The Andrew Marr Show will air an hour later than usual, at 10am, when it returns after the summer break on Sunday.
The time change will mean the BBC One show clashes with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, which has aired at 10am since its launch in January 2017.
Marr appeared to accidentally announce his time slot change on Twitter this afternoon, when he tweeted at Ridge to explain the move.
He wrote: “Hi Sophy, Andrew here. Just to let you know: they are changing the time of my show to 10am.
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“It’s a management thing, based on their reading of the football audience, nothing to do with us and absolutely not meant to be rolling onto your lawn!”
In a second tweet, Marr added: “We are big fans of what you have achieved so far!”
The tweets were deleted in under half an hour and the official Andrew Marr Show account quickly put out an official statement.
It said: “The Andrew Marr Show is moving to 10am on Sunday mornings. This is part of a broader revamp of Sunday programming on BBC One. We will follow Match of the Day. Join us on Sunday at 10am.”
Ridge’s 10am slot previously clashed with ITV’s Peston on Sunday, hosted by ITV political editor Robert Peston.
The BBC previously announced that its revamped Sunday Politics will run as a half-hour programme for each of the nations and English regions on a Sunday, straight after The Andrew Marr Show, but had never given the time.
The changes are understood to be a trial for the autumn, following research showing that the available audience for Marr is higher at 10am. It is also hoped this will attract younger viewers.
The BBC has been freed up to move the show thanks to changes to the Sunday Politics, which will air at 11am from 16 September – offering 90 minutes of morning political programming to BBC One viewers.
The clash with Ridge is understood to be unintentional.
Picture: BBC
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