Fred Hart said at September 7th, 2009 at 6:31pm

Some very good points there; especially the one that Evans isn’t a direct replacement for Wogan. Evans has a different fan base to Wogan so Radio 2’s morning listeners will be very different when the change actually happens! But the ratings will still be high!

I wonder how many Wogan listeners will listen once Evans takes over??? ;)

Tramp508 said at September 7th, 2009 at 7:08pm

I for one won’t be listening to That Prat Chris Evans. I have never heard such an egotistical motormouth in my life. When will he shut his gob and let the music play. I don’t want to listen to someone prattling on about himself and his mates in the studio. It will be just like Radio 1’s Chris Moyles he’s a prat too. I personally think that Radio 2 has lost it’s way and it is about time they changed their format. Lose the Friday night is music night and the religious programmes and put them on one of the other millions of channels that Auntie Beeb has and make Radio 2 the middle of the road station. Radio 1 the babies and teenyboppers station (oops sorry it already is). Radio 3 the station that plays classical and other stuff like big bands etc. Radio 4 leave as is. Radio 5 ok, sport. Radio 6, 7 and any others make the religious ones.
I’m an old school radio man, the music should speak. Not the DJs. That said Wogan had a certain charm and I found him quite funny whilst driving about the country. I certainly won’t be listening to Evans. I’d rather eat rat poision.

Drew said at September 7th, 2009 at 7:25pm

When Radio 1 updated its line-up in the ’90s Radio 2 wasn’t ready to welcome their listeners. Now Radio 2 is “refreshing” its output which BBC station can the TOGs turn to?

It does seem likely the BBC will, once again, fail to cater to those who don’t like Chris Evans and were perfectly happy with their hugely popular station just as it was.

Sure I understand you can’t just pluck another Wogan act out of the air and there would be criticism for trying to do so but, on a personal note, I do wonder what my dad is supposed to listen to now?

He is about Wogan’s age yet the BBC with their enviable range of national stations are currently offering his generation the choice of classical (but at times heavy and not the “popular classics”) or speech (several flavours – but neither with good old MOR tunes interspersed).

In short, where is the BBC’s ABC1 “easy listening” choice for those long-serving licence payers?

It made me wonder – can 6 Music be justified when Radio 2 is, to my ears, increasingly overlapping in style and demographic and when Radio 2 has no satellite station focussed on the older demo?

Dad was all up for buying a DAB radio, but what can he get from the Beeb? After I told him the choices I guess he may go off the idea before even setting off to look for a DAB car radio.

The big question is: Just because Wogan is going, is everyone his age supposed to retire from listening to radio 2? *

(*sorry… “Radio too” – couldn’t resist!)

Richard said at September 7th, 2009 at 7:49pm

OK, so discounting the break Wogan has been on Radio 2 for as long as I’ve been alive – which is quite some feat. He’s part of the furniture. So lots of Dads will find themselves lost in the morning but who’s to say that Evans can’t retain some of them. I’m sure the Daily Mail section of the audience will dismiss Evans out of hand but he is older than Wogan was when he started and is it really them Radio 2 want to pull in? If they did they’d put Ken Bruce and defer the problem for a few years.
I totally agree that this is Tarrant leaving Capital writ large and if stations like Smooth are smart they’ll be running ‘don’t like ginger? campaigns in the run-up to Christmas.

Briantist said at September 7th, 2009 at 8:11pm

I almost lol’ed at the ginger picture. And it’s his production company name.

Nice to see that quanlification for the Radio 2 breakfast show is failing to turn up for, and being sacked from the Radio 1 breakfast show.

Re (8). How crap is it that Spotify is ad supported on a PC or Mac, but you have to pay to use in on Android (and that iPhone thing). Total 100% FAIL. As you say, they have already got £40 a month for my rental (and T-Mobile won’t let me use my allowance for EU calls without a £250 cash deposit).

BTW, I think “These are my personal views and not those of the BBC” at the bottom of the page may now be a little superfluous.

joanek said at September 7th, 2009 at 11:51pm

When I was a research director at a radio station in the States eons ago, we used to find that it took listeners an amazing amount of time to actually make the switch when a favorite left. Many kept their radios preset for up to 18 months before finally giving up and finding a new home. Do listeners in the UK stick with the brand? Or the announcer? (Not rhetorical…I really don’t know and am curious)

Mike Nolan said at September 8th, 2009 at 12:41am

Radio 2 might well be positioning themselves for Chris Moyles’ likely departure next year. When he goes, his older listeners – of which there are a lot, much more than the target demographic would suggest – are going to be looking for an alternative to whichever upstart they put in his place.

Most wouldn’t switch to R2 for Ken Dot Bruce or Johnnie Walker but Chris Evans has a chance of picking up a few of them.

Of course, if they had any sense, R2 would snap up Chris Moyles, but how likely is that…

James Cridland said at September 8th, 2009 at 9:25am

@Briantist: good spot. I have changed the disclaimer and disclosure statement. Good.

Hello Miffy said at September 8th, 2009 at 9:07pm

I think Mike Nolan is closest on the money – when Moyles leaves Radio 1, the listening figures will plummet, particualrly if they replace him with a token foetus such as Nick Grimshaw and R2 stands to gain more listeners then than they do from the loss of the Wogan faithful.

In my opinion Wogan’s disgruntled listeners are most likely to switch to Classic FM, probably the least challenging station out there. If they want bland, dull and repetitive music, they’ll listen to Heart. If they want a classic Cocteau Twins session every half hour, they’ll tune to 6Music.

If somebody like Magic had a national FM slot, they’d have the potential to make an absolute killing, but the ridiculous obsession with DAB rather than FM means that nobody will be in the right place to capitalise.

beardedian said at September 9th, 2009 at 9:36am

I have found it hard to find a breakfast show that I like. The inane bable that Moyles and his crew comes out with isn’t to my taste, and although Radio 2 is supposed to be aimed at my age range (I’m 41) I don’t like smug Wogan. My drive to work in the morning tends to be accompanied by the Today programme, which can get me annoyed – not the best preparation

Looking forward to see if the Ginger one can transform the breakfast show in much the same way that he did drivetime.

Now if only the super-scripted Steve Wright show could be sorted out…

You’re gettin’ hit with the (blah blah) radio « James Stodd – Radio Producer said at September 9th, 2009 at 9:44am

[...] and possibly later in the day. Many people, such as Matt Deegan, Adam Bowie, Nik Goodman and James Cridland have written in detail about what these changes may mean and the opportunities and/or threats they [...]

James Cridland said at September 9th, 2009 at 9:58am

Hello Miffy says: “If somebody like Magic had a national FM slot, they’d have the potential to make an absolute killing, but the ridiculous obsession with DAB rather than FM means that nobody will be in the right place to capitalise.”

Just to point out the bleeding obvious: there are no further national FM slots, and the ‘ridiculous obsession with DAB’ is actually the only way for Magic to be a national station. And they could be there tomorrow if they wanted. DAB’s hardly perfect, but at least it’s possible, unlike additional FM services.

Drew said at September 9th, 2009 at 12:08pm

Any idea where Terry’s “live weekend show” will sit?

That’s possibly the oddest part of all this since weekends have been increasingly associated with more experimental (and often recorded) radio.

With his fanbase of letter writers & timeless observations I’d argue this is one of the shows that doesn’t need to be live.

So if Tel is up for going in once per week here’s what I would do: Have the same team sit round an do the links for 5 hourly shows to play out in the early evenings (maybe 7-8pm). That would probably take about the same time to do as a live show.

It would keep Tel on the weekday schedule.. well.. if they want him there and maybe that’s the issue!

This comment was originally posted on James Stodd – Radio Producer