Give Sara Cox the Breakfast Show, beg Liza Tarbuck to return and sign up Jeremy Clarkson – Radio 2 must rip up the schedules and lure fresh names to win back listeners’ trust after Scott Mills’ shock exit, insiders have said.
Staff at the UK’s most listened-to station are still reeling from the bombshell news that Breakfast Show host Mills had been sacked by the BBC over a historical allegation of serious sexual offences. He was not charged with a criminal offence, and the case was closed due to a lack of evidence.
Facing turmoil at the jewel in the BBC’s radio crown, with colleagues said to be in tears and fearing a listener backlash at Mills’ abrupt exit, bosses moved to quell the panic, reshuffling the Radio 2 line-up at short notice.
Reliable Radio 2 veteran Gary Davies stepped in to hold the fort at Breakfast and is expected to continue until a permanent replacement is confirmed.
Mills’ departure followed Tarbuck’s sudden exit from her Saturday night show after 14 years, to dismay from fans of her idiosyncratic broadcasting style.
Radio 2 old hands and leading industry figures told The i Paper that the BBC should use the enforced shake-up to breathe fresh life into a station that is currently lacking in excitement, presenters with something to say and a clear sense of who its audience is.
The BBC said Radio 2 remains the “UK’s favourite”, with 12.7 million weekly listeners tuning in to a “distinctive” mix of music and talk, led by a line-up spanning broadcasting legends – Tony Blackburn is still going strong at 83 – music specialists (Trevor Nelson, Jo Whiley) and imported TV faces such as Emma Willis.
So what must the BBC do to “fix” Radio 2, recover from the Mills affair and ensure it retains its leading status in the face of fierce commercial competition?
Get Mills’ replacement right
The flagship Breakfast Show has 6.5 million listeners but is now on to its third host in 18 months.
Listeners value stability and continuity. Sara Cox, the popular drive time DJ overlooked for Breakfast when Mills was chosen to replace Zoe Ball and who has filled in on the show before, would be a “good choice”, said one radio industry figure.
Rylan Clark is seen as central to Radio 2’s future but may have too many other commitments to take on Breakfast and its early starts.
Rylan Clark joins Anastacia onstage for a duet during her performance at Radio 2 In The Park (Photo: Getty)Clara Amfo and Dermot O’Leary are also in the frame. However, a former BBC radio executive said: “Too dull. Breakfast has to make waves and be talked about. Rylan is great at that.”
Gary Davies, who deputised for Mills, is the dark horse to retain the role.
The BBC said further news on a permanent replacement will follow in due course.
Bring back Liza Tarbuck
“We made two hours of radio feel like a private members’ club, that’s the stuff of dreams,” Tarbuck said, announcing she was leaving her cult Saturday night show. Listeners were left bereft.
Liza Tarbuck stepped down from her Saturday evening show after a 14-year stint (Photo: Jay Brooks/BBC)“They should not have lost Liza,” said the former BBC radio figure, who also identified a wider problem.
“They need charismatic leadership to encourage talent to join – it no longer has the pull that it did and it needs to feel more fun to be at and less fearful.”
The BBC said it was Tarbuck’s decision to step down “as she wanted her weekends back.” Radio 2 head Helen Thomas said the door is always open for Tarbuck to return – could Breakfast interest her?
Shake-up the schedule
“They need to look outside the safe choices for talent. Ask Jeremy Clarkson if there’s a role that appeals to him,” suggested an industry insider who has worked at Radio 2.
“Would (LBC presenter) James O’Brien be interested if he could work within BBC rules? Can they bring back people who used to work for the BBC? What kind of a show could Emily Maitlis present? It needs presenters who have something to say that isn’t superficial nonsense.”
A Radio 2 spokesperson said the station already had “the broadest line-up of much-loved radio broadcasters, including the biggest stars in music and entertainment, and the most eclectic range of programming”.
Emily Maitlis quit ‘Newsnight’ to present ‘The News Agents’ podcast. But she is free to work for other broadcasters and presented Channel 4’s 2024 election night coverage (Photo: PA)Despite the outcry over Ken Bruce’s departure in 2023, mid-morning replacement Vernon Kay enjoys the most-listened to show in the UK with a growing audience of 6.7 million.
Ignore Heart and Smooth
Radio 2 may have fallen into the trap of trying to “become too much like commercial radio”, according to the former BBC radio figure.
“But those commercial stations are really good at what they do. Radio 2 needs to be doing something that the others aren’t.”
Phil Riley, co-founder of Boom Radio, the rival station that capitalised on Radio 2’s shift to appeal to the under-40s and now has a loyal audience of 700,000 older listeners, said: “When you listen to Heart, Smooth or Boom, you know exactly who their audience is and how they are trying to entertain them.
“Radio 2 is trying to appeal to the Heart, Smooth and Boom audience all at the same time. It wants to be all things to all listeners.”
“We are proud that there is no other radio station anywhere in the world with a remit or line-up like BBC Radio 2,” a BBC spokesperson said.
“Nowhere else would you hear Pulp and Jessie J performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a week of brand-new folk compositions and coverage of the Olivier Awards and Eurovision in one place.”
Decide who the Radio 2 listener is
Twenty years ago, Radio 2 shrugged off its old “pipe and slippers” image to woo a new audience of thirty-somethings.
Now it “veers between chasing Harry Styles fans to trying to win back the older Boom generation,” the former executive said. “Radio 2 should be about an attitude listeners share not their age.”
Boom’s Riley added: “Trying to appeal to everyone aged 35 to 75 is too big a job for any one station.”
The BBC said there was no confusion. “Radio 2 is for everyone over the age of 35. We have presenters in their thirties (Rylan Clark who is 37), Elaine Paige (78), Jo Whiley (60), Michelle Visage (57), Vernon Kay (51) presenters in their eighties (Tony Blackburn and Bob Harris) and everyone else is in between.”
What happened to Scott Mills?
The BBC said it was made aware in 2017 of the investigation into an allegation of serious sexual offences against Mills, but that new information had come to light in recent weeks that led management to sack him at the end of March.
Mills said he had “fully co-operated and responded” to the investigation at the time. The police investigation was closed in 2019 after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
The BBC is being urged to hold an inquiry into what actions, if any, were taken when it was informed of the investigation in 2017. It is not known if Mills is considering any legal action over his departure.
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