This is a timeline of the history of the broadcasting of breakfast radio programmes on national stations in the United Kingdom.

1950s and 1960s 1957 28 October – The Today programme launches on the BBC Home Service as a programme of "topical talks" to give listeners an alternative to listening to light music which the Home Service had previously broadcast at breakfast.BBC Genome Project – Home Service listings 28 October 1957

1958 to 1964 No events.

1965 25 October – Breakfast Special is broadcast for the first time on the BBC Light Programme. The programme replaces Morning Music.

1966 No events.

1967 30 September – Tony Blackburn launches BBC Radio 1 when he starts presenting the first edition of Radio 1 Breakfast. 90 minutes earlier, BBC Radio 2 had also gone on air for the first time, its breakfast show was the continuation of Breakfast Special, presented by Paul Hollingdale.

1968 January – Tony Blackburn stops presenting the breakfast show on Saturdays. Rather than replace him, BBC Radio 1 simulcasts The Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

1969 No events.

1970s 1970 5 January – John Dunn replaces Paul Hollingdale as host of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. 6 April – The first Thought for the Day is broadcast on the Today programme, replacing Ten to Eight.

1971 No events.

1972 3 April – Terry Wogan joins BBC Radio 2 to present The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He replaces John Dunn who moves to afternoons. Breakfast Special disappears from the airwaves after seven years and a new early morning show is introduced, resulting in BBC Radio 2 starting the day on weekdays and Saturdays 30 minutes earlier at 5am. Sunday broadcasting still commenced at just before 7am.

1973 1 June – Tony Blackburn presents his final Radio 1 Breakfast show, having fronted it since the station went on air in 1967. 4 June – Noel Edmonds takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast.

1974 No events.

1975 No events.

1976 No events.

1977 2 May – BBC Radio 4 launches a new breakfast programme Up to the Hour. Consequently, The Today programme is reduced from a continuous two-hour programme to two 25-minute slots.

1978 28 April – Noel Edmonds presents the Radio 1 Breakfast show for the final time. 2 May – Dave Lee Travis takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast. 3 July – Changes are made to BBC Radio 4's weekday breakfast schedule. After just over a year on air, Up to the Hour is cancelled. Consequently, The Today programme once again becomes a continuous two-hour programme. Also, a new weekday 6am News Briefing is introduced.

1979 No events.

1980s 1980 No events.

1981 2 January – Dave Lee Travis steps down from presenting Radio 1 Breakfast. 5 January – Mike Read succeeds Dave Lee Travis as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast.

1982 27 February – BBC Radio 1's weekend breakfast programme is renamed as Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show and Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin join Tony Blackburn as co-presenters.

1983 No events.

1984 29 September – BBC Radio 1's weekend breakfast show is revamped with Peter Powell replacing Tony Blackburn as the presenter. The new programme however sees the removal of the children's requests feature. 28 December – Terry Wogan ends his first run as presenter of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show as he leaves the station for a while. He would return in January 1993.

1985 7 January – Ken Bruce takes over The Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

1986 7 April – Derek Jameson takes over The Radio 2 Breakfast Show from Ken Bruce. 18 April – Mike Read presents his final Radio 1 Breakfast show after five years in the hot seat. 5 May – Mike Smith rejoins BBC Radio 1 for the last time, after spending the past two years working for BBC TV, to take over Radio 1 Breakfast from Mike Read. 24 December – John Timpson presents the Today programme the final time.

1987 3 January – The Today programme is extended to six days a week when it launches a Saturday edition and John Humphrys joins the programme's presenting team as John Timpson's replacement.

1988 23 May – Simon Mayo takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast, replacing Mike Smith. The new programme takes on a zoo format by introducing co-hosts and new features. 1 October – Mark Goodier and Liz Kershaw replace Peter Powell as presenter and co-presenter of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show.

1989 1 April – Bruno Brookes replaces Mark Goodier as presenter of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show.

1990s 1990 28 August – The first edition of BBC Radio 5's weekday breakfast programme Morning Edition is broadcast. It is presented by Sarah Ward and Jon Briggs and airs six days a week between 6:30am and 9am. On Sundays, the programme is called Sunday Edition. It is presented by Barry Johnston and comes on air an hour later, at 7:30am.

1991 1 May – The launch of 24-hour broadcasting on BBC Radio 1 sees the Simon Mayo Breakfast Show starting and finishing 30 minutes earlier and airing between 6am and 9am. 20 December – Derek Jameson leaves The Radio 2 Breakfast Show after presenting it for five years.

1992 6 January – Brian Hayes takes over as host of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He presents the show for the duration of the year, ending his run on 23 December. 9 February – The final edition of the Bruno and Liz Breakfast show is broadcast on BBC Radio 1. 15 February–8 March – Johnnie Walker hosts Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show for four weekends. 17 February – Danny Baker replaces Sarah Ward and Jon Briggs as presenter of the BBC Radio 5 weekday breakfast programme Morning Edition. 14 March – Gary Davies takes over as host of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show. 13 July – In a bid to counteract the forthcoming launch of Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 makes major changes to its programmes, including the launch of a new weekday breakfast programmeBBC Genome Project – BBC Radio 3 listings 13 July 1992 called On Air, which replaces Morning Concert on weekdays. 7 September – Classic FM launches with breakfast show presenter Nick Bailey opening the station at 6am.

1993 4 January – Terry Wogan returns to BBC Radio 2 with Wake Up to Wogan. July – Jonathan Coleman becomes Russ Williams's co-host on the recently launched Virgin 1215's weekday breakfast show. 3 September – Simon Mayo leaves Radio 1 Breakfast after five years in the chair, ahead of his move to mid-mornings to replace Simon Bates. 6 September – Mark Goodier takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast and hosts the show until the end of the year. November – Michele Stevens replaces Danny Baker as the presenter of Morning Edition on BBC Radio 5.

1994 1 January – Kevin Greening joins BBC Radio 1 and takes over the Weekend Breakfast from Gary Davies. 10 January – Steve Wright becomes BBC Radio 1's latest breakfast show presenter. 27 November – Clive Warren joins BBC Radio 1 and takes over the Weekend Breakfast from Kevin Greening.

1995 24 April – Chris Evans takes over Radio 1 Breakfast from Steve Wright, following differences with the station's new management. 9 October – BBC Radio 3 begins broadcasting an hour earlier on weekdays at 6am, when breakfast show On Air is extended from two to three hours. 21 October – Ahead of a schedule revamp, Johnnie Walker leaves BBC Radio 1. The changes include Clive Warren moving from the weekend breakfast show to the weekday early show, replacing Dave Pearce who launches a new weekend mid-morning show, the following week, Kevin Greening takes over the weekend breakfast show which includes a new weekend breakfast series Newsbeat presented by Peter Bowes. 1996 18 March – Mike Read replaces Nick Bailey as host of Classic FM's breakfast show.

1997 31 January – Chris Evans leaves Radio 1 Breakfast and the station after being dismissed. 17 February – Mark and Lard become the new presenters of Radio 1 Breakfast. 3 May – Brian Hayes replaces Julian Worricker as BBC Radio 5 Live's weekend breakfast presenter. 13 October Mark and Lard leave Radio 1 Breakfast to move to an afternoon slot and Zoe Ball joins the station to co-host the show with Kevin Greening. Chris Evans takes over the Virgin Radio breakfast show from Russ Williams.

1998 29 March – BBC Radio 3's Sunday breakfast programme Sacred and Profane is broadcast for the final time. 4 April – BBC Radio 3's Breakfast programme On Air extends to weekends. 6 April – As part of an earlier start to BBC Radio 4's day, the weekday editions of the Today programme are extended by 30 minutes to three hours. 7 September – Peter Allen and Jane Garvey take over as presenters of 5 Live Drive which replaces Nationwide as the station's teatime programme. They swap with Julian Worricker who takes over the breakfast programme. 25 September – Kevin Greening leaves Radio 1 Breakfast leaving Zoe Ball as the sole presenter as he moves back to weekends to replace Clive Warren as host of the Sunday weekend breakfast show. 5 October – Virgin Radio starts simulcasts of the breakfast show on Sky One each morning for an hour between 7:30am and 8:30am. When a track was played on the radio, viewers see the track's video at the same time.

1999 11 September – BBC Radio 3 breakfast programme On Air is renamed Morning on 3.

2000s 2000 10 March – Zoe Ball presents Radio 1 Breakfast for the final time as she leaves the station. 13 March – Scott Mills begins a three-week stint as Radio 1 Breakfast’s temporary presenter. 25 years later, Mills would succeed Ball as the presenter of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show. 3 April – Sara Cox takes over as presenter of Radio 1 Breakfast and Mark Chapman joins where he starts hosting his first ever Newsbeat sports bulletins.

2001 28 June – Chris Evans is dismissed from Virgin Radio for repeatedly failing to arrive at work. He is replaced by the older Steve Penk whom Evans criticised for his age, 39 versus Evans's then 35.

2002 28 January – Daryl Denham takes over Virgin Radio's breakfast show from Steve Penk.

2003 6 January – Pete and Geoff take over as presenters of Virgin Radio's weekday breakfast show. They replace Daryl Denham who moves to the Drivetime show. 13 January – Nicky Campbell replaces Julian Worricker as co-host of the breakfast show on BBC Radio 5 Live. 9 June – Simon Bates replaces Henry Kelly as Classic FM's weekday breakfast show presenter. 20 September – Spoony takes over as the sole presenter of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show.BBC Programme index – BBC Radio 1 listings 20 September 2003 19 December – Sara Cox presents her final Radio 1 Breakfast show.

2004 5 January – Chris Moyles takes over Radio 1 Breakfast under his own name with a return of the zoo format.

2005 16 December – Pete and Geoff present Virgin Radio's breakfast show for the final time.

2006 23 January – Christian O'Connell presents the first edition of The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio. 23 September – Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates replace DJ Spoony as presenters of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show.

2007 17 September – BBC Radio 3's breakfast programme is renamed from Mornings on 3 to Breakfast. 13 October – Nihal replaces Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates as the host of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show.

2008 6 September – Chappers and Dave present Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show for six weeks until Nick Grimshaw takes over on 25 October.

2009 March – Frank Skinner joins Absolute Radio to host the Saturday breakfast show. The show was initially planned to last 12 weeks but is extended due to its popularity. The show ran until 2024 with both Emily Dean and Alun Cochrane. 26 September – Edith Bowman becomes the permanent presenter of Radio 1's Weekend Breakfast Show after Chappers and Dave and Dev had presented the show over the Summer. 18 December – After 28 years in 2 separate stints, Sir Terry Wogan presents his final Radio 2 breakfast show.

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