Ash101

Glad I wasn’t the only one who was confused by Aled’s quote about lockdown. Maybe a mistake? I don’t think this is such bad news for Radio 1 - or Greg on Breakfast - because all youth stations are down. If you look at Matt Deegan’s blog, he states it’s higher % of older listeners who are going. There is just not enough younger people coming in to replace them. This is kinda good news for the Radio 1 team as it means the content is on target. There’s just a wider issue that the target audience doesn’t listen to radio overall as much. Adam Bowie’s blog states the % for which each show is down. We don’t know the numbers, so it’s hard to gauge too much. But it’s the first time we’ve had a breakdown of any sort: Greg is down 7.9% RM&C 12.4% Scott & Chris 4.5% Vick & Jordan 7.5% The BBC Sounds data out today also shows Under 35’s listening and RM&C are the only daytime show not to make the Top 10, plus losing the highest %. Does not look great for them.

Should Vick & Jordan take some holiday coordinated together? Easier said than done, I know, but that’s another week with the drive show not quite being “normal”. They’ve not had a long run together in a few months now? (Including by this time next month!)

Not sure if it’s been noted here that next Monday, is Katie & Vicky on for Scott and Dean is in for Jordan with Vick. Then it’s Katie & Dean on 1pm for the rest of the week.

Not sure I agree with that comment from Moyles. He did not want to adapt his style (he's still doing the same type of show on Radio X!) - whereas I see Greg as much more of a Scott style presenter. He adapts, changes to suit the 'current' sound of Radio 1 and more importantly keeping the listener as the star of the show means he could easily go on for 6+ years. (Whereas Grimmy had the celebrity culture that was getting a little bit boring towards the end of his time).

Mollie isn’t pregnant? Unless I’ve missed something? I can totally see Rickie and Melvin just doing mid mornings between them, no need to add a third person into an already established duo. I think Sarah makes more sense for Dance Anthems. It gives her a nice profile boost for a few months & like has been said, Arielle does a lot of DJing at the weekend. R2 is a bit more of a up in the air situation. But I think Sara is definitely a more long term solution for Breakfast. Scott on Drive would be great and then maybe Tina Daheley or Victoria Derbyshire to take the midday show eventually - from Salford.

To answer my own question, I guess Matt & Mollie fit this. As they did 1-4 before Weekend Breakfast. Are there any examples on the weekday schedule?

Isn’t his Radio 4 show quite jokey anyway? It’s basically clips from the BBC archive alongside some tedious theme… if Greg was to move away from music radio, I expect 5Live would be more his bag than Radio 4. But, there’s no reason why Greg couldn’t remain on R1 in a lower profile slot after his Breakfast stint eventually (hopefully not anytime soon!) ends. There were those rumours that they offered Moyles the 10pm slot, for example. Has anyone ever returned to a slot? Just thinking that Greg has obviously already done the 1pm show, so the only “new” move would be the Live Lounge.

I love Katie and Jordan together. But it’s a shame we’ve not had any solo Jordan since he started on Drive! We’ve had 2 weeks of Vick (when J had Covid and the week after next!). Obviously it seems R1 are in a bit of a pickle week after next as Matt & Mollie are away filming still, Scott and Jordan off too. I still don’t understand why they haven’t put Katie on Drive like she always covers and someone else in for Scott? I’d quite like to have heard Sam & Danni do it for a week. Also on the subject on them, shame they can’t cover Matt & Mollie!

I don’t think these are going to be streams like Relax or Dance. They’re already on Sounds under the Music tab, it’s just a collection of playlists?

Matt & Mollie are presenting a new dating show for Discovery+, so I wonder if they’re off filming that? Surely it makes more sense for Katie to cover with Vick - seeing as she does most of the time. And having Dean solo or someone else cover for Scott and Chris?

I just don’t think you’d get away with it on a Global station! The links are too tight to even have the time to breathe around one of the dares! be interesting to see it on the telly on Saturday. Plus it’s a nice bit of promotion for the new R1 Daytime line up!

Scarlett was pretty decent before when she covered with Dev though. Also remember Emily Atack doing a weekend with Jordan and that was really good fun

Agree, for 1 day… Katie on her own is fine! i think we’re long enough into Vick & Jordan for them to take a day off together, because of another commitment.

Why are Matt & Mollie the wrong way round on their image? Whereas RMC are all in order, Vick and Jordan too

That’s been on my podcast listen list for about a week now, is it worth the time?

I guess it’s more noticeable on air now than before because we basically have shows that carry on as normal (well apart from Katie depping on drive) across the whole schedule. All daytime and then Matt/Mollie going solo when the other is off as has been said, I guess for whatever reason they’ve kept this dynamic on R1. Chris goes on with someone else on 5L when Scott isn’t available… I don’t think you’d build a show like this now, but it’s history/how it came about mean this basically “is what it is”.

I think they do stuff like Who Game & Brother or Lover days ahead, not just the few hours before

Definitely. I can imagine any Radio 2 cover work comes at a cost per show agreement, instead of any blanket yearly amount. There’s no way it’d save money. You’d surely command a higher price to work double in a day then a lower one?

Odd as the original schedule had both Matt & Mollie, so I wonder if they’ve decided to keep Mollie off till they can be reunited?

Oh that’s cool @Jono. Interesting there’s a different one for R1/1Xtra Simulcasting too… plus R2, which we’ve seen interviews done there but odd as they have their own building!

I can imagine that was a last minute change, considering Listener Impossible is actually a M&M feature anyway!

I guess if it’s his new baby then it’s up to him to announce? Chris would understand that after his announcement, ironically I think during that last stint on Breakfast?

yes it does, surely his wife giving birth makes most sense. He was on air Sunday? Could be isolating also I guess

Last time they covered Greg yeah, they did those 2 features and the rest were their own. Obviously depends what the production team had planned for tomorrow? I’m guessing none of Greg’s main features as they’ll be saved for next week?

As we head into 2022, just my few thoughts on the new line up. In short: it's fantastic. I don't think there have ever been more shows on Radio 1 that I actively want to listen/catch-up with. Vick & Jordan are really growing into the drive slot. Sadly it just shows how poor Grimmy's show was when you compare just how much speech/content/fun they manage to squeeze into the show. There's plenty of different weekly features, they've got the daily staple in the 'Something Songs' & the 'talkers' always feel quite natural and generate some good stories. Basically they move the show on every 15/30 minutes & the hard work of the production team really does shine through. It's a shame it doesn't have a Scott Mills Daily style podcast to make catching up easier. I'm growing to like the pairing even more - sometimes I do feel Vick's humour doesn't quite work with Jordan. She kind of stunts his jokes and the way he plays up the whole Northern thing (but I guess I am comparing this to Jordan's podcast with William Hanson who just knows when to sit back and let Jordan be the fool). Katie is great cover too, she works with both Vick & Jordan so should keep the show sounding consistent all year round. RMC: I like them. I really enjoyed the evening show they did, because it was a little bit naughty & had plenty of games, even if the music wasn't always to my taste. Personally, it does feel like they've not translated this very well across to the new slot. I loved night night nonsense (a different game every Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday where Rickie/Melvin/Charlie each host one night and the other 2 play), if they did something similar (midday madness? 😂) it would really lift the whole show in my opinion. The daily features they have started aren't that strong: Random annoys me, Skive lounge is fun but maybe not as often & Melvin's Live Lounge guessing game just sticks out (why are they only doing it 1 day a week when they do LL rewinds every morning?). It just feels like they have been pinched a bit too much on talk time & when there is 3 of them on the show it feels a bit of a waste of talent. Of course it shouldn't be as fast paced/packed as Breakfast or Drive, but I think Scott & Chris show that the 'content filled' shows do work outside of peak. My biggest wish for 2022 is that they can inject a bit more fun into this show. Shout outs are fine till 11, then the Live Lounge, but some different good features every half hour after that would be great. Greg James and Scott & Chris deliver the 2 most consistently great shows on radio anywhere in the UK, in my opinion. Obviously not too much to say here because they weren't new for September 2022, but they have certainly kept up their game alongside the new additions to the line up. I hope neither change for a good while to come. Reinstating Greg on a Friday was probably one of the best decisions of the year. My one niggle with Breakfast is that I wish they made more of the 9:30 till 10:30 slot. I miss the daily madness of the 6:30 till 7am bit. Evenings - I don't listen to them as regularly (I used to catchup with RMC) but whenever I have heard Clara, Jack & Sian, it really does feel like they are in the perfect places on the schedule. They each love the slot they do & it shows. Just a shame we have lost an entertainment based evening show. Even if it was 10-12, so it could be naughty again with Powerdown at 12am. Weekends - Adele is a pro and very much suits the weekend Breakfast slot. It doesn't need to be as fast paced as weekdays & I think the past few years of having the 2 different duos on then just shows what a waste it can be, especially on a quiet morning like Sunday. I'm still not 100% sold on Dean, he is good but I did prefer Jordan in that slot. As has been mentioned here before, I wonder if it's too much too soon. Should he be on Early Breakfast with Arielle at the weekends? My personal choice would've been RMC on a Friday, Dean on a Sunday & someone new on a Saturday - gives a slot to another ex-Xmas/Friday EB presenter too. (I'd pick Sam & Danni. Saturday, so they are still free to cover life hacks on a Sunday). Matt & Mollie are sounding the best they ever have. The move back to weekends really did 'reset' their show and the stuff they do is on a par with the duos on Monday to Thursday. Some really great games and the 'talkers' they do are also generating some of the funniest stories too. Again, it's a shame they don't have a podcast. They could probably get away with a pretty beefy weekly one?