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The LBC Thread - Printable Version

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RE: The LBC Thread - leewilliams - 01-05-2024

(01-05-2024, 06:32 PM)Isonstine Wrote:  Same! I get that news talk provides solid, credible content and Global have certainly increased LBC's standing in recent years by doubling down on the format. But I do miss the more light hearted nature of the station's past.

Problem was the light-hearted format brought in by David Lloyd was a commercial failure and at that time - in the mid-2000s - the station had an audience in the mid-hundreds of thousands; it’s now closer to 3 million (appreciate there wasn’t nationwide DAB coverage 20 years ago but there’s been a significant long-term uptick) because of the laser focus on newstalk. It’s also hard to get right - as less successful formats like talkRADIO and Times Radio show - and Global deserve credit for creating a brand that’s popular and breaks its own news thanks to the access it gets to senior politicians and other big public figures.

RE: The LBC Thread - London Lite - 01-05-2024

The last remaining element of the David Lloyd era is James O'Brien's Mystery Hour.

Steve Allen's early breakfast also continued well into the Global era where he took no calls and the format was him bitching about celebs, talking about what he did in Twickenham and reading texts from listeners.

However David Lloyd was forward thinking by introducing a paywall catch-up service for those who couldn't listen to the shows live, but the decision to axe newstalk for 20 hours a day of pub ammo chatter reflected in their Rajar of the time.

RE: The LBC Thread - Radio_man - 01-05-2024

Nick Abbot often reflects on his show that he has the best RAJAR figures in that slot on Friday & Saturday nights and if he wasn't on air, "no one would be listening". Which you can believe, as who wants serious news talk at that time on Fridays & Saturdays? On the very rare occasion he's not doing his weekend shows, I don't listen.

RE: The LBC Thread - Luc - 02-05-2024

(01-05-2024, 07:38 PM)GlasgowCruiser Wrote:  I find the departure of Sangita Myska to be a bit of a storm in a teacup really. If they wanted Vanessa Feltz over her and were able to get her, of course they were going to do that. Feltz is a far bigger name, Myska was arguably lucky to get the gig being much more low-profile on The BBC than others they've poached. And let's not forget that presenters have been let go unceremoniously for years on LBC - Farage, Maajid, Steve Allen, Andrew Castle, possibly a few others as well. I think Myska's fans have lost sight of both that and the fact that LBC is privately owned, so they really have no obligation to keep a presenter if they don't want to - they're not publicly funded like The BBC.

Think it's a little unkind to say she was 'lucky' given the likes of Ben Kentish, Tom Swarbrick, Ali Miraj etc aren't particularly big names themselves (Feltz hasn't actually replaced her in her timeslot either). I imagine the reason for the huge social media reaction was probably a combination of her popularity (no-one really cared when Castle and Allen disappeared and Farage and Nawaz were essentially sacked for off-air behaviour and statements), the silence from both parties creating an inevitable vacuum and a few people putting two and two together from the Israeli spokesman interview.

Also LBC may be a commercial operation but it's accountable to its listeners for its performance and radio presenters as always enjoy a pretty unique bond with their audience. It never goes unnoticed how completely undiverse its line-up is either.

RE: The LBC Thread - Stooky Bill - 02-05-2024

(01-05-2024, 08:54 PM)London Lite Wrote:  The last remaining element of the David Lloyd era is James O'Brien's Mystery Hour.

Steve Allen's early breakfast also continued well into the Global era where he took no calls and the format was him bitching about celebs, talking about what he did in Twickenham and reading texts from listeners.

However David Lloyd was forward thinking by introducing a paywall catch-up service for those who couldn't listen to the shows live, but the decision to axe newstalk for 20 hours a day of pub ammo chatter reflected in their Rajar of the time.
Mystery Hour partly survived because of days like today when there's elections on. The rest of the 'hours' were gradually ditched.

The problem with having a format that's part entertainment, part news, part phone in is that it's very difficult to sell to advertisers. It's difficult to sell the station to a certain audience because they don't know what that audience will be. Also they don't really understand it as it's a BBC thing and they never have to sell ads there.

Mixed format radio has disappeared in general, the days of having pop music programmes and specialist music and speech on a radio station is long gone.


That said I've often wondered how well a purely entertaining radio station would do. One with no music, no news, no topical chat, just presenters doing live free form phone ins, zoo format discussions, guests etc. Think of Iain Lee, Danny Baker and Virgin era Nick Abbot, and presenters like Frank Skinner. Would be an absolute compliance nightmare, but fun to listen to. Though I imagine podcasts are filling that audience

RE: The LBC Thread - Steve in Pudsey - 02-05-2024

Mystery Hour was invented to fill a gap on a day like today!

RE: The LBC Thread - Stooky Bill - 02-05-2024

(02-05-2024, 10:38 AM)Steve in Pudsey Wrote:  Mystery Hour was invented to fill a gap on a day like today!
Originally the 12 o clock hour was a different 'hour' each day. I can't remember what the others were (and last time he mentioned this neither could James), I think Friday was some sort of free for all phone in.

Mystery Hour was the Thursday one and stayed there because of elections

RE: The LBC Thread - leewilliams - 02-05-2024

(02-05-2024, 12:43 AM)Luc Wrote:  Also LBC may be a commercial operation but it's accountable to its listeners for its performance and radio presenters as always enjoy a pretty unique bond with their audience.

Again, this view is fundamentally flawed - and James O’Brien neatly explained why shortly before midday today:

Quote:CALLER: I think there should be no censorship (dump button used to remove on-air reference to Sangita Myska):

O’BRIEN: Unfortunately like every other presenter on LBC I stand and fall by my listening hours, by my ratings, and when my contract comes up for renewal, the first thing that management will look at is my listening figures and you’ve just listened to two hours of very, very robust criticism of Israel. Nobody has ever lost their job on this radio station for their coverage of the Israeli-Gaza conflict, no matter how much stuff you’ve read on the Internet. That is categorically the case, so Internet conspiracy theories are almost impossible to get ahead of but I just want you to rest assured that my job is safe until my listening figures come down regardless of how I cover this issue. And speaking of silence, there’s only one person that’s silent in this conversation - and it’s not you and it’s not me. I completely respect any former colleague’s right to say nothing about the situation in which they find themselves even as all sorts of nonsense and lies move into the public space and cause enormous upset and difficulties for the people who are being accused of all manner of things from the top of this company down. None of the things you’re reading on the Internet have happened.

CALLER: That’s great, I think that should be clarified from the top…

O’BRIEN: Doesn’t need to be, because we all know what’s happened, we’re respecting the silence of a former colleague who’s chosen not to set the record straight.

This is on Myska now - if she wants to challenge the narrative and explain why *she* thinks her contract wasn’t renewed, then she should do so. Instead, she’s liked a couple of tweets in the last 24 hours claiming the talk around falling audience figures is a smokescreen (when as the Deadline article linked earlier in this thread shows, management’s concern was about her hours, not the headline reach figure) and allowed some of her ex-colleagues to take huge amounts of online abuse, which they’re understandably now no longer willing to put up with:

https://x.com/tomswarbrick1/status/1785988647432458650?s=46&t=OuG-53CJRHzzDVEPmDXGSg 

There was clearly an audience for Myska’s show but in terms of presentation skills and working round the basic on-air furniture, people like Vanessa Feltz are simply better at it (remember Sangita was a correspondent by trade, not a presenter, and it showed in her on-air performance). I can obviously understand her disappointment in not having her contract renewed, but she’d have been far better writing a gracious social media post thanking LBC for the opportunity and listeners for their support. Now, she looks like she’s stringing out the silence to win sympathy from the online army that have rowed in behind her - to the detriment of other Global staff who’re being abused unnecessarily - and that is not only irresponsible but would make me, as a senior manager in a media business, strongly doubt whether she’s a suitable employee for future ventures.

RE: The LBC Thread - radio listener - 02-05-2024

Maybe she’s signed a non disclosure?

RE: The LBC Thread - lhx1985 - 02-05-2024

Crucially, you omit the part where James said there was no censorship, just as the dump button was hit. No way round that, it's bad look.

I'm quite flabbergasted as to why you would think that it's the wronged party's job to save the station and its big stars from the incoming flak.

Worth pointing out that neither Andrew Castle or Steve Allen, both recently defenestrated, have said a word about their abrupt ouster either - would speculate that that is most likely contractual.

Presumably, as her two year contract most likely expires in September, she is merely doing as she's told.