GLOBAL’S RADIO X: MAINLY MANLY

The guessing game over whether Ashley Tabor's U.K. radio giant Global is planning on launching a new station is over—they will. Radio X is a national commercial station aimed at males 25-44 who listen to rock music (because women apparently only listen to fairytales and lullabies), and replaces the 23-year-old indie and alternative music station XFM.

In what could be very public battle for listeners, Radio X has recruited the hugely popular (or crude and annoying, depending on which side of the fence you're on) former BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show presenter Chris Moyles to go head-to-head with his successor, the young Nick Grimshaw, starting on 9/21.

During his eight-year tenure presenting the BBC Breakfast Show, Moyles peaked at around 7 million listeners, until he was peremptorily replaced by Grimshaw (10 years his junior) as part of the Beeb's bid for a younger audience. The move was deemed a sort of success; while the latest Rajar figures calculate Grimmy's audience at more than 5.8 million, he's said to have increased his younger audience by 130k+.

Moyles wants to double the audience that currently listens to XFM in the morning. The station currently reaches around 892k people per week; its London Breakfast Show attracts an audience of 202k. As well as new music, testosterone-fueled bands like Muse, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys and, um, James Bay will be on the Radio X playlist, alongside token female acts like Florence + the Machine. It's a multi-million-pound investment for Global and will be accompanied by a heavyweight advertising campaign.

We look forward to listening while lifting weights and snorting lines of Creatine powder.