Advertisement

Radio 2 boss: Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley drivetime show to undergo changes after listener revolt

Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley now co-host the Radio 2 drivetime show - BBC
Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley now co-host the Radio 2 drivetime show - BBC

Radio 2’s Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley drivetime show will undergo significant changes over the next few months, the station’s controller has said in response to a barrage of complaints about the new format.

Thousands of fans have signed a petition asking the BBC to restore the old programme, which Mayo hosted alone.

Speaking to Radio 4’s Feedback programme, the station controller, Lewis Carnie, said: “In six months’ time it will be a very different show.”

But asked if he would reinstate the old format, Carnie replied: “No.”

Carnie said the show needs time to “bed in”.

“People are happy to make a very quick judgment on it, but no show ends up where it starts. So making a judgment on its first broadcast is not where the show will be in six months."

Whiley is the first woman to present a primetime weekday show on Radio 2 for 20 years, but Carnie claimed her appointment was nothing to do with gender balance.

“That wasn’t the reason we changed this programme. We changed it because we wanted to refresh the slot,” he said. “I was not being politically correct at all.

“We can’t sit with a network that never changes because ultimately you die.”

Yet Mayo’s old drivetime show had a loyal audience of around six million listeners, and fans are baffled by the need to “refresh” it.

Mayo has said publicly that ending his old show had been “difficult and upsetting” because it involved breaking up his team.

Fans have complained that there is little chemistry between Mayo and Whiley, but Carnie said that was not true.

“They are both highly experienced, they have a long history together, they have known each other for 25 years. They are great friends and the pairing will work.” Carnie confirmed that the duo are paid the same salary for hosting the programme.