BBC revamps drivetime show as fans sound off
RADIO 2’s drivetime show with Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley is to be revamped, the station controller has conceded, in response to a barrage of complaints about the new format.
Thousands of fans have signed a petition asking the BBC to restore the old programme, which Mr Mayo hosted alone. He had built up a loyal audience of nearly six million listeners, many of whom were perplexed by the decision to replace the show with something new.
Lewis Carnie, the Radio 2 controller, said there would be significant changes. “In six months’ time it will be a very different show,” he said, adding Whiley and Mayo needed time to “bed in”.
“People are happy to make a very quick judgment on it, but no show ends up where it starts. So making a judgment on its first broadcast is not where the show will be in six months.” However, asked if he would reinstate the old format, Carnie replied with a flat “no”.
Radio 2 had not featured a woman hosting a primetime weekday show for 20 years, putting it bottom of the list of BBC stations in terms of gender balance.
But Carnie said Ms Whiley’s appointment had nothing to do with her being a woman. “No, I was not being politically correct at all,” he told Radio 4’s Feedback programme. That wasn’t the reason we changed this programme. We wanted to refresh the slot.”
Carnie likened the complaints to the outcry when Chris Evans replaced Sir Terry Wogan as host of the breakfast show. “The result of that change was we put on 1½ million listeners,” he said.
Mr Mayo has said publicly that ending his old show had been “difficult and upsetting” because it involved breaking up his team.
Fans have complained that there is little chemistry between Mr Mayo and Ms Whiley. One said: “In their infinite wisdom, the powers that be decided to mess with success for the sake of what appears to be political correctness.”