[Stooky Bill]

With the exception of Jeremy Vine, now it’s practically Radio 1 from 20 years ago… Jeremy sticks out like a sore thumb.

I feel like Ken’s departure is the biggest loss to the station since Wogan. It really is struggling to hold itself together these days. It’s the weakest it’s been for years. All their star talent going over the last few years. Ken, Paul O’Grady, Simon Mayo, Chris Evans,
Graham Norton and though she grates on me normally, Vanessa Feltz was brilliant at the early breakfast. Steve Wright’s exit was long overdue though, it’s just a shame to see Radio 2 being torn to pieces. 

But look at 20 years ago and a lot of the DJs were from the Radio 1 of 10-20 years beforehand - Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Janice Long, and then a few years later Mark Radcliffe, Simon Mayo, Chris Evans. 

It's a natural progression, but not one that has always been in place. When Radio 1 went through it's big change in the early 90's one issue they had was that there was no where for the older listeners or the DJs to go to - Radio 2 was a very different station back then - easy listening and gentle speech for a much older demographic. The changes made to Radio 2 in the 2000s made it a much more modern listen and made it's brought it's minimum age demographic to pick up at 35, directly above Radio 1's. But that was at the expense of the old guard of Radio 2, it is forgotten now but Steve Wright's arrival at the station wasn't greeted entirely positively, not least by the person he replaced - Ed Stewart

Also remember just because a lot of the DJs are from Radio 1, it doesn't mean the programme formats and music are. It's Radio 2 with Radio 1 DJs, not a direct lift of Radio 1 of the past.

[Alessi]

I prefer them over the BBC TBH, there's far too much waffle on BBC radio. You tend to get more music on commercial stations, even with the adverts. Whenever I have to listen to Radio 1 or 2 I often just want the DJs to shut up and play some music, some of them can talk total crap for England (Steve Wright was terrible for it! I remember despising him even in his Radio 1 breakfast show days for his inability to shut up). I know some people like all the talk, but I can't stand it.

Yeah, if I wanted much more music then I don't bother with radio I'd listen to Spotify. Hence I struggle to understand the commercial appeal

[VMPhil]

With the exception of Jeremy Vine, now it’s practically Radio 1 from 20 years ago… Jeremy sticks out like a sore thumb.

I feel like Ken’s departure is the biggest loss to the station since Wogan. It really is struggling to hold itself together these days. It’s the weakest it’s been for years. All their star talent going over the last few years. Ken, Paul O’Grady, Simon Mayo, Chris Evans,
Graham Norton and though she grates on me normally, Vanessa Feltz was brilliant at the early breakfast. Steve Wright’s exit was long overdue though, it’s just a shame to see Radio 2 being torn to pieces. 

But look at 20 years ago and a lot of the DJs were from the Radio 1 of 10-20 years beforehand - Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Janice Long, and then a few years later Mark Radcliffe, Simon Mayo, Chris Evans. 

It's a natural progression, but not one that has always been in place. When Radio 1 went through it's big change in the early 90's one issue they had was that there was no where for the older listeners or the DJs to go to - Radio 2 was a very different station back then - easy listening and gentle speech for a much older demographic.

Yes I was recently reading "The Nation's Favourite" and interestingly DLT did know he was too old for Radio 1 and had approached Frances Line, who was then controller of Radio 2, to take his programme there but she declined. Which partly contributed to a frustrated DLT quitting on air.

[James2001]

I prefer them over the BBC TBH, there's far too much waffle on BBC radio. You tend to get more music on commercial stations, even with the adverts. Whenever I have to listen to Radio 1 or 2 I often just want the DJs to shut up and play some music, some of them can talk total crap for England (Steve Wright was terrible for it! I remember despising him even in his Radio 1 breakfast show days for his inability to shut up). I know some people like all the talk, but I can't stand it.

Yeah, if I wanted much more music then I don't bother with radio I'd listen to Spotify. Hence I struggle to understand the commercial appeal

But it's a lot easier to just put the radio on and sit back rather then mess around setting up spotify playlists. Streaming music while driving would eat away my data allowance anyway. It's good to have a DJ too rather than just back to back music- just not ones that talk too much- enough to feel like a friendly presence but not enough for yout to think "just get on with it and play some music".

[DavidWhitfield]

In mixed Ten To The Top news...

Having heard some of it this morning, I note that they appear to have curtailed the usage of the 'five second countdown' sound effect which used to be played after the asking of each question. I'd say this is a welcome development; it was rather distracting when you were trying to rack your brain for an answer or continue humming along to the clip you've just heard in your head in a last-ditch bid to recall the name of the song's title or artist.

The format / points system remains unchanged, however, leading, so far this week, to scores of 3/65 and 5/65 being winning scores. If that isn't an indication that there might be some issues with the scoring system, I don't know what is.

[Brekkie]

Yes. At least with Popmaster the first question would usually be easy enough to guarantee you three points and although I always found it too niche and too old for me to score highly I'd still manage double figures most days.

[DavidWhitfield]

Yes - that first question usually eased you into things. Generally three points right off the bat. Have scored fewer than three points in a whole round of TTTT over the few games I've played along with.

On that topic, I feel like the questions in TTTT have been so much trickier/more niche than Popmaster on the whole. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't great at Popmaster, but I'm really terrible at this!

[Gary Baldy]

But look at 20 years ago and a lot of the DJs were from the Radio 1 of 10-20 years beforehand - Steve Wright, Johnnie Walker, Janice Long, and then a few years later Mark Radcliffe, Simon Mayo, Chris Evans. 

It's a natural progression, but not one that has always been in place. When Radio 1 went through it's big change in the early 90's one issue they had was that there was no where for the older listeners or the DJs to go to - Radio 2 was a very different station back then - easy listening and gentle speech for a much older demographic.

Yes I was recently reading "The Nation's Favourite" and interestingly DLT did know he was too old for Radio 1 and had approached Frances Line, who was then controller of Radio 2, to take his programme there but she declined. Which partly contributed to a frustrated DLT quitting on air.

I get it but look at Scott Mills- he was seen as too old for Radio 1 for about 8 years before he ended up making the transition to R2.

[chris]

Yes - that first question usually eased you into things. Generally three points right off the bat. Have scored fewer than three points in a whole round of TTTT over the few games I've played along with.

On that topic, I feel like the questions in TTTT have been so much trickier/more niche than Popmaster on the whole. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't great at Popmaster, but I'm really terrible at this!

Totally agree. If the questions got gradually harder than perhaps the scoring system would work, Millionaire-style.

[DavidWhitfield]

Ken was on Lorraine this morning where he confirmed (for the first time that I've seen) that Popmaster will be retaining its familiar 10:30am timeslot over on GHR.

Makes sense; playing along with Popmaster at 10:30am is part of many people's routine so it would seem silly to mess with it.

Really looking forward to Monday morning, I must say!