Steve Wright to leave Radio 2 Afternoon.

[dosxuk]

I was too young to hear him on Radio 1 and Radio 2

He last presented a show on Radio 2 on Sunday just gone, so that makes you very young indeed!

 

[satisnek]

As I said upthread, I was never a fan of his style (I don't like 'zoo' radio) but can appreciate that Steve was a genuine original talent from the tail-end of what many of us consider to be a 'golden age', so this news is just as sad and shocking to me as anyone else. And the last bastion of the South London accent which 40-odd years ago was so commonplace it went unnoticed (OK, so I grew up in the Capital Radio coverage area...).

It's fascinating to see his first appearance on Top Of The Pops. With his chinstrap beard and body movements, it was achingly obvious that he so desperately wanted to be the new Kenny Everett. He would subsequently go on to be a much-loved broadcaster for four-and-a-half decades, not as a new Kenny Everett but as himself. There's a moral in there somewhere.

 

[jon81uk]

He last presented a show on Radio 2 on Sunday just gone, so that makes you very young indeed!

I’m sure you knew what I meant, that generationally I didn’t listen to the main shows and “grow up” with him. The Sunday love songs show was seperate to the in the afternoon show in a sense. But overall I’ve listened to significantly more Scott Mills than Steve Wright.

 

[dk1]

But overall I’ve listened to significantly more Scott Mills than Steve Wright.

I’ll never get over or understand R2 replacing Steve with Scott. Reducing the length of the slot by 1hr just reinforces my opinion.

 

[warwickshire]

I’ll never get over or understand R2 replacing Steve with Scott. Reducing the length of the slot by 1hr just reinforces my opinion.

Same here, that was a mistake, afternoon shows are not the same, there is a article in Daily Mail on line, that in the next two weeks that Steve Wright and the Dj who Steve Wright only just replaced, on Saturdays in October 2023 on pick of the pops. Would have been called in for a meeting to do a new retro show on BBC radio two, with the pair of them together doing a major relaunch for the Radio.
Apparently Steve Wright did mention to his managers about being unwell. However this wasn't expected. Apparently listeners have severely dwindled and Radio two has lost many listeners and more are leaving. Plus complaints about how it has declined since his afternoon departure. Apparently within the next few months Steve Wright and the ex Saturday pick of the pops Dj will have returned together to do a Weekday afternoon classic retro afternoon programme to get those listeners back.

 

[lachlan]

I’ll never get over or understand R2 replacing Steve with Scott. Reducing the length of the slot by 1hr just reinforces my opinion.

I for one really like Scott and if Steve had to go he was the best replacement. Scott on 1 and Steve on 2 were my favourites

 

[mike57]

I’ll never get over or understand R2 replacing Steve with Scott. Reducing the length of the slot by 1hr just reinforces my opinion.

There has been a lot of discussion about the direction that Radio 2 has taken over the last few years. You grow up with a group of presenters, and if like me you listen to a lot of radio they follow you through life. Steve Wright was a good example, I was 24 when he first appeared on Radio 1. Radio 1 then 'moved' its older presenters over to Radio 2, and of course the listeners followed. But then Radio 2 'retired' a lot of the older presenters, and brought the next generation of presenters in.

GHR have picked up a lot of these Radio 2 cast offs, Ken Bruce probably being the biggest name. GHR playlist is quite limited, but as daytime 'listen while I work' it suits me, and of course everything stops for Popmaster, I would like a bit more variation, but the current R2 playlists and presenters are not to my taste and they have lost me after maybe 30 years of listening

Scott Mills will no doubt go through the same issues in maybe 15 or 20 years time.

I think the main difference between the BBC and commercial radio is that if the BBC get it wrong, beyond a bad press there is no other fallout, they dont have to make a profit. A commercial station will however fail, or as in the case of Bauer Media (GHR parent company) they saw an opportunity and took it.

 

[dk1]

I for one really like Scott and if Steve had to go he was the best replacement. Scott on 1 and Steve on 2 were my favourites

I would’ve put Vernon on the afternoon show & Gary Davies at 09:30.

 

[jon81uk]

There has been a lot of discussion about the direction that Radio 2 has taken over the last few years. You grow up with a group of presenters, and if like me you listen to a lot of radio they follow you through life. Steve Wright was a good example, I was 24 when he first appeared on Radio 1. Radio 1 then 'moved' its older presenters over to Radio 2, and of course the listeners followed. But then Radio 2 'retired' a lot of the older presenters, and brought the next generation of presenters in.

GHR have picked up a lot of these Radio 2 cast offs, Ken Bruce probably being the biggest name. GHR playlist is quite limited, but as daytime 'listen while I work' it suits me, and of course everything stops for Popmaster, I would like a bit more variation, but the current R2 playlists and presenters are not to my taste and they have lost me after maybe 30 years of listening

Scott Mills will no doubt go through the same issues in maybe 15 or 20 years time.

The issue is that the BBC don't have a radio channel for those who are too old for the current Radio 2. Its only in the last ten years or so that its become an issue, those who had Radio 1 in the 70s, moved to Radio 2 in the 90s/00s and now its another 20 years on and the BBC don't have a station to move that audience to. Those who had Radio 1 in the 90s are currently being moved to Radio 2. Hence many of that audience having to move to Greatest Hits Radio because the BBC doesn't have a station for them.

 

[ChrisC]

The issue is that the BBC don't have a radio channel for those who are too old for the current Radio 2. Its only in the last ten years or so that its become an issue, those who had Radio 1 in the 70s, moved to Radio 2 in the 90s/00s and now its another 20 years on and the BBC don't have a station to move that audience to. Those who had Radio 1 in the 90s are currently being moved to Radio 2. Hence many of that audience having to move to Greatest Hits Radio because the BBC doesn't have a station for them.

That’s why over the last couple of years I have found myself listening more and more to Boom Radio. It certainly has a much wider playlist than GHR. I started listening to Boom following reading this posting almost 2 years ago.

For anyone who thinks Radio 2 is skewing too young, it may be worth trying Boom Radio. It's on DAB as well across a lot of the UK.

 

[mike57]

Hence many of that audience having to move to Greatest Hits Radio because the BBC doesn't have a station for them.

Maybe its for the best that commercial radio fills this gap, yes the ads can get annoying, but GHR and others are not going to break a format which is working commercially for them just to appease 'political' masters, which is what I suspect has happened at the BBC with the older presenters.

Even if the BBC decided to create a Radio 2++ could they then get the presenters back that they have lost. Companies such as Bauer Media will not willingly reliquinish the audience they have gained.

 

[jon81uk]

Maybe its for the best that commercial radio fills this gap, yes the ads can get annoying, but GHR and others are not going to break a format which is working commercially for them just to appease 'political' masters, which is what I suspect has happened at the BBC with the older presenters.

I don't think it has anything to do with the "political masters" it is solely due to the radio 1 audience getting older and moving to radio 2 and many presenters (Scott Mills, Sara Cox etc) moving from radio 1 to radio 2. Its always been stated than radio 1 is for a younger audience.

 

[nw1]

There has been a lot of discussion about the direction that Radio 2 has taken over the last few years. You grow up with a group of presenters, and if like me you listen to a lot of radio they follow you through life. Steve Wright was a good example, I was 24 when he first appeared on Radio 1. Radio 1 then 'moved' its older presenters over to Radio 2, and of course the listeners followed. But then Radio 2 'retired' a lot of the older presenters, and brought the next generation of presenters in.

GHR have picked up a lot of these Radio 2 cast offs, Ken Bruce probably being the biggest name. GHR playlist is quite limited, but as daytime 'listen while I work' it suits me, and of course everything stops for Popmaster, I would like a bit more variation, but the current R2 playlists and presenters are not to my taste and they have lost me after maybe 30 years of listening

Scott Mills will no doubt go through the same issues in maybe 15 or 20 years time.

I think the main difference between the BBC and commercial radio is that if the BBC get it wrong, beyond a bad press there is no other fallout, they dont have to make a profit. A commercial station will however fail, or as in the case of Bauer Media (GHR parent company) they saw an opportunity and took it.

I'm not quite at that stage yet with R2, there's still plenty to interest me (though I will admit I didn't "get" Steve Wright having to leave) but I can see in 10 years time or so, if current trends continue, I'll be probably too "old" for R2. And I'll still be a good few years off retirement!

I will say that the 10s was probably the "peak" decade for R2 in terms of my tastes though. Even though it's fairly good, I think it could be enhanced with slightly more in the way of older music and slightly less in the way of recent music, so that it focuses on (approximately) the latter third of the twentieth century.

 

[dosxuk]

so that it focuses on (approximately) the latter third of the twentieth century.

So from England winning the world cup and the moon landings up to new labour and the millennium bug?

I think it's easy to forget just how long ago the 70's were, even if their music is still played.

 

[trebor79]

I'm not quite at that stage yet with R2, there's still plenty to interest me (though I will admit I didn't "get" Steve Wright having to leave) but I can see in 10 years time or so, if current trends continue, I'll be probably too "old" for R2. And I'll still be a good few years off retirement!

I will say that the 10s was probably the "peak" decade for R2 in terms of my tastes though. Even though it's fairly good, I think it could be enhanced with slightly more in the way of older music and slightly less in the way of recent music, so that it focuses on (approximately) the latter third of the twentieth century.

Absolute Radio is your friend.

 

[nw1]

So from England winning the world cup and the moon landings up to new labour and the millennium bug?

Yes, there's no particular reason why radio should focus on an overly narrow era or musical genres.

That's basically what 2010s Radio 2 was: 60s to 90s. And, indeed, certain commercial radio nowadays. So nothing fundamentally odd about it.