"Wake up... It's a Beautiful Morning..."

Tomorrow morning at 07:00, there will be a new dawn in Breakfast Show radio in the UK. The Chris Evans Breakfast Show will debut on BBC Radio 2.

Chris’s road to 'rehabilitation' has been well documented and there’s no doubt he feels blessed to be at the top of the tree once again, this time on BBC Radio 2.

Fans of morning shows... and more importantly fans of well structured, entertaining and engaging morning shows would be well advised to tune in at some point over the new next few months and take a good listen to how it’s done. (I say ‘few months’ as it’s always tempting judge a show by its first outing, which is dreadfully unfair. Give it a few weeks to bed in!)

I’ve always been a fan of Chris from when I used to listen to his BBC Radio1 Breakfast Show. And later when I then got the chance to work with him at Virgin Radio from 1999 onwards I became even more appreciative of what he actually did and what he brought to the programme.

The thing is, Chris makes something look so easy, when the truth is it's devilishly difficult and very few people can carry it off. Having worked alongside him for those years, here’s what I think Chris brings to a Breakfast Show:

Great Ideas
There’s a creative mind at the heart of every great Breakfast Show and turning up each day with loads of ideas to try on the radio is at the core of that.

Preparation
Usually the most spontaneous sounding shows are the most prepared. Tight running orders, thorough preparation and always having a good reason to open the microphone are essential elements. A strong production team behind you helps, and having a Producer who’s ‘married to the job’ is worth their weight in gold. (The Exec Producer for the new show is Helen Thomas, who is a fantastic talent. During the Radio 1 days it was Dan McGrath, who again was the backbone of 'making things happen')

Originality
Looking at new and different angles to topics is a sure fire way of getting engaging content. What’s the angle? How do you get into a topic? What will amke the way you do it different to way everyone else does it?

Energy
There’s no point in anyone presenting a breakfast show if they don’t really turn up each morning with 100% energy and 100% commitment. Yes it can be tough doing morning radio (especially when it’s dark and Minus 10 when you open your front door), but having ‘the love of doing the job’ is something that comes from ‘deep within’.

BBC Radio 2 have produced a great video documenting the behind the scenes moments at the recording of the full pilot. It’s a lovely insight into how the show is put together and a brief taster for what we have in store staring tomorrow morning.

Good luck Chris, and good luck to the whole team. I’m certain that the show will be a fantastic listen, and we’ll be talking about it on this blog on frequent occasions!