What's your favourite specialist show at the moment?

[abertom]

How much ‘outside’ work should a daytime presenter realistically be able to take on.

i’m interested in thoughts as there many presenters who’s dream is to be on Radio 1 and that’s their goal and ambition. However there are others that are podcast mad or interested in corporate work and see Radio 1 to support that?

Personally  think daytime presenters should and need to be genuine radio people and the ones that see Radio 1 as extra should get weekend and or bank holiday specials or occasional cover?

appreciate these days presenters probably need to do at least something else to create content and get their  arm out there to non Radio 1 listeners? Over to you 

 

 

[GeekTalk51]

4 hours ago, abertom said:

How much ‘outside’ work should a daytime presenter realistically be able to take on.

i’m interested in thoughts as there many presenters who’s dream is to be on Radio 1 and that’s their goal and ambition. However there are others that are podcast mad or interested in corporate work and see Radio 1 to support that?

Personally  think daytime presenters should and need to be genuine radio people and the ones that see Radio 1 as extra should get weekend and or bank holiday specials or occasional cover?

appreciate these days presenters probably need to do at least something else to create content and get their  arm out there to non Radio 1 listeners? Over to you 

 

 

I think the only qualification a Radio 1 presenter of any level needs is A: can they do a good show and B: are they able to speak to the target audience in a way it finds compelling.  As a radio person I (as are most of you I assume) am biased towards “proper radio people”, but frankly in the modern media climate you’re going to get less and less of them and more and more young talent with a more diverse portfolio of interests.  It’s no different from when the likes of Chris Evans were on Radio 1 but most famous from television, just different platforms; as long as they aren’t crap it shouldn’t be an issue, and we all can think of examples where there have been some quality issues.  But fundamentally Radio 1’s job isn’t to reward purity it’s to get people that make good content wherever they’re from and what they do; they aren’t going to ban presenters from doing other stuff!

[Bluestraw]

51 minutes ago, GeekTalk51 said:

I think the only qualification a Radio 1 presenter of any level needs is A: can they do a good show and B: are they able to speak to the target audience in a way it finds compelling.  As a radio person I (as are most of you I assume) am biased towards “proper radio people”, but frankly in the modern media climate you’re going to get less and less of them and more and more young talent with a more diverse portfolio of interests.  It’s no different from when the likes of Chris Evans were on Radio 1 but most famous from television, just different platforms; as long as they aren’t crap it shouldn’t be an issue, and we all can think of examples where there have been some quality issues.  But fundamentally Radio 1’s job isn’t to reward purity it’s to get people that make good content wherever they’re from and what they do; they aren’t going to ban presenters from doing other stuff!

Agree 100% with this. I'd much rather hear a good show by someone who does Radio 1 as a 'side hobby' than an average show by a 'proper radio person'. Arguably this is a moot point, as there are very few examples of someone who's not particularly bothered having a main show, and when it happens (dare I mention Maya Jama) then they don't last long.

Sorry if I'm wrong here, but my hunch is that the OP is thinking about Jamie here, as I can't think of any other current examples...

[abertom]

Jamie, Vick to an extent and Clara towards the end of her time on Radio 1 I’d say are recent. Further back Maya and Fearne 

[Bluestraw]

1 hour ago, abertom said:

Jamie, Vick to an extent and Clara towards the end of her time on Radio 1 I’d say are recent. Further back Maya and Fearne 

Won't debate Jamie as that's been done to death... Vick is an interesting case as it's not so much 'outside interests' with her but rather other work within the BBC. I'd rather hear Vick on R1 than any of the people who cover for her, but it's hard to imagine her being on Going Home longterm with a baby and with her Countryfile job. I do wonder if her heart really remained in Radio after Jordan jumped ship, not that she gives anything less than her all when she's on air, just a hunch. 

Clara has recently opened up about some significant mental health issues towards the end of her time on R1 so not really fair to comment there, and I don't recall Fearne being particularly inconsistent in terms of presence but we do now know about her growing fear of live broadcasting so again if she was off air quite a lot that would explain it.

Maya - no doubt the biggest disaster in recent times in terms of a presenter with a permanent slot. Fortunately the word permanent was never applied to Danny Beard (apologies for mentioning that name, for those trying to forget ?).

[Helen.a12]

I think it’s unfair to call Maya a disaster! ? I used to love her show. Yes she dropped the odd clanger ? but she was fun and more enjoyable to listen to than some I could mention. 

[Bluestraw]

1 hour ago, Helen.a12 said:

I think it’s unfair to call Maya a disaster! ? I used to love her show. Yes she dropped the odd clanger ? but she was fun and more enjoyable to listen to than some I could mention. 

You are genuinely the first person on any forum I've seen say something good about her. Personally I thought she was a dreadful DJ - she was clearly not that interested in the station (never joined in any of the multi-presenter events), her shows were bland, she seemed to know very little and have no passion about the music she played, and she was technically very weak. The only positive I can say about her is that she was better than Danny Beard ?

[Darren m]

I think James cussack will be on weekdays the few years he’s like Jordan north good at hay ever show he covers 

[GeekTalk51]

9 hours ago, Bluestraw said:

You are genuinely the first person on any forum I've seen say something good about her. Personally I thought she was a dreadful DJ - she was clearly not that interested in the station (never joined in any of the multi-presenter events), her shows were bland, she seemed to know very little and have no passion about the music she played, and she was technically very weak. The only positive I can say about her is that she was better than Danny Beard ?

The involvement thing with the station is key - on paper Jamie Lang had all the problems Maya Jama had, but he’s involved himself in stations events and (despite no radio experience prior to my knowledge) has thrown himself into station events and sounded really keen to be there.

[coffeeandgin]

13 hours ago, Darren m said:

I think James cussack will be on weekdays the few years he’s like Jordan north good at hay ever show he covers 

I really enjoy James but can see him having a career similar to Dev where he's around for quite a while and gets to cover weekday a fair bit but doesn't get a weekday role of his own except maybe Early Breakfast (which is a fairly off-peak slot)

And that's not a bad thing - Dev was on Radio 1 for over a decade. 

[coffeeandgin]

Back to topic, I think what has shown time and time again over the years is that the listeners are able to spot from a mile off who genuinely loves radio and being on Radio 1 and those are the ones who connect best with listeners. The likes of Scott, Greg and Jordan for example connect with listeners in a way that most celeb hires over the year really haven't. 

That's not to say that you can't be a celeb hire and succeed or that not starting from student radio is the end of the world. Mollie King for example was probably able to get her foot in the door by being a celebrity but quickly got the radio bug and put in the time and effort to learn and improve and was prepared to do off peak slots for several years before ending up on weekdays. 

So it's not a set rule either way. But yep if you're not a radio person it's probably better to have a gradual rise and start from cover to a weekend/early slot rather than being too fast-tracked and being seen as the 'golden child' of TPTB. 

[Helen.a12]

On 8/30/2025 at 10:24 AM, Bluestraw said:

You are genuinely the first person on any forum I've seen say something good about her. Personally I thought she was a dreadful DJ - she was clearly not that interested in the station (never joined in any of the multi-presenter events), her shows were bland, she seemed to know very little and have no passion about the music she played, and she was technically very weak. The only positive I can say about her is that she was better than Danny Beard ?

Well each to their own I guess! I found her good fun, enjoyable to listen to and not remotely bland. Much better than a few of the current presenters and some the new ones are trying to push forward.