bensteele

Well, looks like the BBC Radio team have been hard at work ensuring every single radio website looks exactly the same. I have recently been thinking R1 could do with a new site, but not this hideous mess. While the old site had personality and was fresh and intuitive, looks like this site update wasn't well thought through. Thoughts, anyone?

Nonononono. R1 copying Capital's intros would make it Capital. Bring back 1tros. The use of the "Hey, this is (Ariana Grande / TOP / 1D_)" is irrelevant. We know who it is if the presenter announces who it was, and we probably don't care who they are, we just want their music. It gives listeners chance to switch off, and it makes the station sound like it has a playlist of about three songs.

With all due respect, you can't call Nick immature and fail to see how immature Scott & Chris are - while dressing Chris up as a bear for Bear Grylls was great radio (funny, original, seemed pretty spontaneous), it's not advanced or intelligent humour.

I used to flick between between 1 and 1Xtra at weekends, both very different vibes and you can pick some great presenting techniques up from (most of) 1Xtra's daytime programming. Clara's show was really good; interesting, some decent features and a lot of audience engagement. I think she had a great exclusive "Clara club"-like feel, it all felt very exclusive but inclusive at the same time. Very infectious happiness. I'm glad you spent time listening to Clara and have changed your opinion - while her social media is interesting (she does seem interesting!), seems she hasn't been taught properly (annnd has a bad production team)

So Kiss & Kisstory are both pretty good stations (bar the Kiss Breakfast show. Irritating voiced woman, very chavvy feel) But what are your thoughts on your "local" station (you know, the one where they're "number one for (insert area here) everywhere, and make sure you're aware by announcing it in a bored voice at least once every five minutes - money before content)?

Radio X have done a pretty good job, although totally ballsed up with the whole "laddy station" thing - with their PR team saying one thing, and their key breakfast presenter saying another. As for Virgin Radio? Pretty piss-poor. Just because you're Virgin doesn't mean you have to introduce the station on a train. It does not add to the audio value at all if you don't actually get off the train and go to various places. Haven't bothered tuning in since.

and then there's the other radio station that completely and utterly stole the feature, and the YouTubers that turned it into a "craze". It's a timeless feature - one I think that would work on Grimmy's show, if Scott were to leave.

*Innuendooo Bingooooo* I like Real Or No Real. The comedic appeal to it; the time it's positioned; the interesting facts. Great feature. The feature I hated the most was probably the one where they'd barricade themselves in the studio, playing an entire album. Reinforces the image people have that they're childish and have nothing more interesting to do / say. On a separate note, while flicking through his Wiki to remember older features, it helpfully told me that he has an estimated £130,000 a year salary...

Interesting... Thanks for your thoughts, guys! And as for Zane, well, while he should be at the top of the radio pile, he's been left to stagnate with money-hungry Apple. The only press they had was the launch - and that was largely about Zane rather than the station - and as for now? In all honesty, I completely forgot it even existed as a station. Looking at their Twitter following, of around 400,000, they don't seem to be making the big shout they wanted to. I doubt he has as much creative freedom, and the show won't be as important to society (thus meaning worse guests, little fanbase). Something tells me Zane misses Radio 1. And, of course, Radio 1 misses Zane.

OooOoh! They do sound like they're reverting back to a similar style to the old 2012 jingle package, as mentioned above - not a bad thing. I miss Holly Meyrick.

There's @BBCR1Fans for station chit-chat (on a lower level than the forums, though) and also @r1_help for literally everything to do with Radio 1.

I think women get a much tougher time in most career paths, with radio being a strong subject for debate. Are there enough women on radio? On Capital (which, I'll admit, I don't really listen to), the only decentish woman - Kat Shoob - presents alongside a man. But down to my specifics: women on Radio 1. I don't think the station is particularly strong with women. Annie Mac is ace; she's one of those loveable, knowledgeable, wonderful presenters that never gets old. Great shows, and a great move to Zane's show for her. Adele is pretty good too; it's not bad at all for a 4am show, and she has some decent features. She's got a great, broad accenty voice too. A decent listen. Before I rant about these two women, I think some of their content - Clara's old Kiss stuff & her chart presenting, and Alice with Greg - is great. And radio is really, really hard. There's no editing, unsociable hours and we all have bad days. But this is the forefront of radio; "Where it begins". So here's my views... where do I begin?! While she always seems so happy and positive - which is great - Clara Amfo has literally nothing to talk about. Even her handover is poor, usually resulting in something along the lines of Nick: So, Clara, what have you got lined up for us at 10am? Clara (who's had a good hour to plan this): Err, we'll be playing a shoddy Live Lounge from last year and also the same music we play all day? She won an award for radio ages ago with the judges saying her "infectious love of radio was clear". Listen, love radio or not, you have to actually be able to say something. I listened to her show over the holidays - she just smiles her way through the show, not really saying anything? While many of you (OohErr, I'm looking at you) will disagree, I think Alice Levine is also a bit naff. Unlike Clara, she usually has much to say about nothing, making for rather a cringey listen (her most memorable catchphrases "yass" and "all the (food / music / balloons)". Her show isn't so much of a show as a Spotify playlist, with her links being the annoying adverts. And her features? What, you call getting people to describe how boring their weekend is as a feature? It just makes me feel a bit meh about my weekend, and I don't want that. Your views, as always, greatly appreciated on this one. What do you think on women on Radio 1?

Heya, Could you link us the episode and time you found them? Interesting!

90% sure it's by Dan Mumford, but can't find a clean version anywhere guys. Soz!

Newsbeat seems obsessed with gaining popularity, so they'll want their brand name read out on-air to direct people towards their website, and "free app" that is mentioned in almost every bulletin now As for Jordan North, well, in my opinion he's okay. We were listening to him in the car, and my dad said "God, this prat sounds like he needs speech therapy" - and, if you listen back, you notice he does sound rather sloppy. His "features" were no-shows. He seems quite generic to me, in the same boat as Matt Edmonson & Dev at the moment. Practice makes perfect. I'm sure if he got his own show, after a month or so, he'd be brilliant.

Hiya! Where are the chart bits? Anything else you guys have found?

Very true, although I doubt his price tag was necessarily cheap. Rhianna could easily have been employed as freelance!

Because the Armed Forces are arguably the most brave individuals in society, and for some stupid w*nker in a warm toasty radio studio who gets paid too much for doing too little to belittle the countless deaths of these individuals, is inappropriate and potentially triggering to those who have lost relatives... Is this not obvious? It's absolutely crass, @harrysmyth is completely right.

I find Glitterball to be not quite as strong as Language - think he should change it. Jack Garratt springs to mind...

Hey OohErr, I never ever get tired of your username. I've really enjoyed recent Chris Moyles Show, arguably this show is better than his Radio 1 show, as it's less messy and slicker. I've - and don't hate me for this - given local Bauer radio a try, and it's safe to say how shoddy it is. Olivia Jones can't present at all. This messy Bauer network where they have to give the station strapline "Number One for XYZ" is just, urrrrgh. Rather endure Gemma's morning show. I've also enjoyed Kisstory recently, sort of like a 24/7 Nixtape. Very good to prance around to in the kitchen, and their adverts aren't particularly annoying either. I've also given Saint FM a try recently. Matt Podd's show is excellent, but I think their website is off air for a bit at the moment. NB - I'm not sure the joke about the Armed Forces is funny or clever, or intelligent for that matter to be honest. A matter of personal opinion, but if anything, it's offensive and degrading to the Army.

Movies definitely gonna become something more serious this year then. And poached from DigitalSpy, too. Rhianna would be good with her own show, bless her, I hope she gets work elsewhere.

Hang on, they've got a replacement? Anyone got details on name / website?

Hey @RyanPannell, I made this point back when Scott covered breakfast while Grimmy was away on holiday. It REALLY infuriates me that they use some bang-up-to-date idents, and some slapped-together-in-5-minutes-using-audacity idents in the same 10 minutes, why can't they just order a few "The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Scott Mills" idents and get it over with? It's BBC Radio 1, not local radio! Sidenote, I really really enjoyed the show this morning, but I'm missing Nick!

Hmmm, scoured her Twitter and nothing realy there tbh. Feel like they should either scrap Movies or get a proper show (to replace Radio 1's Godawful Stories or something), rather than shoehorn it into Greg's show. It does sound a bit Student Radio. I saw Rhianna recently when I was at Radio 1, gossiping by the fax machine. She'll be missed. Her warm and positive enthusiasm was very clear to hear!

I'm actually 90% sure Tina is in the main studio even when doing the news. If I was a producer on the show, I'd call for some dramatic changes to features and content to get the best Breakfast Show they can. Perhaps bringing back the Waking Up Song but in an alternative way, perhaps doing some kind of game with callers, or getting someone to give some kind of breakfast recipe once a week that people can try out. Idk, but they do need a big of meat in there. Nick is effortless with his interviewing. I do think it's such a shame that people are very vocal about hating him.