Bluestraw

On one hand I agree with you... On the other hand, Chris Moyles was offered exactly that slot after coming off breakfast (and declined it of course). Would be a way of keeping them on the station much longer perhaps with a post-watershed show covering the late-night student crowd. Though hopefully any talk of moving off weekday daytime is still a way off, given the quality of the show right now.

I do admire your tenacity with the morning schedule suggestions that have as much chance of happening as there is of Chris Moyles returning to R1 breakfast! I agree with you that the station needs to keep on pushing its distinctiveness, but the daytime schedule needs to be cohesive and that schedule isn't... Perhaps we could have some elements of the 'groupchat' format you mentioned being embedded in other shows throughout the day, and as such boosting the speech output a bit, and could even include a bit more new music. But that's the furthest they could and should go in order to keep a consi

I think they meet 3 objectives at R1 and don't see this really changing... Firstly they deliver an on-target show from 8-10 each night, following on from Charlie Sloth whose show they heavily promoted. Secondly they provide a decent option for daytime cover as-needed. Thirdly they have brought Charlie to the station who is a good addition to their dance-presenter roster. I struggle to see them taking over any other daytime slot - Scott is still at the top of his game, surely Jordan is in pole position for Drive, and not sure they'd fit in anywhere else... Also it's hard to say what the te

Clara isn't as big a name today as Greg... Yes she is important to the station for various reasons, but a feature-laden breakfast show is much better suited for a later start / finish in today's slightly later-time world. IMO her show is the least entertaining of all daytime, but I guess that's by design as she really does very few features and just focuses on the music. While I completely disagree that a new-music show from 9-11 would be good (and I'm certain it will never happen), I do agree that R1 could do more in the mornings to be distinctive. Arguably Scott's show in particular sta

I completely agree with you on this! There simply was no need to simulcast R4 all the way until 4pm, and the instrumentals until 6.30 were again pointless. I am often a big defender of Radio 1 but I think they got this very wrong for their audience - pretty much 'enforced mourning' for that age group... Of course they should be sensitive and adjust the output, but for example as you say they could have done the chart but perhaps with a bit more subdued presentation to avoid accusations of insensitivity. There was also a big opportunity to go more down the 'life hacks' route and connect wi

I won't debate, but will just say I strongly disagree and think you're wrong. There are no gaping holes, and I hope Aled continues to treat the station as he currently is doing, which is very well 🙂

Let's focus just on R1 here. The wider industry may have a way to go but R1 is filled with a variety of different voices so what's the issue?

I think it's hard to explain why someone is better talent as it's so subjective. But I think the fact that Greg has recently been promoted to 5 days vs 4 days is an indication that he is doing well and is going nowhere! The fact is that the population is already well-represented by R1 today. And you and I have a very different view of the intents of PSB... Viewer / listener numbers DO matter to a PSB.

Yes it's a PSB but so is BBC1 and that has various populist shows. Is that wrong too? PSB doesn't need to mean niche, it can be the best of populist and distinctive which - personally - I think it already is. What evidence - other than your personal view - do you have that it currently doesn't look or sound like young people? I'm certain R1 work with many youth focus group and carefully analyse audience data. It remains a fact that the majority of UK young people are white, able-bodied and straight. So that naturally leads to the majority of the presenters being that way, but also with a

Not sure I said that diversity would drive people away?! Just that FORCED diversity would potentially lower quality and that itself would be a bad thing. Of course shows should absolutely be given on merit and opportunities not denied to anyone based on skin colour or gender, but we can't change the past and as you say, R1 has done better than many at already changing that approach. The point I'm challenging is - what is currently needed to 'fix' about the weekday lineup in terms of diversity? It seems very strong and diverse... Greg (straight white male) aside, we have a woman on earlies

The point I was challenging was rather the suggestion that anything done TO-DATE has been wrong. I don't disagree with the need to evolve the station in a diverse way, providing the quality is maintained. But to have chosen Dotty (as per the other suggestion) over Greg for R1 Breakfast would - in my opinion - have been a big mistake. I also believe there is also no current problem to fix per-se, but rather as you say a need to understand the barriers and work to continue to evolve as the youth market evolves. Of course R1 clearly has a remit to be a youth station - and my point about not

Radio 1 is - today - in a very healthy place. There's no problem to 'fix', of course the station should continue to evolve but Aled seems very well placed to do that effectively. Why should the station not be allowed to be populist? Why alienate a large portion of the audience and suggest they go to the private sector? Surely each person is equally entitled to enjoy the station, it doesn't need to be made into a niche broadcaster only appealing to a minority, leaving the rest to suffer with the likes of Capital? I think you and I have VERY different opinions regarding white, male, abled p

You say cheesy, I say populist and aimed at a decent wide-ranging audience. R1's obsession with driving out older listeners with Grimmy was jarring and didn't really fit the ethos of the station. Of course back in the 90s it needed a full 'reset' as the style of the station had become very old-fashioned, but in recent years it's always been contemporary and as long as it continues to appeal to a broad range of youth there's no need to deliberately alienate anyone. It's hard to see Breakfast going back to finishing at any time other than 10 at the earliest. Also, not sure why you'd think B

Completely agree. Until today I didn't see a possibility of Jack coming to daytimes, but he was impressive.

I think that's quite likely - I suspect Aled himself knows the date (or pretty close to) when he will put Jordan on weekdays. Doesn't mean he won't cover at all in the meanwhile, though IF (as hoped) he eventually will get Drive, it's less likely he will cover there in the meanwhile (based on previous examples)