Radio 1 relaunch

Scott is great, he has a lot of talent! and he's cute to.

I stopped listening to Radio 1 a while ago, I occasionally listen in, not very often tho.

I dont know why, but I have never liked Mark & Lard, and I wouldnt be sorry to see them go.

Maybe a radicial overhaul is needed, out with (some of) the old, in with the new.

Will

I think the problem is only being magnified because Radio 1 is run by the public service broadcaster for the UK. I think radio as a whole is on the downslide, as video music channels become more popular - and with the advent of in-car CD players and MP3 jukeboxes, people prefer to have radio which they choose the playlist for.

To be honest, I think it's inevitable that Radio 1 will lose listeners, and it doesn't have that much to do with the quality of their output. It's just that there are so many other stations available to the same demographic nowadays. It's really not possible to compare the latest figures with Radio 1's 'heydey' in the 70s, like some people have been doing. Consider the situation in Oxford for example: in the 70s, Radio 1 was the only station available to people wanting to listen to the latest music. Now There are 2 independent local stations competing for the same audience. And the BBC itself has launched 1Xtra and 6Music recently, which are, by definition, competing with Radio 1.

That's not to say that Radio 1 doesn't need to make a few changes though. It's obvious that the Sara Cox breakfast show is on the way out, as its constantly shedding listeners. I don't mind her myself, but I know a lot of people who can't stand her. I predict that Colin and Edith will be on breakfast before long - they seem to be very much in favour at the mo, and their Saturday show will soon be extended to the same slot on Sundays too. Radio 1 have been testing them out on Breakfast recently, which seemed to go pretty well, so I'd say it's only a matter of time...

Well I know I tuned in a while to hear Coxxy, Now I'll tune in to get chris Moyles whenever I can.

Occasionally Mark & Lard I'll listen too but the rest I just really don't want to listen to. lol

I agree that in the 70's (not that I was around then!) there was probably just a choice of Radio 1 or Radio 1 for pop music, but I wouldn't say that we have two ILRs competing for the same audience.
Fox FM play current pop and have celeb news etc; very much a typical Capital Network clone.
Passion 107.9 (Fusion/Oxygen - whatever they're calling themselves this week) seem to be more interested in R & B style music and dancey stuff (though I don't really listen to the station that much). They're much more aimed at our student population.
There's nothing at all local on DAB at the moment.
Radio 1 is trying to be all things to all people and clearly their listening figures show that they aren't succeeding!

Robert

If they kicked Sara Cox, Jo Whiley and Wes Butters out the station would be great.

And maybe they'd like to do a chart show that plays the full chart. It's bad enough having Fosseway Radio's Mark Foster having an arse on about playing non-playlist songs on our local chart (talk about extreme safe-listage) without having the official chart doing it.

I wouldnt say FOX was a typical Capital clone.
Anyway, Capital leave the cloning to that big radio group that do it oh so well...

For some reason we were having this discussion at the studio tonight, and the general opinion was that Radio 1 are competing with 'Local' commercial stations, which provide local information, which is something Radio 1 cant do.

I think it's time to get rid of Sara Cox along with Mark & Lard, put Scott Mills on to Breakfast and get some new talent in to replance Mark & Lard.

I dont know how long Moyles will last for tho, I know quite a few people who have lost interest in him. Are Moyles' day's numbered?

Will

Moylesey is a god! They can't axe him - I can't see them finding someone as funny as him (and Will, Dave and Aled) to fit into the 3 - 5.45 slot. They just work great together!

I wonder..... any figures available for specific shows; e.g. the Wes-ego-athon... sorry, the "Official Chart Show". I sincerely hope that show is going down the dip faster than a rollercoaster with no brakes, because it's become a pile of doggie doodah ( ) since the departure of Mark Goodier and the refusal of allowing a decent talented Radio 1 presenter (Scott Mills, anyone?) to be in charge of it.

If Passion are trying to appeal to the student population, I don't think they're doing a very good job as I've just graduated and don't know anyone who ever listened! I think it was more popular with students when it was Fusion and played a lot of indie stuff.

You're right that Fox and Passion don't play the same music, but they're still basically competing for Radio 1's audience, albeit different sections of its audience. Plus, as Will said, they have the benefit of being local, and hence more relevant to 'local' people.

By the way, if anyone has the chance, check out 'Passion Feedback' on a Sunday night. It's a phone-in show presented by a guy I used to go to school with, and he does an amazing job given that not many people phone in. He has to do a lot of padding, but pulls it off really well!

I think Radio 1 need to think twice before they decide to clear out the schedules and start again. Personally, I never find myself listening anymore, but I used to really love it.

I don't think anyone could disagree that Andy Parfitt has made a bit of a mess of controlling the station, but I don't think it is the end of the world. It's obvious that people have a far greater choice of what to listen to these days, so the figures are not going to be as great as they were. The trouble comes when using that excuse, then having to explain how Radio 2's figures are going through the roof.

I think Radio 1 management could learn a lot from Radio 2. The reason they are doing so well is because they fill airtime with personalities the public are comfortable with, and still play a relatively wide range of music. The current dirth of good music can't be doing Radio 1 any good at all. The same couple of records seem to come around too often, because they can't bring themselves to play much of the other crap.

Too many of the dj's they have hired on the basis that they are young and trendy and should hopefully be something the listeners can associate with. So we end up with the likes of Nemone, DJ Spoony, Colin and Edith who don't have the forst idea how to put together an engaging radio show. It's tricky for management, because talent like this is clearly down to broadcasting experience, and they really ought to have relatively youthful dj's. This is why Chris Moyles and Mark and Lard are the most popular on the station - they know their art inside out.

They need to stop trying to blood young new talent on the station, and should be the station with the big radio names (not tv ones). PLaying records which will always be popular on the radio might not be a bad idea either... like new order or whatever..

I think Radio 2 has probably taken quite a few of Radio 1's listeners since they started playing current music, as a lot of people prefer the mix of oldies and new stuff. I actually heard R Kelly's 'Ignition' on Radio 2 months before Radio 1 were playing it! I'm not saying that Radio 1 should start playing oldies, although they've definitely become more broad-minded about the idea recently - features like Dave's tedious links on Moyles's show are a means of doing this.

As for the Radio 1 weekday schedule, I think it should look something like this (not necessarily what I'd like to see, but what I think would be best for the station):

04:00 - Scott Mills
07:00 - Colin and Edith
10:00 - Jo Whiley
13:00 - Mark & Lard
15:00 - Chris Moyles
18:00 - Trevor Nelson
20:00 - Zane Lowe
22:00 - Various

Changes to Saturdays and Sundays...

07:00 - Sara Cox and Emma B
10:00 - The Dreem Team
13:00 - Nemone (until 4 on Sundays - I'd scrap 'Backstage')

I'd also like to see Letitia from 1Xtra getting a slot on Radio 1 - maybe as stand-in on the Mon-Thurs 6-8pm show.