6.29
2005
Q1- 6.17
Q2- 6.26
Q3- 6.52
Q4- 6.66
2006
Q1- 6.30
Q2- 6.79
Q3- 6.81
Q4- 6.82
2007
Q1- 7.06 (Over 7 Million for the first time)
Q2- 7.26
Q3- 6.98
Q4- 7.31 (The show is now 30 Minutes longer (6.30-10)
2008
Q1- 7.72
Q2- 7.21 (Looking out for listeners (-500,000)
Q3- 7.02
Q4- 7.30
2009
Q1- 7.70 (Closest to Radio 2 (7.77 vs 7.70)
Q2- 7.72
Q3- 7.04
Q4- 7.24
2010
Q1- 7.88 **High point**
Q2- 7.72
Q3- 7.10
Q4- 7.45
2011
Q1- 7.52
Q2- 7.44
Q3- 7.16
Q4- 7.24
2012
Q1- 7.10
Q2- 6.93 (Below 7 Million for the first time in 5 years)
Q3- 6.73
Q4- 6.69 (Moyles leaves, Grimshaw takes over)

Grimshaw Breakfast
2013
Q1- 5.78


Yearly Averages (2004-2012)
2004- 6.04
2005- 6.40
2006- 6.68
2007- 7.15
2008- 7.31
2009- 7.42
2010- 7.54
2011- 7.34
2012- 6.86

[Misfit]

This is both quite sad but quite interesting

[JayE]

The worst bit was reading how bad they got in 2012

[Travis Bickle]

Interesting figures. I think for people who say the RAJARS aren't relevant these figures would suggest otherwise. They pretty much tally with the peaks and troughs of the shows quality in my opinion.

[DarroM]

Not surprised they went down in 2012 because that is where the show pretty much went downhill for me and not a lot of memorable moments came from that year.

[JayE]

Really? I thought that 2012 was just as good as every other year.

[J.E.D]

I'd have to say when they started doing the Olympic torch stuff EVERY DAY (early 2012) the show was gradually being dragged down. I think the show suffered badly with the loss of Rachel and Carrie who left very near to each other. The show was built on personalities and the clash between them, to some extent and with the loss of those two the show suffered. In 2010/2011 you still had Matt and Sam who added, so the show carried on OK but when they both left there was a big hole and it just wasn't filled, sadly.

[Badger Mark]

I'd have to say when they started doing the Olympic torch stuff EVERY DAY (early 2012) the show was gradually being dragged down.....

Were they required by the BBC to cover the torch relay everyday? Just curious. I didn't mind the torch relay coverage that much. In fact, it got me more interested in the Olympics. And, oddly enough, I ended up knowing more about Team GB than I did about Team USA.

[JayE]

Yeah, I have to agree there, I found the Olympic torch coverage quite interesting and it got me into the spirit of watching the Olympics later on in the year, and hearing it every day didn't bother me at all.

[J.E.D]

It was more the fact that they had to stop the show every day and list off a few places it was going to be which people away from that area really wouldn't care about. It also wasn't like it just happened for a week, it went on for ages and became quite annoying after a while,

[DarroM]

It was more the fact that they had to stop the show every day and list off a few places it was going to be which people away from that area really wouldn't care about. It also wasn't like it just happened for a week, it went on for ages and became quite annoying after a while,

I believe it was 70 days therefore over 2 months and yes, I agree that it got tiring after a while. And it wasn't the fact it happened once per show, it happened a few times throughout. I think the feature dominated one or two shows early on if I am not mistaken! But I still think 2012 was a poor year especially when it came to features like CPC when they didn't bother playing the game towards the end and just chatted with the contestants who were boring as sin!

[Bas]

I'd have to agree with the last two posts.
When you get something like the CMS, you like the routine, especially in the morning, to set you up for the day.
When that is disrupted for something you couldn't really care less about, for large chunks of the show, for months, well i found myself tuning elsewhere & not tuning back later in the show either, most times.

[JayE]

I suppose some people found it annoying but I myself didn't really see anything wrong with it. Each to their own I suppose.

[Evs]

For me the show went downhill when Chris started getting more obsessed with food and the gym. Just a personal opinion but the number of identical links with him and Aled banging on about their latest session and Dave and Dom only contributing uh-huh really bored me.

[Travis Bickle]

For me the show went downhill when Chris started getting more obsessed with food and the gym.

I agree, but I don't think it went downhill specifically because of that. I just think it was around that time that Chris changed as a person and started to focus more on outside projects and lost his focus on radio. He also started handing over large chunks of the show, specifically the opening link, to other member of the team and Chris would hardly speak.

Of course it was also around about that time that he fell out with Dave as well. And with that went the essential dynamic of the show which made it so good for so long. The listening figures roughly tally with the decline in my opinion.

But I cant really think of any long-running form of entertainment that was just as good at the end of its run as it was at the start. There is nearly always a period of decline before it is axed.