Dan18F1

I almost feel like he should just be there as Katie’s cover, it will make the show a whole lot more consistent with Vick, Jamie and him presenting all the Going Home shows between them, and as you say, he sounds very good with Vick. (And as tomorrow shows, they don’t mind putting him on alone either!)

Now that the new schedule has had time to bed in, what are your thoughts on how the station is sounding at the moment? I have to say, I personally think that the station is sounding pretty good right now. Many presenters seem to be top of their game and there are no obvious weak spots that I would personally change myself. 
In terms of each show individually: 
Dean - As much as I don't hear Early Breakfast that often, I think he is a perfectly competent presenter in his own right. I don't think a partnership worked for him and I do think he sounds pretty good in this show. I don't think he'll be at R1 for the long term though, and wouldn't be completely surprised if he has departed by the end of the year for a commercial network. 
Greg - I think he's still absolutely the right person for the breakfast show. The show still sounds pretty fresh (hopefully moreso now that Jan Slam is finally finished with) and I can't see any obvious person who would take over that show now. 
RMC - I enjoy the fact that their show has been a complete departure to what came before it. I'm still not completely convinced it's the best slot for them, but I don't see where else they would go on the schedule now. 
Matt and Mollie/Jerry - My favourite show on the network now! I love how fresh the show always sounds, there are plenty of features all the time and the 2 1/2 hours flies by. 
Vick, Katie and Jamie - I don't know what to think of this show. Sometimes I find it really enjoyable, other times it seems a complete mess. I have grown to like Jamie but I don't think the lack of consistency with the presenters helps at all (and obviously will be compounded with Katie on maternity in a couple of weeks)
Weekends: 
I think James has settled into that show excellently. Exactly the type of weekend breakfast show that I think R1 should be providing. I've never been particularly keen on Nat and Vicky - their style of show isn't my thing but I can see why some people would (I do really enjoy the 00s/10s show though). I'm actually slightly disappointed with Sam and Danni's new show, it's lacking something for me, whether that's because they've continued some features from the afternoon show before, or something else? I feel like this weekend has been better though so maybe they're gradually introducing more as the weeks go on. Life Hacks I don't really listen to so can't comment on. A quick note on weekend early breakfast - I still don't see the point of it? Feels like a waste of both Ore and Swarzy's presenting skills. 
The evenings are good too. Jack's show and Jerry's show are particular highlights for me. I do miss the evening entertainment show though. 
In terms of predictions for this year, I reckon it will be a quiet one (obviously not including Mollie, Katie and Shanequa's maternity leave). The only change I can possibly see is Dean leaving and Emil (?) replacing him. 
What do you all think?

Vicky is covering early breakfast the week commencing the 25th November. I guess they’re using all the Salford presenters so we might see Nat the week after.

In terms of what I predict with knowing what we know:
Monday 23rd:
6am Dean McCullough 
10am RMC
2pm Sam and Danni
6pm Sian Eleri
8pm Jess Izzatt
Christmas Eve:
The same until
6pm Danny Howard (pre record)
8pm Sarah Storey (pre record)
10pm Pete Tong (pre record)
Christmas Day:
7am Sam and Danni
11am James Cusack?
2pm TikTok takeover
6pm Greg James highlights
8pm Sian Eleri Chillest show highlights 
Boxing Day-30th:
New presenter takeover
31st:
New presenter takeover until
4pm: Connor Coates
7pm: James Cusack
10pm: Charlie Hedges
NYD:
7am Ore Olukoga
11am Nat O’Leary
3pm Lauren Layfield 
7pm Sian Eleri
2nd January:
6am Sam and Danni
10am Nat and Vicky
2pm Lauren Layfield 
6pm Sian Eleri
8pm Jess Izzatt
3rd January:
6am Sam and Danni
10am Nat and Vicky
1pm Lauren Layfield 
4pm James Cusack with the chart
4th and 5th January:
7am Conor Knight
10:30 Nat and Vicky
1pm Ore Olukoga
4pm Dance Anthems/Life Hacks
6th January:
I would expect everyone to be back (except Jamie Laing at a guess)

I completely agree - they also have such a strong B Team now (and SO MANY presenters that don’t get much of a chance with double header shows etc) that it would be nice to see them at Christmas. 
 
You could very easily see a Christmas week schedule of:
5am - James Cusack
7am - Sam and Danni
10:30am - Nat and Vicky
1pm - Ore
3:30pm - Lauren
And that’s with every single normal presenter being off!

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more than a weekend afternoon host announced in the next schedule changes and they are potentially waiting for everything to fall into place to then make a big announcement and launch a new schedule in November or January for example. 
 
Because not only will the weekend slot need filling, there is the new R1 spin off station being launched ‘this autumn’, which I can see the likes of Ore, Nat, James etc being part of and I wonder if any of those shows will be simulcasted on the main station. There is then Mollie’s maternity leave which I can see them wanting to cover, and then there’s questions about whether they do something with the Power Down Playlist now that there’s no R1 Relax anymore, could they put something different in that slot? 
So I think management might be waiting to be able to sort a few things out at the same time. 

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more than a weekend afternoon host announced in the next schedule changes and they are potentially waiting for everything to fall into place to then make a big announcement and launch a new schedule in November or January for example. 
 
Because not only will the weekend slot need filling, there is the new R1 spin off station being launched ‘this autumn’, which I can see the likes of Ore, Nat, James etc being part of and I wonder if any of those shows will be simulcasted on the main station. There is then Mollie’s maternity leave which I can see them wanting to cover, and then there’s questions about whether they do something with the Power Down Playlist now that there’s no R1 Relax anymore, could they put something different in that slot? 
So I think management might be waiting to be able to sort a few things out at the same time. 

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get more than a weekend afternoon host announced in the next schedule changes and they are potentially waiting for everything to fall into place to then make a big announcement and launch a new schedule in November or January for example. 
 
Because not only will the weekend slot need filling, there is the new R1 spin off station being launched ‘this autumn’, which I can see the likes of Ore, Nat, James etc being part of and I wonder if any of those shows will be simulcasted on the main station. There is then Mollie’s maternity leave which I can see them wanting to cover, and then there’s questions about whether they do something with the Power Down Playlist now that there’s no R1 Relax anymore, could they put something different in that slot? 
So I think management might be waiting to be able to sort a few things out at the same time. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam and Danni have been booked to do drive that week as Vick is definitely off and then Katie is also off for one of the weeks that Vick is, although it’d probably make more sense to put Jamie with one of Vicky and Lauren and then have Sam and Danni on Going Home.

So, the first Matt and Mollie weekday show today and what a triumph it seemed to be. You could tell that there were nerves there, didn’t seem to be as natural immediately as they were by the end of weekends but obviously the show will settle in pretty quickly.
Glad to see another very content heavy show though - today we had someone who is going to review the week, a new ‘Best Thing Ever’ feature which was fine but nothing groundbreaking, the ‘5 to 2’ quiz which was a very clever way of getting a quick quiz in everyday, a texty feature, ‘Don’t Match Matt’ a new game that it sounds like they’ll be playing a couple of days a week and then ‘Battle Tracks’ which I’m very glad has stayed. 
 
Very pleased that Matt vs Mollie is staying too (along with I assume Mol’s Teaser) and then the new features they’ve bought in seem good too. Hopefully they have the budget to be able to have guests every so often as well! Overall, it seemed a very promising start.

So, the first Matt and Mollie weekday show today and what a triumph it seemed to be. You could tell that there were nerves there, didn’t seem to be as natural immediately as they were by the end of weekends but obviously the show will settle in pretty quickly.
Glad to see another very content heavy show though - today we had someone who is going to review the week, a new ‘Best Thing Ever’ feature which was fine but nothing groundbreaking, the ‘5 to 2’ quiz which was a very clever way of getting a quick quiz in everyday, a texty feature, ‘Don’t Match Matt’ a new game that it sounds like they’ll be playing a couple of days a week and then ‘Battle Tracks’ which I’m very glad has stayed. 
 
Very pleased that Matt vs Mollie is staying too (along with I assume Mol’s Teaser) and then the new features they’ve bought in seem good too. Hopefully they have the budget to be able to have guests every so often as well! Overall, it seemed a very promising start.

So, the first Matt and Mollie weekday show today and what a triumph it seemed to be. You could tell that there were nerves there, didn’t seem to be as natural immediately as they were by the end of weekends but obviously the show will settle in pretty quickly.
Glad to see another very content heavy show though - today we had someone who is going to review the week, a new ‘Best Thing Ever’ feature which was fine but nothing groundbreaking, the ‘5 to 2’ quiz which was a very clever way of getting a quick quiz in everyday, a texty feature, ‘Don’t Match Matt’ a new game that it sounds like they’ll be playing a couple of days a week and then ‘Battle Tracks’ which I’m very glad has stayed. 
 
Very pleased that Matt vs Mollie is staying too (along with I assume Mol’s Teaser) and then the new features they’ve bought in seem good too. Hopefully they have the budget to be able to have guests every so often as well! Overall, it seemed a very promising start.

As much as I think Mollie is a great presenter, I feel that Maia should get Future Pop now permanently. She definitely deserves that show, and with Mollie now on weekdays it saves her having to do 2 shows a day. She could still have a daily Future Bop or something like that on the weekday show too.

I think that’s Sam and Danni’s first time covering breakfast - congrats to them and looking forward to seeing how they get on on it! 

Ahhh very happy for Amy - that’s very well deserved! I didn’t hear their final show but are Matt and Mollie keeping Helena? Hopefully she might be the main producer of their new show!

I just want to add though that I am beginning to enjoy the show a bit more now that it’s settled in - I think Jamie (when he’s there) has calmed down a bit and then the new features that have been progressively added over the last couple of weeks have been good too. 
 
I still don’t think it’s a patch on Vick and Jordan together, but it is now a show that seems like it could have legs into the future and once Matt and Mollie start in July, I could see myself sticking with R1 all afternoon.

When Scott and Chris announced their departure from R1, I remember there was lots of speculation about who would take over the 1pm slot. Matt and Mollie were talked about a lot on here, and at the time I really didn't rate them as a replacement.
A few years on, I see that I was totally wrong. They are such a good pairing, and it's the same kind of duo as Scott and Chris, in that they are real life friends, who spend time together in their real lives, which really does come across on air. True friends having a laugh together, and everyone is invited is how it feels to me now.
I never thought about it before, but I agree with @coffeeandgin that Mollie is the Scott of the duo - pop obsessed and maybe a litte ditsy, but so funny, and in need of someone to anchor to or bounce off.  It seems that Matt is the kind of Chris of the duo then in that comparison, the one with the ideas, but also needs another person to make the magic happen.
I know I'm outside of the R1 demographic, and maybe Dean and Vicky were meant to be younger and fresher, but I'm sure in my younger years I would have preferred to listen to two people who had a genuine connection and could really make each other laugh, as well as have the listeners laugh along. That was the Scott and Chris factor for me, and I think the only pair that come close to that now are Matt and Mollie.

Hopefully Matt and Mollie take producer Amy with them to weekdays - she has helped to make their weekend show even better in the past couple of years and was obviously Scott’s producer before he left too

Jordan North…
Seriously though, out of the commercial stations I only really listen to Capital but I do think Will Manning is very strong (and could quite easily slot into R1).
I also think Jimmy Hill is a very good commercial DJ (but probably wouldn’t be as good on R1).

Think that Radio 1 really needed this week, charity aside, to come together again. I don’t think they ever diverged, but the Jordan news I think was challenging and as a listener this week has secured that perception of the family again. 

We know R1 love duos and trios at the moment but I feel that getting Nat to join Vicky on the 10 hour takeover is a bit overkill - surely that’s a day that will be full of music? 
 
And the same with Easter Monday when it’s Anthems day - I feel that all of RMC and Vick, Katie and Jamie aren’t all needed when they get to do 30 second links

Let’s maybe not speculate about Jordan’s sexuality…

Let’s maybe not speculate about Jordan’s sexuality…

Let’s maybe not speculate about Jordan’s sexuality…

The schedule now shows that Matt & Mollie are both on air as usual on Saturday 9th.  Sunday 10th is now James Cusack sitting in.