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Friday is now the weekend


OohErr

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Someone reset the "days since Radio 1 did some stupid gimmick" back to zero.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/r1-weekend-friday

With Ben Cooper's justification here: https://medium.com/@Ben_Cooper

To summarise:

• Grimmy, Clara and Greg are now only on four days a week (Monday-Thursday).

• Dev and Alice now do Friday breakfast 6:30-10 as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 6-10

• Maya now gets two shows (Friday and Saturday) whilst Jordan is still stuck on one, despite being the infinitely better presenter

• Molly King is now a permanent addition to Matt Edmondson's Friday show (so he now has Molly King on Fridays, rotating celebrities on Saturdays and a solo show on Sundays)

• Scott is now the permanent chart host (and he's free of the burden of Maya Jama on Fridays). This is the change I'm happiest about (and it means Mills is back on 4-7 for one day a week!)

I can't see this lasting. It's stupid. And a gimmick. And confusing for listeners who have a weekday routine which will now be interrupted one day a week. The idea behind it is to get weekday listeners to carry over to weekends but I can't see it working, and all that'll happen is most of the Friday listenership will only hear what happens on the shows on the Friday and be out of the loop by the following Friday having missed Saturday and Sunday's shows.

It comes across as desperate actually. 

But hey, I could be wrong.

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7 minutes ago, OohErr said:

Someone reset the "days since Radio 1 did some stupid gimmick" back to zero.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/r1-weekend-friday

Hmm... so much to unravel here! Scott gets the chart show (well deserved) and Grimmy gets reduced to four days a week (must be on the way out now). Also, why bother putting Maya Jama on Mills' show on Fridays just to split it up a few months later?

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Mixed feelings about these changes. I'm pleased that the chart now takes the full 4-7pm slot, but I'm certainly going to miss Fridays dance anthems. I thought that show was a great start to the weekend. I suppose that part of the reason for the chart change is as a result of Greg's increasing TV duties.

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This is a bit bizarre isn't it?

I'm glad to see Molly joining as she really impressed last month with Matt. She does have a very similar voice to Alice though..

I'm guessing more TV work beckons for Greg and maybe moving from Friday was always on the cards for him?

I'm happy for Scott to get to present the chart. The press release suggests 4-7 for the chart though which feels too long in 2018. Hopefully he'll be continuing with Dance Anthems though!

Seems like a poor move for Grimmy and Clara though and I'm not sure listeners will take to it..

Please let Maya's show not be even more of the dreaded greatest hits!

 

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Not really sure what I think about these changes, certainly the most unexpected yet.

  • Dev and Alice are much better than grimmy so that should be a nice change.
  • Not to bothered about Clara’s show however Jordan definitely deserves that slot over Maya and I have no clue as to why greatest hits has made it past another schedule change as it is not right for R1 and is getting boring.
  • Glad to see Molly King staying on  (I think three days a week) as she works with Matt, they deserved a weekday show as their show is generally quite entertaining.
  • Makes sense to change the chart due to Sounds Like Friday Night and am happy to see Scott keep his Friday show and a full chart again. The new podcasts should make up for the lost show content and Maya will (probably not) be involved in the Scott Mills show anymore.

In summary, grimmy is on the way out, long serving weekend presenters (Dev, Alice and Matt) are being promoted and Scott finally gets the chart to himself (a full top 40). The downside is the greatest hits really either Jordan, Maya or both should be allowed to invent their own show in that 10-1 slot.

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

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Interesting changes, glad Scott has the chart and is still on weekdays, I had my heart in my mouth when I heard about 'schedule changes'...

 

The press release isn't written that well but is Mollie just doing Fridays with Matt? She is quoted saying 'I’m so glad I’m no longer just 'Mollie From The Saturdays' but Mollie from the 'Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays'!”

 

I get the Saturday reference and now the Friday one, but if she's not doing Sundays what is she on about??

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12 minutes ago, ACR1 said:

Interesting changes, glad Scott has the chart and is still on weekdays, I had my heart in my mouth when I heard about 'schedule changes'...

 

The press release isn't written that well but is Mollie just doing Fridays with Matt? She is quoted saying 'I’m so glad I’m no longer just 'Mollie From The Saturdays' but Mollie from the 'Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays'!”

 

I get the Saturday reference and now the Friday one, but if she's not doing Sundays what is she on about??

Well this answers that ...

https://twitter.com/MollieKing/status/983659128320069633

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12 minutes ago, ACR1 said:

To be honest, this is probably going to be good for Matt as they both worked really well together when she was on. I'm looking forward to hearing more of this!

Maybe that toilet gag persuaded the bosses of R1 to add her to the schedule!

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47 minutes ago, ACR1 said:

Oh. Don't get me wrong, I really like Molly King and she works really well with Matt. But it's a bit weird that they're basically stopping the rotating celebrities after like three months. And also kind of a shame Matt's losing his solo shows completely but I'm not to annoyed about this one. 

 

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I mean as far as schedule changes go this isn't as dramatic as I expected this year's overhaul to be - no one has been binned!

It seems to say a lot about Radio 1 that Scott's had a boost from this news, he seemed a natural fit for the chart show from his cover stints in the past. Not sure what to make of the fact Maya lasted only a few months working with Scott and Chris though!

Will the chart show now return to a 3 hour show rather than the weird reboot it has been in more recent years?

I wonder if this is Ben Cooper's way of getting the wage bill down - presumably Grimmy will be getting less now unless they're expecting the usual Friday hosts to do some more elsewhere. 

Jordan is great, it's a shame we're not hearing more of him, but Mollie King and Matt Edmondson are a good match.

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I think this must have been in works for some time and previous schedule changes have built up to this to make change more minimal come June.

It’s obvious that the rotating celebrities were to trial matts co host and from last months performance with mollie it was a given that they have great show dynamic together so excellent news to make this move now and stop ‘auditioning’ them. Putting Scott with maya was to help make her radio ready but she’s still the inferior presenter out of maya and Jordan yet they are latching onto her for her as an established name hoping she’ll get better - we’ve seen this fail so many times before , worst news to come out of today’s changes imo

Removal of Friday dance anthems seems backwards considering the staleness off the chart but good news for Scott sticking with five days and getting the chart!

As much as this is billed to ‘continue the weekday listeners into the weekend’ , I also think the changes prepare the weekday listeners for more of “ben’s famous straight swaps” and develop a listening relationship with the ‘next generation’ of weekend presenters ahead of potential future changes/swaps from weekday/weekend

Ultimately a good move - the weekend presenters will be on more of a level with weekday presenters and more of a part of the radio one family and certainly mixes it up abit!

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Well then... very unexpected.

The good:

  • Great to see Mollie King permanently joining Matt, I think we all thought she fitted in well. I'm normally against non-radio celebs getting permanent airtime but Mollie feels like a natural. I'm not overly bothered about Matt on his own but with Mollie it should be an entertaining listen.
  • Mills getting the Chart is fantastic. I can't see Chris joining him as the show isn't very zoo-format worthy but Mills has always been better than any chart host he's covered so should be good.
  • Dev and Alice are two of my personal favourites at Radio 1 so I'll never say no to more of them. 

The bad:

  • As much as Clara's show isn't my cup of tea the weekday 10-1 slot is traditionally the most new/live music-oriented show on the daytime line-up, and she's fit into that particular role nicely. I thought Radio 1 were supposed to be increasing their new music quota and I don't see how churning out the likes of Teenage Dirtbag or Mr Brightside again, now on a weekday (sort-of), is helping that.
  • Maya's got potential but I don't think she's there yet. A weekday show is a big gig so we'll need to hear how that works out.
  • The Chart extending to 7pm is disappointing, even if it is with Mills. I thought the condensed hours worked better for a show which for a large part is songs which have come and gone from the playlist weeks ago. 
  • Dance Anthems was always a nice little segue into the specialist dance shows of Friday nights. Poor move scrapping the Friday edition.

A bold move from Cooper ditching three of the station's biggest names one day per week but innovation is never a bad thing.

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I was honestly in shock reading the press release, it's just such a radical and unexpected move! Some more considered thoughts:

- Ditching Grimmy and Greg on Fridays is such a bold statement. Interesting in Ben Cooper's Medium article that he basically suggests Grimmy asked to stop doing Fridays ("this time, I said yes"). I doubt there's another radio station in the world that gives its breakfast presenter Fridays off. Dev and Alice could be good, Alice thoroughly deserves a weekday slot - hopefully they get the dynamic right where Dev is the straight man and Alice is the funny one. 

- Not overly bothered about Clara not being on Fridays. Rarely hear her show but it's pretty bland. Maya's good and has a great on-air personality to build the technical radio skills on top of. Think she wouldn't be a bad choice to do that slot full-time, just annoyed R1 are shoe horning yet MORE Greatest Hits into the schedule. Total over-kill. 

- Matt and Mollie - great partnership but they're going into the Scott and Chris Friday slot, big shoes to fill. If it was Matt alone, I'd be more worried about the success of the decision. They work well together tbf.

- Scott on the chart - Delighted he's back on 4-7 on a Friday but a shame the features, game and entertainment side of his 1-4 show will probably be gone. Scott thoroughly deserves to be a permanent chart host - he's covered it so much over the years and has always sounded so at home and done it brilliantly so great he'll have a chance to do it full-time. You could almost say it's a promotion: more high-profile slot and the only daytime presenter who's being kept on Fridays. So disappointed the chart's going back to 3 hours though. I love Dance Anthems - great transition into Annie Mac and a great way to get the weekend vibe going on R1. The chart's become so boring and repetitive to me. Songs that are on their way off the playlist and we've all heard a thousand times and the fake tension of finding out if Drake or Ed Sheeran will be No.1 for the 25th week running....

 

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These changes are bizarre, I’m not really sure what to make of them.

 

Greatets Hits on a Friday seems unnecessary, especially at a time when they’ve just been told by Ofcom to play more new music. If Maya is getting the Friday show then it would have been nice for Jordan North to get both weekend shows, but it seems as though that’s not going to be the case.

 

Also making the chart show 3 hours long again also seems unnecessary. Really sad to see Friday’s Dance Anthems being scrapped as well, it’s a great way to get ready for the weekend.

 

Speaking of the Official Chart, they will have to stop for Newsbeat anyway, as Ofcom’s guidelines state that Radio 1 “must allocate at least 1 hour to news during the daytime each weekday, including at least two extended bulletins, of which at least one must be in Peak Listening Time”. Radio 1 can try to call Friday the weekend as much as they want, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s actually not.

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Just had another thought - I wonder if this is the end of Scott covering the breakfast show? Now weekdays and weekends are more fluid, they might get Dev and Alice to do it instead. That would be sad, I always look forward to Mills on breakfast. 

On another note, I guess Scott and Greg are kinda even now (not that there's any bad blood between them I don't think). Greg took drive off Scott in 2012, and now Scott's taken the chart off Greg in 2018. Funny how things work out.

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I've also wondered what will happen to Scott covering Breakfast which throws up other questions 

Assuming Scott remains cover for Grimshaw, will he cover on a Friday? or if Dev or Alice are off (assuming they won't let both off) will he co-host with them, but I would think the answer is actually chart first so I would think yes he will be cover for Grimmy but on Fridays his priority is the chart 

As far as Jam and Dev covering - maybe Jam has had enough as hes been doing 6 shows a week for a while, and now Dev will be breakfast or nothing on a Friday i'd say (will we see the likes of Grimshaw covering odd Friday greatest hits shows and all?) 

How will Newsbeat work on Fridays? same as rest of week? will Tina be on with Alice and Dev and Chris Smith with Scott? Will the 1245 and 1745 long shows still continue on Fridays? 

If I was Ben Cooper - I'd have put Scott back on 4-7 all week again and Greg on a lesser slot as clearly his TV career is kicking off as predicted, or give Greg Breakfast Mon-Thu and remove Grimshaw and bring Matt onto 1-4 weekdays (this still may happen, maybe this is the next stage of changes leading to the end of Grimshaw on brekkie and Greg on drive, funny way to be reducing your breakfast and drive shows seeing as they have been advertising and plugging them recently) 

What happens to Mr Stark on a Friday? 

Its kinda funny how Scott is going "back" to a more prominent slot - yes only once a week for now 

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Well this is interesting..

It's not unsual for there to be different presenters on Friday. Phil and Holly take Fridays off if you watch This Morning, Lorraine is pre-recorded on Friday, BBC Breakfast and GMB also have different presenters on Friday and so do Sky News. If you listen to 1Xtra on Fridays, you hear different presenters from 4pm in the aftertoon although that is because in this case, MistaJam and DJ Target work Saturdays and that 1Xtra probably don't want them working 6 days a week permanently.

I don't mind some of the changes but there are also a few that baffle me. Firstly, I think it's good that Matt is getting an extra day and Mollie joining her permanently is also good news as she was a natural at presenting with Matt.  Dev is not my favourite presenter but I enjoy Alice when she is on because she drives the laughs. 

Now to the iffy bits. Regarding Maya Jama, the problem I think is not with her but the Greatest Hits show getting a further edition. It was great at the start because it played songs since Radio 1 started but since it become a regular, they have only played songs from the 90's onward. I guess that the target audience won't like songs that are really old but when you keep this restriction, you start to repeat songs over which get boring after a while. Adding a third show just means further repetition and I don't want that. Although it's great to hear old songs that gives you memories of the past, the format sounds tired already and it makes it worse when you stretch it out. I don't want the Greatest Hits show to sound the equivalent of a day in life of a commercial radio station so maybe when the next bunch of schedule changes come in, they rest this.

The other problem I have is the changes to the chart show. I think it's brillant that Scott is doing the charts show from June as he is fantastic presenter all round and he was great whenever he did cover work or do the updates on a Wednesday afternoon when the charts used to be on a Sunday. What I am really annoyed about is that they have scrapped the Dance Anthems show between 6-7pm. I always tune in for this because I love the fact that it's Friday night and that I'm going to hear some banging tunes. Now when I am going to tune in the future, I am going to hear chart-related content. This change is devestating and totally unnecessary. I remember the Number 1 show which they did as chart related content on Cel Spellman's show when he started in July 2015 and got scrapped in October 2016 for the Most Played. (Both as repeative as each other) The wording by the Official Charts Company suggests to me that the chart-related content is going to differ each week but I bet it will just be another "Greatest Hits" type hour. They'll run out of ideas quickly and will end up like The Number 1 Show. I don't understand why Dance Anthems need fiddling with. I'm sure Scott has covered Dance Anthems on a Friday before and managed it fine with the pre-mixed segments so it's a bit surprising that they can't do it in the format as it now but just with Scott doing it instead of Greg. :beuj:

I sort of understand the reason for some of the changes being made but some of the decisions are just strange..

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