Scott Mills and doesn't seem to be going anywhere
Since the pandemic, the afternoon show seems to have a new lease of life.
People have essentially been asking questions about the departure date of Scott Mills since 2013. You can read interviews speculating about his departure from 2015; and radio forums have been expecting he'll go " any day now" essentially every few months from 2017 onwards. In short: speculating about the departure of Scott Mills from radio one is essentially a meme now; predicting it is the folly, and it will probably happen when we all least expect it, and in a way we can't anticipate. However, now is as good a time as any to check in on the state of the Scott Mills show, how fresh its sounding, and the status of Scott and Chris on the station.
Back to around 2019, there was a real feel that the show was running low on ideas in my view; I was of the view at the time that the show was winding down and would be replaced within the year, with Scott potentially moving to radio two. The hand of course been rumours about Scott moving to heart, and there was a general sense that the show was probably calling time, not in the sense of Scott being removed, more in the sense of him choosing to move on. This didn't happen. The pandemic clearly helped with this, throwing Scott into anchoring a 4 hour extended show, being the most experienced voice on-air keeping people entertained during a global pandemic, and covering for breakfast and drive time periodically because of the emergency schedules - all with Chris isolated at home, and Scott being the only one in the studio.
And I think post pandemic, the Scott Mills show feels like it's had a new lease of life: if there were any plans to leave, this would probably be the year we hear about it, because the pandemic is over and whatever their plans were, they would be implementable now: but I really wouldn't bet on it. The features sound fresh again, and a new lease of life has been given to the show. So whether or not Scot wants to move on anytime soon, the show sounds as in touch and on target as it ever has, so to my mind there is no requirement for him to move on yet. I suspect Scott wants to remain on daily radio, rather than being on weekends and sporadically covering for lots of different shows on radios one and two in the way Sara Cox did for a long time before getting a daily radio two shift. The reports at the time when he was considering the alleged offer from heart, whether it he was holding out for a better deal from the BBC: I would hope this better deal, if it exists, includes Scots staying on a daily radio one show until he can get a daily radio two show: he may yet again by Sara Cox route, but I suspect the reason he's staying on afternoons is he's waiting for a daily radio two slot in the coming years. If anyone could make that jump smoothly, it would be Scott Mills.
Seemingly by Joel Corry's Instagram, another staple of the Scott Mills show may be returning: innuendo bingo! Quite blatantly, Joel appears to be doing promo with Scott and Chris, and there is very explicitly an innuendo bingo banner behind them. Presumably we won't hear about this for a little while, considering Scott is solo this week, and Dean and Katie are on next week. Far from the mark of a show winding down, this is a show gearing up with one of its flagship features returning: the only issue is it looks like it's not possibly being done it in the normal radio one studio, and clearly not live - innuendo bingo was at its best when it was live and in the studio, the last era of innuendo bingo was flatter, because it was essentially done for iPlayer - but I will reserve judgment for whenever we hear about this, and look forward to the return of a very funny piece of radio.
Finally, on to radio one relax day. I saw a lot of people complaining about this, and I do agree that it can get a little dull; but actually it was quite enjoyable listen while driving around, and preferable by far to the wall to wall dance music we are often subjected to a a bank holiday. The main story of the day to me was Jess Iszatt: definitely one to watch, a really unique chilled out and laid back style of presentation; in my view not getting enough exposure as the anchor of radio one relax, hopefully we see her graduate to a full time slot on the main station sometime soon. In my opinion she is much more authentic and natural than Sian Eleri; hopefully we see her get more opportunities to cover the Jack Saunders or even Clara, instead of Sian. Whether she'll end up daytime or specialist is anyone's guess, she's shown herself able to do either - and even though she's clearly a bit green, and needs her presentation polishing up a bit and developing with time as all new DJs do, she could be a very exciting prospect for the future on radio one.
Check out this blog tomorrow, for how Vick and Jordan are sounding on the road, the interesting schedules for next week, and discussion about why on earth the live lounge is no longer live.
