What's your favourite wireless station?

[PeteXXX]

Talk TV's The Unexpected, hosted by Howard Hughes has been demoted tonight to Talk Radio. With the TV broadcast being taken up by a repeat of one of this morning's programs.

Howard Hughes!!? So that's what happened to him!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Now there's guest on waffling about F/A. This looks/sounds like just another 'easy listening' boring show.

Well that was what I expected. Naff music, boring guests and the odd lighthearted phone call. Mind you, I'm seeing the Alan Beswick phone in loss through rose tinted glasses. He stopped doing it five nights a week a few years ago, with a boring music, boring guests etc show on five nights a week instead. Plus he seemed to be losing his touch, when he'd contradict himself, lose arguments with callers, with him throwing a strop and cutting them off, getting facts and dates wrong and even bragging about trapping and shooting grey squirrels in his garden with an air rifle, which led to many callers phoning to say they'd never listen to him again. He also said about dogs that the only good dog is a working dog such as a police dog, or one on a plate as the main course in the far east, again leading to many calling in to show their new found dislike of him. He wanted to shock folk to generate the number of callers, but took the shock bit way too far.

 

[Drago]

I used to listen to BBC 3CR a lot about 20 years ago when it was an all-talk format. The comedic Ern and Vern show on a Saturday was the highlight of my week. Some of their shows and clips are still on poop tube.

Despite being a Sony award winning station and with great listening figures they changed it back to a more conventional music playing station and I stopped listening after that. No, of course, there is very little genuine local programming, maybe 6 or 8 hours on a weekday, with the rest being regional as the stations link up to save cash, although the Beeb always finds enough cash to pay the likes of 70s DJs and Wuthell Bwand.

 

[srw]

There's more than one radio station? I know there used to be, but these days everything I want from Radio 4 is on podcast.

It's wall to wall Radio 3 - it's made me quite lazy about listening to CDs.

 

[Mike_P]

Despite being a Sony award winning station and with great listening figures they changed it back to a more conventional music playing station

Winning awards seems not to count in the minds of those in charge of radio stations. At the beginning of 2020 the Audio and Radio Industry Awards gave in the Local Radio Award, obviously dominated annually by BBC stations, the silver medal to Stray FM (Harrogate and the Dales). By Autumn that year it had become a relay of Greatest Hits Radio.

 

[gbb]

Almost exclusively Planet Rock. It used to be R2 but it got boring listening to the same people....for decades, the same catchphrases, the same old format.
Used to like R4 at specific times for their discussions on certain subjects.

 

[Accy cyclist]

It seems the BBC have had a purge of their over 60's and 70's local radio presenters. This is just the north west presenters I've linked. I presume all local BBC radio stations had 'oldie' presenters for their late night programs and were also fired. Where will they end up if they don't want to retire? Hospital radio is probably all they can hope for.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ws/bbc-radio-manchester-legend-allan-27869848

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co....nd-john-gillmore-leaves-bbc-radio-lancashire/

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/bbc-radio-merseyside-legend-says-27862587

 

[Mike_P]

There's an emerging number of local DAB licences where some ex BBC presenters have already found shows. Most invariably have other jobs as a few hours on the radio is not going to pay the way. Some closed commercial stations have reformed on DAB; for example former Yorkshire Coast Radio presenters on This is the Coast and former Stray FM presenters on Your Harrogate.

 

[AndyRM]