BBC Radio 1 hires YouTube sensations as part of massive station shake-up

British YouTube vloggers Dan and Phil have been signed by the BBC to host their own Sunday night Radio 1 show as part of a clearing of the decks by the UK's top radio station. Long standing radio presenters Vernon Kay and Reggie Yates will be leaving their shows - and Radio 1 entirely - to be replaced by Matt Edmondson and Jameela Jamil respectively.

However, it is the Beeb's decision to hire two new young presenters who have become YouTube sensations with their exclusively online weekly video shows, under the AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire channels. Phil regularly gets over 300,000 viewers for his 5 to 10 minute episodes, while Dan's efforts garner between 500,000 and 1 million viewers a week.

The two will combine to form a new radio partnership to present the Radio 1 Request show, which will also be streamed "fully visualised" on the Radio 1 website from 7 - 9pm every Sunday.

"We are extremely excited to start this new show," said Dan and Phil.

"We think it's really changing the idea of a request show and bringing it into the internet generation. It's going to be an explosive two hours of great music, lols and interactive content that's completely visualised on the Radio 1 website and we want it to stand out as one of the highlights of the week!" It's a bold move by the BBC to come out of its comfort zone. It also recently replaced Radio 1 breakfast stalwart Chris Moyles with the more edgy Nick Grimshaw.

Both Phil and Dan appear on the latest episode of AmazingPhil

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