How are things sounding this week?

We have two surprisingly strong offerings this week in place of Jordan North, Scott Mills and Chris Stark.

This week is turning out to be a pretty good listen; in went the usual DJ isn't available the most important thing is to not let standards slip too much, without naming any names we all know in the past you've had deps who simply weren't up to match with the show they were covering for, but one of the big strengths of Radio 1 right now is that their B team of broadcasters is strong enough in its own right that most of the deps sound more than up to the job. One of the blessings of having a stronger line up right across your station! Of course the main priority when programming a station is obviously the highest profile slots; that's when you have most people listening and you need something stronger there or the effect on your figures overall is catastrophic. But it's also critical to have good talent on those much lower profile slots, as opposed to simply sticking on something much lower quality because you can get away with it: for these exact reasons.

This week I believe, is probably one of the first weeks of the year where you have more than one of the main daytime DJs not available, and over the next few weeks it seems various presenters are either busy or have booked leave, so we're sort of getting the first very different schedules of 2022 compared to the usual lineup. I think the critical question is how Dean and Katie had been sounding: this is a duo the station are clearly interested in putting forward and seeing how they perform under pressure and higher profile slots - both Dean and Katie would top the list of potential future weekday DJs, so hearing them cover for Scott Mills this week, it's much less pipedream and much more potential look at the future.

I think straight off the bat the very important thing I've noticed so far is that as part of the duo Dean has become more subdued, less hyperactive, more conversational; to me this is a much warmer listen, I'm enjoying what I've heard of Dean so far this week much more than I usually enjoy his weekend show, and you see the potential in him to really develop and become a much bigger player at Radio 1 a few years down the line. Likewise Katie always sounds better with someone to bounce off; it allows her to bring out her personality in a much clearer way, and instead of trying to build a rapport with just the listener (some do it well, not her strength) it allows her to engage in a conversation with the co-host and invite the listener aim to be part of that discussion - that being said, she is sounding much better solo than she used to. The critical flaw with this particular pairing is Katie sometimes sounds much less comfortable than when she's co-hosting with the likes of Jordan, almost exasperated at Dean, maybe not the best fit. Too soon to tell of course.

I think when the time comes to fill a weekday vacancy on Radio 1 a pairing of Dean and Katie will be a serious consideration, particularly if it continues to sound how it's sounding at the moment. You got two strong, creative broadcasters, a perfectly listenable replacement for Scott and Chris while they're off, and two up and comers on the station.

Now, on to Arielle's debut on post-Grimmy drive time. She's popped up during the pandemic when Grimmy was ill/had to isolate last minute, but in most cases you never had a real feel for how she would sound on the slot because it was all rushed and last minute. Actually during her time on Radio 1 Arielle has been very underused when it comes to cover; she's done plenty at the weekends prior to getting early breakfast, but you barely hear from her on weekday daytimes: hopefully that changes, but the a daily show she has is almost a curse as much as a blessing because it means she won't get exposure on higher profile slots unless the likes of Katie aren't available, since the station won’t want to disrupt a weekday show needlessly (I think one of the reasons Scott doesn't cover breakfast as much anymore).

Arielle paired pretty well with Vick; there was some really funny stuff, just nice, chilled conversational radio. She didn't sound out of her depth in the slightest, quite the opposite. As I say, criminally underused on Radio 1 - I think she'd be much better placed with a weekend slot and regular cover for a weekday slot rather than a graveyard slot where no one hears her. Although recently that it feels unlikely she'll move up the pecking order next, considering the people ahead of her in a hypothetical list of B team presents is ready to move up to the A team, but what you discount the possibility there one way or another she ends up on the weekday line-up in some capacity (excluding earlies from that) or at least a higher profile weekend slot in the years to come.

Tomorrow: should Radio 1 do more competitions? PLUS: are Matt and Mollie really the best option for Breakfast cover?