19-02-2024, 10:17 PM
I’m in two minds about this. Clearly it happened very quickly and the BBC were forced into a corner about how to tackle the issue, both letting Jordan leave and appoint a successor, and they’ve had to make big decisions fairly quickly. It’s a pretty unique situation that a presenter who is about to hit the peak of their career (unlike Bruce who may have felt he’d be pushed out in the near future had he remained on Radio 2) departs for commercial, and therefore there’s not really a point of comparison in these terms.
If things had happened slower, and capital hadn’t announced that Kemp was leaving this week, then maybe Jordan could’ve done an announcement on air and then departed a few shows later. It could’ve been done over a week if necessary, him announcing he’s going on the Monday and then having his last show on the Thursday. Equally we don’t know what’s been going on behind the scenes. Some seem to suspect foul play from North’s management and these discussions have been going on for a long time. From my point of view, Jordan has become slightly more critical of the BBC on his show recently, and it may have been telling when Dean McCullough was chosen to cover breakfast over him in January. So it’s very possible the exit hasn’t been amicable, especially as it’s mid-contract, and the relationship is broken between Jordan and the BBC, so they’ve let him go immediately.
Either we’re looking at this from the point of view that Radio 1 have nurtured Jordan, given him plenty of air time and especially in the last few years placed him at the centre of their advertising (as seen through his presence in the events they do) and he’s now walked out mid contract for their direct rivals. On the other hand, he did an awful lot for the station, covering random shows even after he took on the weekday slot, and doing things like Christmas Day breakfast.
It’s equally naive from the BBC to think that people aren’t going to follow Jordan or find out about his next move because he’s not getting a goodbye show. (Seemingly) not letting any of the DJs even reference him was particularly petty as well and is again indicative of a breakdown of relations between management and (former) employee, so I’m leaning to the side that they should’ve let him have a goodbye show. He should’ve been gone by the time he was announced as Capital breakfast host, though.
If things had happened slower, and capital hadn’t announced that Kemp was leaving this week, then maybe Jordan could’ve done an announcement on air and then departed a few shows later. It could’ve been done over a week if necessary, him announcing he’s going on the Monday and then having his last show on the Thursday. Equally we don’t know what’s been going on behind the scenes. Some seem to suspect foul play from North’s management and these discussions have been going on for a long time. From my point of view, Jordan has become slightly more critical of the BBC on his show recently, and it may have been telling when Dean McCullough was chosen to cover breakfast over him in January. So it’s very possible the exit hasn’t been amicable, especially as it’s mid-contract, and the relationship is broken between Jordan and the BBC, so they’ve let him go immediately.
Either we’re looking at this from the point of view that Radio 1 have nurtured Jordan, given him plenty of air time and especially in the last few years placed him at the centre of their advertising (as seen through his presence in the events they do) and he’s now walked out mid contract for their direct rivals. On the other hand, he did an awful lot for the station, covering random shows even after he took on the weekday slot, and doing things like Christmas Day breakfast.
It’s equally naive from the BBC to think that people aren’t going to follow Jordan or find out about his next move because he’s not getting a goodbye show. (Seemingly) not letting any of the DJs even reference him was particularly petty as well and is again indicative of a breakdown of relations between management and (former) employee, so I’m leaning to the side that they should’ve let him have a goodbye show. He should’ve been gone by the time he was announced as Capital breakfast host, though.