coffeeandgin
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Posts posted by coffeeandgin
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1 hour ago, Joe said:
If it's not his choice, I feel sorry for James – but I have to be honest that, while I enjoyed his show, it wasn't quite in keeping with other shows, perhaps. It felt like it skewed slightly older and more niche, perhaps, and contrasted a lot with the shows after (Group Chat). I think a station should be a broad church, the shows shouldn't all sound the same, but it's worth saying that those making these decisions have more to go off than we do. Listening figures, audience appreciation scores, focus groups, a particular strategy and so on. Also, as noted elsewhere, he has very little social media presence, which feels notable.
I have no doubt that James will go onto great things – he is talented and I like him, and even in a pool of more limited radio jobs than ever, he will be fine (I'm sure).
I think where Radio 1 was wise was having his replacement be Emil Franchi who is also a proper 'radio nerd' as Greg would put it.
If they'd replaced him with a TikToker like Charley Marlowe with no offence intended to her I wonder if the reaction to James Cusack's departure might've been stronger.
Though to be fair to Charley she's done her fair share of cover over recent months on off-peak slots so I wouldn't want to tar her with the Maya Jama brush as Maya seemed to instantly have the red carpet rolled out for her on Radio 1.
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You know we're into summer season when no daytime show had its regular full-line up today.
Joel Mitchell in for Dean
Matt & Mollie covering Greg
Melvin away from RMC to cover Good Groove on Radio 2
Nat & Vicky covering Matt & Mollie's regular slot.
Emil in for Vick & Jamie alongside Katie.
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6 hours ago, Intercity_225 said:
Interesting choice. Mylo & Rosie don't seem like the type of people to be on Group Chat (that's not saying they're bad, they're fantastic but was expecting someone like Lauren Redfern.)
It's basically because they've got Vicky at TRNSMT on the Friday - as then it's Vicky & Minah on Saturday and Sunday. Vicky does seem a slightly left-field choice to be covering TRNSMT I have to be honest.
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5 hours ago, Dan18F1 said:
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or not? But if you’re meaning his scheduled Monday and Tuesday appearances then no, he was off just this week!
If we’re just counting Vick being on Mondays for now, I’m not sure she’s had a week off since returning from maternity leave
I think it's very much meant as sarcastic.
Some might argue the current 2 days a week is a phased return to a 3-day schedule following paternity leave. However, that ignores that he was 2 days a week from September long before his baby was born. And that was after he had a 6-week summer break.
I'm heard unconfirmed rumours Lorraine Kelly slightly tuts when seeing the Going Home attendance figures.
- FlashinHorsham and Greg20
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1 hour ago, Intercity_225 said:
So that means at least one person on each daytime show will be off on that day then.
Feels like even by Radio 1 absence standards this week will have been full of them - Vick, Jamie, Jerry, Vicky, Dean, Matt & Mollie, Danni and now James.
If it's like this now then good luck when it comes to August.
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1 hour ago, TheSaviourisHere said:
Anyone else think it's a bit risky using Lauren when she's nearly due? I could just be over thinking it? Surely could have got Nat and Vicky or someone like that on?
Yep Lauren joked today about going into labour on the show and while that surely wouldn't happen (and in an absolute emergency you'd just have RMC continue or the Going Home start early) but surprised they could get nobody else in.
This is where Going Home rotation is such a pain - wouldn't it just have been easier to have Jamie do a 4-day week for once on the show that has his name in the title and then have Emil covering afternoons this week rather than a heavily pregnant Lauren?
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Though even if James doesn't progress from weekends, weekends still is by no means to be sniffed at and something 95% of DJs would bite your hand off for.
Without wishing to be too harsh, I do if privately TPTB at Radio 1 would concede they did make a misstep with some of their 2022 changes - Dean, Vicky and Nat were the big winners from that but in 2026 aren't big listener favourites in the way Radio 1 probably hoped at the time. Whereas even back then the likes of Sam & Danni and James seemed the stronger, more over-even choices but ended up still having to do quite a bit cover duty before getting their own shows.
I would add Emil in the latter group but IIRC he was still pretty new to Radio 1 around that time.
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I guess it's one of those where Radio 1 in a way can't win - we complain when say Going Home seems to let anyone and everyone cover but then when Matt & Mollie's cover is pretty predictable (Jerry or Lauren if one of M&M is away and Sam & Danni if both are away) we wonder about other potential pairings.
But do agree I remember enjoying James & Mollie when they did those shows together a few years back and it's a shame we haven't heard it since. And Emil seems to pair well with anybody so would be intrigued to hear what a Emil & Mollie show might sound like.
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Tallying it up even if we're being generous and assuming he's in next Tuesday Jamie will only have done 3 days during May on Going Home. And I don't think Vick's stats will be much better either.
Sums up Going Home quite nicely that the programme description lists Vick, Katie and Jamie, Matt thought it was Sam & Danni presenting today and actually it was Vick & Emil.
- FlashinHorsham and Capes
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6 hours ago, GeekTalk51 said:
Would also add that contrary to the views of a lot of people on these forums I think if Vick and Jamie went Jerry is far more likely than Emil- he fits the Radio 1 brand, younger talent etc much more.
I agree - if one of Vick or Jamie goes then Jerry might be next taxi off the rank.
Though my view is if Radio 1 can't find room for a presenter as strong as Emil anywhere whether on weekday or weekends, then that's more telling about Radio 1 than Emil.
Sometimes it can feel like Radio 1 in modern days need dragged kicking and screaming to the right decision. For example, Jordan eventually got Drive but only after he nearly left the station the year before because of lack of work and we had years of his regular show only being 1 day a week (while we had 2 days of the far inferior Maya Jama).
And similarly for quite a few years, we thought Matt & Mollie might never reach weekdays despite their show being so much stronger than their weekday counterparts Dean & Vicky.
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On 4/29/2026 at 11:21 PM, Bluestraw said:
Why do they still work there? Becasue they are popular. They're still on a phased return after maternity / paternity leave. As for moving Katie to weekends, clearly she doesn't deserve that. I suspect audience research is vastly different from what you wrote there...
Though Jamie's been on 2 days/week maximum basically since September - many months before the baby was due (and that was after getting 6 weeks off over the summer too).
I'll be honest I'm not holding my breath that Jamie and Vick's attendance will suddenly improve. It's not like Katie doesn't have a child of her own but her attendance even immediately post maternity return was far more consistent.
Also I often see the idea posted on here and DS that Jamie must rate highly in audience research but I've never actually seen anything evidencing it. Is it just a case of assuming because he's on Drive he must be popular?
And it was noticable that once Matt & Mollie moved to weekdays, their listenership was above Going Home.
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And it must be gutting for him as a role like R2 Breakfast sounds like it's been his dream. But as I say we don't know the reasons yet behind his sacking and the BBC surely wouldn't lightly sack the R2 Breakfast presenter.
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It'll be so weird to not hear Scott on the radio - he was such a huge part of my R1 listening and I absolutely adored the afternoon show he did with Chris. But yep the BBC have acted so swiftly and the details are so vague you do worry about the seriousness of the reason behind it.
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This is the sort of week really does highlight how incredible the likes of Katie and Matt & Mol are at connecting with listeners.
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The line-up particularly on the Saturday does leave something to be desired. Budget cuts hitting potentially. Maybe it's an unfair comparison (given it was basically London) but I went to the Sunday of the Hackney Big Weekend and honestly that line-up is in another league when on the supporting stages alone you had Taio Cruz, David Guetta and Lana Del Ray.
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Also goodness knows how I recall this this but am pretty sure way back when that Greg & Danny once did a New Years Eve show together.
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Quite funny given how popular Matt & Mollie are these days but I seem to remember back when Radio 1 had both duos that Dev & Alice seemed to be the more popular pairing on here and the jury was still a little out on M&M.
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Yep Dev & Alice did something like 6 weeks on Drive between Greg finishing and Grimmy starting and that felt like it was their opportunity to impress and maybe get a weekday slot at some point in future. Sadly at that stage they hadn't hit their stride yet.
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I don't think Zara Larsson is headline level - but then she's one of those artists like say JADE, Self Esteem or Wet Leg where if you just listened to Radio 1 you'd think they're far bigger than they actually are.
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Do agree that Danny is always good value when you hear him as part of daytime shows - especially with Greg.
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Danny Howard covering Greg on Drive is a proper WHOOOO
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I'm sort of in the position where I'm interested to see what comes next. Realistically in 2-3 years I can't see mid-mornings, Going Home and Breakfast all being the exact same line-ups as they are now. So it'll be interesting to see what happens and who ends up where. And these days you never know quite what to expect with Radio 1 changes and whether they'll go 'proper DJ' or 'influencer/celeb' route or a mix of both.
Echo what you've said on 'Who's In The Box'. It takes up 4 half-hour slots a week so a fair chunk of time given Going Home is only 9 hours a week and doesn't feel a natural fit as a flagpole feature for the Drivetime show on a youth-focussed station like Radio 1. It more feels like a placeholder feature that they’ve never got to replacing really. The games that say Matt & Mollie do feel much more engaging for example.
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19 hours ago, callspy said:
Emil has posted a story on Instagram saying good luck to the returning team next week. Vick, Jamie and Katie are all tagged. So all three likely back together on Monday. Vick also been back filming Country File today.
That's correct. Vick according to the schedule is Mondays only for now and Jamie is Monday-Tuesday with the schedule both saying he's in and on not in on Wednesdays.
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Greg & Katie are obviously excellent at it too as are Matt & Mollie - change the music and their style would work equally well on say Radio 2. Emil & James Cusack are two newer DJs who are really good at it too and who you can imagine being similar off-air as on-air.
Radio 1 announces schedule changes
in BBC Radio 1
Posted
Though I can see Vick still needing the odd day or so off for Countryfile filming even if she does go back to "full-time" so there will still be cover opportunities on Going Home.