The not so stable daytime line-up

What may at first glance look to be a long term line-up for weekday daytimes may in fact last little more than 2–3 years.

Radio 1 has been through a constant slate of sometimes contradictory changes over the last few years, essentially since January of 2018, and at long last the schedule seems to be firing on all cylinders. And just sure as Radio 1 goes through periods of upheaval and regeneration, it goes through periods of successful stability followed by eventual stagnation (starting up the cycle of upheaval all over again). At first glance, it appears we are now heading into one of those eras of stability. The weekday lineup hasn’t looked so consistently good in years, maybe even since the days of Mills and Moyles, and weekends have solid B team players too.

You have Greg James hitting the target just right on Breakfast at the moment, putting together something that sounds exactly how you’d want a Radio 1 Breakfast Show to sound in 2022.. after a slump during the pandemic he seems to have come back with renewed vigour and in my view he’s never sounded better since the peak of his stint on drivetime. Rickie, Melvin and Charlie have combined elements of a more personality based show than their predecessor in the slot with a high energy jolt of long sweeps of music into a pretty compelling wallpaper offering. Scott Mills maintains his unrivalled reputation of consistently being the best in the business when it comes to daytime youth radio. And Vick and Jordan have the perfect combination of off script chaos and well honed ideas that makes them ideal for drivetime, and with no limits to how far they progress on Radio 1.

So why isn’t this line-up, in my view, going to be one of those that enjoys long term stability? There are a few key faults it makes a minute or two to realise. First weak link is that the two workday shows have expiry dates: there’s no reason for Scott to leave because he remains as in touch with the audience as he always was, but he’ll want to make the jump to Radio 2 eventually. Rickie, Melvin and Charlie could stick on this slot for a good handful of years, but Rickie and Melvin are both getting long in the tooth (not an issue since they’re still on target) which means as a trio there is a ceiling and they likely won’t go any further on weekday daytimes, and also means eventually they’re going to want to reinvent their act. This makes it very likely within 3–5 years both these shows will have moved (Mills and Stark to weekends?), changed (Charlie going solo?) or be gone (Scott to R2, RMC elsewhere within the BBC).

But the more immediate issue for long term continuity is right there in front of us. Greg James will have done 4 years on Breakfast come September, and I can’t see him doing the same again. He will likely decide to move sometime in the next 2–3 years maximum: he’s not the kind of act you’d imagine wanting to hang on forever, and has always talked like he sees Radio 1 as something he will eventually move on from, rather than staying with for a long, long time (ala Scott Mills). Once he’s had enough on Breakfast (and that job really takes a strain, as Grimshaw and Moyles will attest) I could see him seeking other opportunities. Maybe he’d stick around for a few years outside Breakfast like Grimshaw did (maybe Scott’s slot, or RMC’s slot) or even go to the weekends, but either way, Greg likely won’t be the Radio 1 Breakfast host in 3 years time.

So why does this create such an issue? Because for the first time in a long time, there is a clear Breakfast-in-waiting, in the form of Vick and Jordan, or some other pairing involving Jordan North (Jordan and Katie Thistleton being one). That means when Greg leaves Breakfast, we will probably see drive change at the same time different Breakfast and drive shows within the next 3 years isn’t a mark of stability. So when you think about it, simply by nature of how long various people have been on, and who is being likely lined up for what gig next, this current daytime line-up (let’s call it the September 2021 schedule) is nowhere near as rock solid as you’d imagine based upon the quality of the programmes themselves, which is top notch and better than Radio 1 has sounded for a good few years.

There are a number of reasons this prediction could turn out to be wrongheaded. Greg could stay on Breakfast much longer than anyone thinks, breaking records in the process. Scott might stay where he is for another five years. In these scenarios you could see this schedule stay the same for another five years, maybe even more. But I think that everything we’ve covered points to another period of upheaval on the horizon in the next 2–3 years. Coming out of that, I think you’d see the schedule as it would be for the following 5 or more years on Radio 1, with Vick and Jordan on Breakfast, a new drivetime show in place, new look daytimes, and fresh faces on the weekends. That would then probably be the last big change by Aled Haydn Jones as Head of Radio 1 with a period of stability until someone else takes up the mantel when it becomes stale and safe.

BBC Radio 1 right now sounds phenomenal day to day. Weekends look strong, no major weak likes (see Maya Jama), and new talent is being generated that can move up the ranks (Dean, Katie, James Cusack, Jeremiah Asiamah). And as someone that listens through the day to Radio 1 during the week, the daytime shows all slot together in a coherent and seamless listen; different notes and tones for each show, different character and feel,, but all very much part of the same engine, all moving in one direction. And all shows anchored by strong personalities and based upon interaction with listeners, not just showbiz glamour or entertainment news (though these things are done, and done very well, too). This schedule may later not be remembered as a long or stable period of Radio 1 history, but it could certainly be thought of as a golden period.