With Norton defecting, Radio 2 must up its game
The station needs to get out its cheque book while also cherishingng its existing talent, says Ben Lawrenceence
Changes are afoot at Radio 2 and one thing is clear – they have a battle on their hands. The news, announced yesterday, that Graham Norton (one of the station’s most bankable names) is heading to rival station Virgin is a significant “gloves are off ” moment. Norton is following in the footsteps of Chris Evans who made the same defection at the end of 2018 and the BBC channel, arguably, has never recovered with Zoe Ball, Evans’s successor as the Breakfast Show host, seeing a significant dent in listenership figures.
So what can be done? There was a rumour circulating last week that Norton was leaving his Saturday lunchtime slot because he was upset that there were plans afoot to play more music and cut the chat, which is, of course, Norton’s raison d’être. While this now seems unlikely – Virgin Radio is known to be very generous with its chequebook, plus there is the fact that Evans publically wooed Norton to join the station on his show earlier this year – the rumour does chime with something described by the corporation’s pop controller, Lorna Clarke, when advertising for controllers for Radio 1, Radio 2, 1Xtra, 6 Music and Asian Network earlier this year. “As team players, they will help me shape the next era of pop from the BBC,” Clarke said in an internal memo, thus suggesting that she wanted Radio 2 to move away from its present offering, which is a combination of mainstream stream music, slightly more niche genres and, yes, lots of chat – a balance which I believe eve it currently achieves very ery well.
The inference is that hat Radio 2 would be more like an n older version of Radio 1. That is a dangerous angerous idea because it would ignore ore one of the station’s principal functions nctions – to build a community of listeners, ers, to make them feel as if they are part t of a club where they can have dialogues ues about the school run or the weather ather or the bank holiday trip to Ikea. Think of how successful Terry Wogan, gan, with his assorted collection of f Togs (Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals), was as at his height. This sense of belonging ing cannot be summarily dismissed. sed.
Thus, with Norton n going, Radio 2 must look towards wards cherishing its current nt roster of presenters and also o become a bit shark-like in reaching ching out beyond Broadcasting sting House. They must preserve reserve
Ken Bruce and Liza Tarbuck (both of whom I know, w, from letters to The Telegraph, ph, are well liked) and look to o moving the underperforming g Zoe Ball to a different slot. As her replacement, Claudia a Winkleman (an unusual ual mix of smarts and warmth) would be ideal though it seems s unlikely she would want to take it t on. As far as replacing Norton goes, there is a lot of love for Rylan an Clark-neal who has already mastered the art of the celebrity interview. Yet, he is also a polarising figure, seen as a little bit ITV2 by some. A more sensible choice would be Scott Mills who is currently on Radio 5 Live which seems less like a natural territory for him than Radio 2 would be. But if the station really wanted to go for the big guns, they should poach Frank Skinner who on Absolute has mastered the art of intelligent populism to a tee.
Amid all of this comes a less high profile but no less significant change at the station. On Sunday night, the excellent Clare Teal announced she would be leaving her Sunday-night slot in January after 11 years. This show, packed with great big band numbers and works from the American Songbook, is a balm for those of us daunted by the prospect of the working week ahead. Teal’s announcement was low-key but speaking to The Telegraph yesterday, she revealed that the show had been axed. Its running length had already been cut in half and
management were not happy with how Sunday nights were performing in general.
It’s worth noting that Sunday night mark marked the end of Bill Kenwright Kenwright’s Golden Years in which the impres impresario played tracks from the Fifties and Sixties – perfect listening fo for a certain Radio 2 demograph demographic and capped by a very emotional farewell from Kenwright.
You can understand Radio 2 being anxious about ab numbers, but that is only part of o its duty. The channel has always cha championed music that isn’t 100 per cen cent commercial and by letting go o of Teal, they will have upset a lot of listeners like me who can’t find a anything comparable on other statio stations.
At all co costs, it must preserve those other DJS whose w music sits slightly outside the mainstream. I am thinking o of The Craig Charles House Party and Elaine E Paige on Sunday which brin brings a sprinkle of glitter to West End W Wendies everywhere. The music is vi vital to these shows, but so is the banter. Can you imagine a world without EP EP’S regular shout-outs to amateur dr dramatics companies up and down the l land? Break a leg, Harlow Players, as you approach opening night of yo your expressionist musical version of The Good Companions.
The new new(ish) head of Radio 2, Helen Tho Thomas, is clearly making big changes. O One always sees departures announced at the end of the year and new signin signings announced in January, but I can’t help feeling that she needs to harness an ill wind, to realise that there is so much that is great about the station already and that only cosmetic tw tweaks are needed. Otherwise she risks alienating listeners, p particularly those from older gene generations for whom the station is a beacon. An insider told me that on one executive actually believed ol older listeners could just move to Ra Radio 3, which is, of course, an entirely different proposition. I love both – but I realise there aren’t many peop people in the market for both Messiaen and a Miles Davis.