murste

You're so right. Just look at the reaction when Chris Moyles left R1, or Christian O'Connell left Absolute the other week - people really cared. Listeners get really invested in shows and the people on those shows. It's what makes radio so special, it's a very personal medium and you feel like you know the people involved so only natural to feel like it extends beyond a three hour radio show.

Always think it's such a shame Alice doesn't do more weekday cover. I hope it's just that she isn't available rather than Radio 1 not asking her. She was Fearne Cotton's main cover but ever since Clara took over, it seems to be Adele (who's brilliant btw). Alice has always been brilliant covering the main personality shows like Scott and Greg - I wish she did it more. Alice/ Matt covering Scott and Alice/Jordan covering Greg would be pretty strong in my opinion. Sorry but Dev is just an instant turnoff when he's in for Greg. Also thought Katie Thistleton sounded great at the weekend. Hope she gets to do more cover by herself on Greatest Hits or early breakfast.

Cel has never been Greg's cover. Think he did it once on a bank holiday but Dev and Jordan are now Greg's cover in that they do full weeks and normal weekdays.

And Chris won't be involved in the chart. There's no mention of him at all in the press release and it's very clearly Scott's gig. The chart wouldn't work with Chris as a sidekick anyway in my opinion

They wouldn't be missing their show to do that, though. Not that unusual for Scott to have an odd day off - he's probably just taking a long weekend

Strange the Scott, Chris and Maya thing has been dropped so quickly but I reckon it was just a way to get the Friday audience used to her. Dev, Alice and Matt are all regular cover presenters on weekdays already.

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....

I know there are a lot of Dev fans here but reality is he's never going to get a daytime show (apart from early breakfast obviously, which he's done). A very solid weekend presenter - yes. But not entertaining enough with that Scott Mills or Greg James-like star quality. He's had a brilliant run at R1 but there are people such as Alice and Jordan ahead of him in the queue for a daytime show IMO. Cel Spellman doesn't seem to have made much from his time at R1. After him and Katie did some cover for Scott and Chris before Christmas, I thought things might progress but no. Katie outshines him in my opinion and is clearly the better presenter.

Delighted to see Jordan covering Greg. Long over-due. Him and Alice are just a million times more entertaining than Dev.

Was watching a conference speech by former BBC Radio boss Helen Boaden over the weekend and she mentioned a chat with Ben Cooper about what Radio 1 have changed. The new imaging and shorter song edits were mentioned, as were the Greatest Hits. She said Ben wants to create shows in the schedule which are "family listening" - songs that the 40 year old mother and 10 year old child can both sing along to and make it more of a family thing to bring in a new young generation of listeners. Clever in a way I suppose. So the Greatest Hits shows are here to stay. Bit disappointed Scott's Friday Mix has been dropped in favour of 30 mins of greatest hits. It's less dance-orientated now so it doesn't have that weekend vibe it used to.

Mixed feelings. Matt Edmondson's the big winner I think- no longer restricted by the Greatest Hits format and gets to reinvent his show at a new time. Dev and Alice Levine must be seriously annoyed, Dev more so as it's never a good sign when the bosses think you need a co-host after doing it for so long. Alice has a lot of other stuff on so it may suit her to not be so tied down to Radio 1 but think it's a real shame she's being lost from the weekend afternoons. Great presenter and hilarious, suited that slot perfectly. They'll probably work well together though. Delighted for Jordan North- yes, we can say it could;ve been 2 days but to get a permanent show is brilliant and well deserved for him. Maya Jama- lets wait and see. Don't know why people are so quick to criticise after hearing one show. Scott, Greg, Grimmy, Annie etc all started somewhere and I doubt their first ever R1 show was anything special. Hate the idea of her co-hosting with Scott and Chris on Fridays but it may work, let's see. Wish they ditched the Greatest Hits 3-hour show and made it more of a "we'll play a few Greatest Hits an hour across the weekend shows" thing to let Maya and Jordan;s personalities come through more.

I would be surprised if Grimmy isn't the breakfast presenter at the end of this year. From Ben Cooper's perspective, he's exactly the type of person they need in that slot. Ratings aren't amazing but those who ARE listening are in the target audience. The show's boring with very little features but he's entertaining and quite witty I have to say (coming from someone who didn't like him initially). Don't think there'll be any change to daytimes this year tbh - maybe Matt or Alice will leave and Jordan will get their slot. I think there's big things ahead for him - possible future drive presenter in my opinion if Greg goes to breakfast eventually.

Surprised it's him - thought it would be Yasser or Luke Franks. Nick Bright is covering A.Dot on 1Xtra Breakfast that week and Katie and Cel are doing Scott's show so they're not free either

Don't know why it's still suggested Mills will eventually move to weekends and do some weekday cover. I would put a large amount of money on that not happening. He'll go out at the top on weekdays 1-4. Why would one of Radio 1's most legendary presenters who's been on weekdays for nearly 15 years agree to be demoted to weekends and the subs bench. Never gonna happen in my opinion.

I like the zoo format, the randomness and the sense of not knowing what'll happen next. Seems like a really good idea for a show but the music is putting me off a bit. The show is meant to be R1 AND 1Xtra, I know rap and grime is huge right now but I think the music needs to be more of a hybrid between the two stations. He's playing a lot of stuff that would be on the 1Xtra daytime playlist- it's a nighttime show so I wouldn't mind more specialist nighttime music (a mix of what Annie, Toddla T, Mistajam, Benji B are playing etc).

I think it's a shame the documentaries are on in the absolute graveyard slot. Wish they were a bit more bold and made 30 minute ones to air between 6 and 7 during Cel and Katie's new show. I'd make 4-6 for them fun- games, celebs etc, then gear change after 6- bring in Dr Radha, air a 20 minute or 30 minute documentary between 6 and 6:30 and then have a Surgery-style discussion based around that topic until 7. Radio 1 does those documentaries and discussions really well and they can have a positive and huge impact on a young audience. The 45% British acts rule is stupid- if its' good enough, it'll get played. The great thing about R1 daytime is the mix of music- hit songs, new stuff, British and American and other, R1 should decide the playlist and no one else. I absolutely love Greg's show the moment. Going through another golden era (similar to when Pippa and Travis were on)- you can tell Chris Sawyer and Greg are much better friends than Ian and Greg were. There's some brilliant stuff with the whole team (Greg, Chris Smith, Chris Sawyer and Greg) who are all brilliant on air after 6pm. It would make a fantastic breakfast show.

Really like these changes. Promoting Charlie makes perfect sense- he's great and I think a show with him could bring some much-needed life to nights, in the style of Nick Grimshaw's old 10pm show. Annie, Charlie and Huw is a really strong post-7pm schedule. Shame to see Huw bumped to 11pm but always thought 3 hours was too long. I'd ditch the Residency and have him on Monday-Thursdays 11pm-1am so you have a consistent line-up. 3 very distinct shows which will be great. The 9pm shows had become stale and time-fillers : R1 Stories repeats, Residencies that made no impact on the station etc. Even Phil's specialist chart seemed unnecessary. Great to see Danny promoted to Friday nights- didn't realise it has been 6 years on Dance Anthems! Annie Mac, Pete Tong, Danny Howard, B Traits- wow, that's impressive. Mistajam the perfect replacement for Danny too, he'll be great. Putting Katie and Cel together is a smart move- a bit more direction & purpose for the slot and I think Cel was still struggling to hold down a 3 hour show by himself. Great to see the 2 hour shows back and an exciting, diverse nighttime line-up.

The one Adele played at 4am today was actually played by Scott too last week after Bangers. He's played some of the Where it Begins idents after Bangers which I really like

What's going on with the forums, Jono? I know you don't get paid for running the site but the forums have been down for weeks. Only way in is by clicking on forum topics through the homepage. Any idea when it'll be fixed? Thanks

Interesting article. It's a fair point about syndication and cuts to local commercial radio and that the likes of T4, MTV live shows etc aren't around anymore and they often had young talent to choose from. However, there are still plenty of young, talented, passionate presenters out there to choose from. They took a risk with Greg James- got him to cover Sara Cox the day after he graduated! There's got to be some brilliant talent from student radio they should nurture and develop. Same with commercial radio- recruit young talent from local or regional stations who have potential. Only if they're good enough of course. He's brought in Clara Amfo, Jordan North and Adele Roberts (from 1Xtra) in recent years but it seems like way more could be done. Getting Rylan to cover seemed like desperation, as did Cel Spellman getting a show (he's not awful and yes, he's a big CBBC name but will never be weekday material IMO and a 20 year old from student radio who has natural radio talent should be given a chance instead). One name I'd keep an eye out for- Riyadh Khalaf. He's been doing BBC3 documentaries, has a huge YouTube following and presented on a radio station in Dublin as well as being an entertainment reporter. Wouldn't be surprised to see him doing some weekend cover in the coming months.

Love the montage! Really pleased they're going all out on the 50th celebrations, the digital station is a brilliant idea. Surprised Scott wasn't included but I suppose he's still a current presenter. Would've liked to see Nick Grimshaw & Annie Mac from the Switch days on the line-up and Reggie Yates & Fearne Cotton rather than just Fearne considering Reggie was on both R1 and 1Xtra for so long and they were a great pairing (Fearne's best days were with Reggie). Regarding Moyles, it would've looked ridiculous and petty if they didn't include him (longest serving breakfast presenter and all that)- also, it's nothing to do with Global. Radio 1 own all of The Chris Moyles Show content and it'll all still be on their systems somewhere. Hope Live Lounge Month is a bit different to usual. Would also love Annie Mac to do some shows reflecting on the new acts Radio 1 have broken early on in their careers over the years. A countdown of the best 50 songs Radio 1 has played over the 50 years would be amazing too. Put out a shortlist of 100 and people can vote on the website. Count it down on the last Thursday in September- Scott doing 50-26 from 1-4pm and then Greg doing an Official Chart Special revealing the Number 1 before 5:45.

Good post, JWB. No one here knows what the presenters contracts say or what their holiday entitlements are. People get time off for holidays/ personal reasons/ other work commitments, it's just a lazy way to bash presenters people don't like. Greg had time off to do some of the BT cricket coverage, Scott had a week off for Eurovision etc. It does seem like certain presenters are off a lot (Alice and Matt on weekends in particular) but it's normal enough

It's only two days, Mistajam is a big personality, Glastonbury's on next weekend so it could be quite music-focussed in build-up to that, Greg never covers breakfast and it would make no sense anyway to move him for two days and the go back to his normal slot. Also, Dev isn't a big enough personality or entertaining enough to cover Grimmy- a lot of the audience, including myself I have to say, would just find him boring on such a prominent slot.

I really like it- sounds slick, modern and I agree it has more gravitas to it while also being "bouncy" and a good bed if that makes sense! It also flows better as a bulletin with the removal of the clunkier two beeps between headline and main news and between news and sport where the reader would have to pause for a few seconds- not anymore. The intro has gone from "Digital, FM, Online. This is BBC Radio 1" to "Listen, Watch, Share. This is BBC Radio 1" to "This is BBC Radio 1" to now just "1". I do slightly miss the "This is BBC Radio 1" intro from the last package- it sounded official and it sounded great when the presenter timed the intro perfectly. Still like the new package though. It is a bit funny that the week after Gemma Cairney leaves, they introduce a news jingle which isn't as obvious to crash!

Pretty sure they don't have any live TV coverage anymore since BBC3 closed and it's all on iPlayer/ the website. Greg and Fearne never used to be on the radio over Big Weekends because they were hosting the live BBC3 coverage in the evenings. That would be Greg and Clara now if they still did it so the fact they're both doing a lot of the radio coverage and that live TV coverage isn't really necessary to reach the R1 target audience would suggest there's none