Show Diary - 12 January 2026: Scott Mills returns with Robbie Williams

[onlyME]

Ken Bruce has stirred things up again with his comments about Radio 2’s direction. In a recent interview he warned the BBC against trying to make the station “cool”, saying there should always be a clear divide between Radio 1 and Radio 2. In his view, Radio 2 is a “state of mind”, not just a playlist, and people over 35 are generally comfortable being “uncool”. His blunt line was: “Radio 2 thinking it’s cool is the worst thing we can do.”

At the same time, there’s no ignoring the drop in listeners since he left – 8.1m down to 6.6m for the mid-morning show. Bruce says he’s aware of the fall, and admits some listeners followed him to Greatest Hits Radio, where his own audience has apparently doubled.

But the BBC is adamant everything’s fine. They’re still calling Radio 2 the UK’s most-listened-to station, and point out that Vernon Kay’s show is still attracting 6.6m people a week. They’re clearly trying to adapt the station, refresh it, and keep it relevant. And to be fair, times do change. Audiences shift, music moves on, and younger Gen X listeners don’t necessarily want the same tone or sound that older listeners did ten years ago.

So is Ken right that Radio 2 should stop chasing “cool” and stick to what made it work for decades?

Or, is he simply holding onto an era that’s gone, while Radio 2 genuinely needs to evolve to stay alive?

[GeekTalk51]

The stations have always evolved; Radio 2 has gone through tremendous upheavals over the years.  I really struggle to hear it as “cool”; it’s still to me (a person in my early 20s) pretty jarring to listen to in terms of style, even though I love presenters like Scott.  It’s gone younger quite clearly, but it’s always done that and if it never did all its listeners would die.  I think in terms of listenership drop that’s probably an unavoidable trend for big national networks; Radio 1 also in long term decline, it’s a fragmenting landscape where 8 million audiences for a single show are probably a thing of the past.  But working to remain relevant to the young end of your target (Radio 2 starts targeting at 35, remember, so not too old) probably stands you in better stead medium term even if it does cause a big drop short term.

[Jono]

On the opposite end of the scale it feels like a struggle trying to get people my age on board, given we are out of Radio 1's target audience. I'm not sure anyone is defining it as "cool" nor do I think it's trying to be. And I don't mean that in a rude way! 

[AndyK77]

I mostly listen to Capital but can tune around after Breakfast.

Sometimes I end up on Radio 2 and as a 48 year old who still likes newer music, I can still find Radio 2 a bit "old" for me.  No disrespect to Ken but he is of an age where everybody seems younger than him...

I haven't listened to so much of Radio 1 since Jordan left (Dance Party Starters being one of the few shows I regularly listen to and sometimes Going Home when no Jamie) but I actually find it a bit of a tough listen when working.  The fact nearly every show has 2 or 3 presenters makes them all sound very similar when sometimes I just want music with links and a lot of the content sounds the same.

[GrimsbyGal]

Greatest Hits won't be cool that's for sure. Same songs every day. 

[DC]

The problem is. Ken is in the frame of mind still that playing something from say 2001, is still music for kids and too new for Radio 2. The thing is, that year for example is almost 25 years ago. Time has moved on. Even 2011 now isn't Radio 1's job anymore. I was 13 in 2001 and I'll be 38 next year. I'm middle aged now and I'm well into Radio 2's demographic. But at the same time I don't want to hear Scott or Sara playing lots of Dr Hook and Cliff Richard, which is what Radio 2 would of been playing 25 years ago. It's too old for me, and I'll turn off.

 

Radio 2 when picking brand new music have always gone for the "overall" type artists anyway. For example you could hear Rag n Bone mon and Sabrina Carpenter on both Radio 1 and 2. But Dave's new track will only be a Radio 1 song.

[NathanS]

I think everyone has hit the nail on the head. I get Ken was probably asked the question in the hope they'd get a negative BBC headline.. but he chose to move on. Radio 2 has changed a lot in the past few years, but I think the changes made were the right ones. Radio 2 has to evolve. If some people had it their way, there would still be a lot of Big Band and easy listening type shows, and 60's/70's on daytime shows (it's not as if they don't still play anything from these decades in the day)

When I read people saying it's like Radio 1 from 20 years ago.. the only comparison is some of the presenters. The actual content and to be fair most of the music is nothing alike. Yeah, they play some tracks now that R1 played at the time but R2 didn't, but a lot of those songs are 20 or more years old, so it's no surprise Radio 2 are playing them now.

[NathanS]

As for listening figures, it's no surprise with there being a million and one stations for every decade and every mood, that people are tuning in elsewhere. Of course some followed Ken, but I imagine a good chunk of Vernon's 6.6 million listeners aren't new, and plenty stuck with R2 when Ken left. Considering the vast amount of choice, that is still a very respectable figure.

[DC]

10 hours ago, NathanS said:

When I read people saying it's like Radio 1 from 20 years ago.. the only comparison is some of the presenters. The actual content and to be fair most of the music is nothing alike. Yeah, they play some tracks now that R1 played at the time but R2 didn't, but a lot of those songs are 20 or more years old, so it's no surprise Radio 2 are playing them now.

Annoys me when I hear people say that, I've heard it before. It's not Radio 1's area anymore to sound like 20 years before, it's Radio 2's now. Their argument is invalid as 20 years ago in 2005 Steve Wright was on afternoons on Radio 2, and 20 years before that he was on Radio 1 in 1985.

[AndyK77]

36 minutes ago, DC said:

Annoys me when I hear people say that, I've heard it before. It's not Radio 1's area anymore to sound like 20 years before, it's Radio 2's now. Their argument is invalid as 20 years ago in 2005 Steve Wright was on afternoons on Radio 2, and 20 years before that he was on Radio 1 in 1985.

All very true and it is more nuanced than hard numbers.

Back when Radio 1 "banned" pre 90s music in the mid-90s it was for very good reason.  The sound had changed so much the 80s tunes jarred.  Music has changed slower in the past 30 ish years than probably any point in popular culture.  (Though if you watch the old editions of Top of The Pops from 1998, you can see how many tunes that even made Number 1 would never get played on radio now).

Radio stations have a huge challenge in evolving to match target demographics.

The truth is Radio 2 is probably walking a tightrope and given how respectable their figures are in view of the competitive landscape must be getting it largely right.  (Even if it's generally not for me).

[DC]

(Weirdly double posted from earlier when I refreshed my phone)

[Jono]

Sounds of the 90s would be on much earlier in the night if they were really serious about younger audiences, and they'd have a 00s show! 

[wbroom12]

I switched to 2 fully when Scott started Breakfast but had dabbled with Sara and Vernon for while as the music on 1 was becoming terrible and 2 offers a wider range

I've found recently the playlists between the 2 are getting closer and there's a lot of stuff on 2 now that should only be on 1.         I do wonder where the cutoff from artists is as Robbie Williams would almost be exclusive to 2 now but had a live lounge recently 

Certain artists like Lewis Capaldi, Adele, Coldplay work for both stations but other musicians don't mix too well