Scheduling Shake Up At BBC Radio 2
A scheduling shake up at BBC Radio 2 will see Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie present a nightly prime time slot in April, according to reports on MediaGuardian.co.uk.
The report suggests that the programming shuffle will see specialist shows pushed to the margins of the station’s schedule, which also sees the legendary Steve Lamacq with a new weekly show from the middle of next month.
Lamacq’s programme will occupy the 11.30pm slot on Wednesdays, with the DJ continuing to work for Radio 1 and 6Music.
Once the changes are put in to place, Radcliffe, who currently presents a nightly 90-minute show at 10.30pm, will get an extra half an hour of airtime when Maconie partners him between 8pm and 10pm from Monday to Thursday.
Radcliffe and Maconie will be broadcast live from Manchester and play a role in Radio 2’s coverage of occasional live events such as the Cambridge Folk Festival and the BBC Jazz Awards.
The prime time status means Paul Jones’s rhythm and blues show and Mike Harding’s folk show move forward an hour to 7pm on Mondays and Wednesdays respectively.
Specialist shows such as Big Band Special on Mondays and Nigel Ogden: The Organist Entertains on Tuesdays are being moved back to 10pm.
Also relegated to the 10pm slot are reggae and alternative 60s shows, which will appear on Wednesdays, and rock’n’roll programming on Thursdays.
The station’s “ad hoc” music documentaries will now be heard later in the evening, at 10.30pm on Tuesdays and at 11pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Nick Barraclough is to present a series of specials on country music in place of his hourly Wednesday night country show, which comes to the end of its run on April 11.
Sounds of the 70s, presented by Cockney Rebel singer Steve Harley, is being moved from 10pm on Tuesdays to a graveyard midnight slot on Thursdays.
The start of Janice Long’s nightly show is being moved back from midnight to 12.30am. Desmond Carrington’s Tuesday show, Music Goes Round, and the Bob Harris country music show on Thursdays will remain in their 7pm slots.
The report states that Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas decided to shake up the schedule after veteran bandleader Humphrey Lyttelton announced he would present fewer Best Of Jazz programmes.
Lyttelton will return to the airwaves in July when he takes over the 10.30pm slot on Monday nights from Jools Holland. The pair will alternate every three months.
The latest Q4 2006 RAJAR results revealed that BBC Radio 2 once again recording the highest weekly reach of any station, with well over 13 million listeners. This rose 0.13% year on year. However, its share of listening slid 0.20% and the average hours per listener fell 1.56% year on year (see BBC Stations Continue To Perform Well).
Last month the station named Jeff Smith, director of UK and international programming at Napster, as Radio 2’s new head of music.
He is set to take over from Colin Martin on March 26, following the announcement of Martin’s retirement in December 2006. (see Radio 2 Names New Head Of Music).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk