What's your favourite wireless station?

[PeteXXX]

Talk TV's The Unexpected, hosted by Howard Hughes has been demoted tonight to Talk Radio. With the TV broadcast being taken up by a repeat of one of this morning's programs.

Howard Hughes!!? So that's what happened to him!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Now there's guest on waffling about F/A. This looks/sounds like just another 'easy listening' boring show.

Well that was what I expected. Naff music, boring guests and the odd lighthearted phone call. Mind you, I'm seeing the Alan Beswick phone in loss through rose tinted glasses. He stopped doing it five nights a week a few years ago, with a boring music, boring guests etc show on five nights a week instead. Plus he seemed to be losing his touch, when he'd contradict himself, lose arguments with callers, with him throwing a strop and cutting them off, getting facts and dates wrong and even bragging about trapping and shooting grey squirrels in his garden with an air rifle, which led to many callers phoning to say they'd never listen to him again. He also said about dogs that the only good dog is a working dog such as a police dog, or one on a plate as the main course in the far east, again leading to many calling in to show their new found dislike of him. He wanted to shock folk to generate the number of callers, but took the shock bit way too far.

 

[Drago]

I used to listen to BBC 3CR a lot about 20 years ago when it was an all-talk format. The comedic Ern and Vern show on a Saturday was the highlight of my week. Some of their shows and clips are still on poop tube.

Despite being a Sony award winning station and with great listening figures they changed it back to a more conventional music playing station and I stopped listening after that. No, of course, there is very little genuine local programming, maybe 6 or 8 hours on a weekday, with the rest being regional as the stations link up to save cash, although the Beeb always finds enough cash to pay the likes of 70s DJs and Wuthell Bwand.

 

[srw]

There's more than one radio station? I know there used to be, but these days everything I want from Radio 4 is on podcast.

It's wall to wall Radio 3 - it's made me quite lazy about listening to CDs.

 

[Mike_P]

Despite being a Sony award winning station and with great listening figures they changed it back to a more conventional music playing station

Winning awards seems not to count in the minds of those in charge of radio stations. At the beginning of 2020 the Audio and Radio Industry Awards gave in the Local Radio Award, obviously dominated annually by BBC stations, the silver medal to Stray FM (Harrogate and the Dales). By Autumn that year it had become a relay of Greatest Hits Radio.

 

[gbb]

Almost exclusively Planet Rock. It used to be R2 but it got boring listening to the same people....for decades, the same catchphrases, the same old format.
Used to like R4 at specific times for their discussions on certain subjects.

 

[Accy cyclist]

It seems the BBC have had a purge of their over 60's and 70's local radio presenters. This is just the north west presenters I've linked. I presume all local BBC radio stations had 'oldie' presenters for their late night programs and were also fired. Where will they end up if they don't want to retire? Hospital radio is probably all they can hope for.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ws/bbc-radio-manchester-legend-allan-27869848

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co....nd-john-gillmore-leaves-bbc-radio-lancashire/

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/nostalgia/bbc-radio-merseyside-legend-says-27862587

 

[Mike_P]

There's an emerging number of local DAB licences where some ex BBC presenters have already found shows. Most invariably have other jobs as a few hours on the radio is not going to pay the way. Some closed commercial stations have reformed on DAB; for example former Yorkshire Coast Radio presenters on This is the Coast and former Stray FM presenters on Your Harrogate.

 

[AndyRM]

 

[Accy cyclist]

Damn, Talk TV/Radio is changing its weekend format AGAIN! All the weekend programs and their presenters are either being moved to midweek slots, or are having their contracts ended. Sadly and annoyingly they are replacing these programs with totally boring football and equally boring other sports shows, in the guise of "A fantastic weekend of Premier League Football, alongside other major sporting events", but in reality they are just joining up with Talk Sport radio every weekend! I don't mind some sport, but I don't want saturation levels of the stuff!! Many viewers/listeners to Talk TV have phoned it to vent their spleen about this what they see as cost cutting disguised as "A brand new exiting format for your weekend"!!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I've started listening to The Shark 98.7fm broadcast from Tampa Bay Florida. Play rock music but also have a chat show on in a morning, some of the stuff they talk about would get you locked up over here.

 

[AndyRM]

Talk is still going?! I thought it had died ages ago due to lack of interest.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Talk is still going?! I thought it had died ages ago due to lack of interest.

They keep changing the format to try and generate interest. You just know that when they announce 'exciting major changes' it's them shuffling things around, hoping they don't go under!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Sometimes I watch GB News. Heck! You can suffer five minutes of mind numbing show/program promotions, then ten minutes later it's another five minutes of mind numbing self promotion!!

 

[AndyRM]

They keep changing the format to try and generate interest. You just know that when they announce 'exciting major changes' it's them shuffling things around, hoping they don't go under!

As part of the Murdoch empire, it's unlikely that it will, although it did die in the format it was set up as earlier this year.