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

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).

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.

Radio 1 Anthems station will be completely Christmas Anthems from the 11th December at 12pm. They are starting slightly later this year as going back to last year's schedule, it was totally Christmas Anthems from 11am on the 3rd December. From the 26th December, it's Radio 1 Anthems by year starting at midnight with 2006 anthems. Given these slots are supposed to be for the new presenters, I think a key change will be these shows will be voice-tracked or pre-recorded rather than live.

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.

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.

I'm actually really liking the schedule after Christmas. Feels really fresh but also good to see a mix of new pairings, a few new cover presenters and familiar faces.