Radio 2 schedule changes: Jo Whiley joins Drivetime in reshuffle
The Organist Entertains and Listen to the Band to end after more than 40 years on the air
Jo Whiley is to join BBC Radio 2’s Drivetime programme as a co-host alongside Simon Mayo as part of a major schedule shake-up at the station.
The former Radio 1 DJ said she “cannot wait” to join Mayo at the helm of the coveted after-work slot.
In a statement, Mayo said: “Although we’ve known each other for over 20 years, we’ve never presented a show together. And given that Jo is quite brilliant, it’s high-time we put that right.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Whiley “will be the first female DJ on the station's weekday daytime schedule for 20 years,” the BBC notes.
The revamped Drivetime will run in an extended timeslot when the reshuffle comes into effect on Monday 14 May, airing between 5pm and 8pm.
Another BBC radio stalwart, Sara Cox, will leave her current gig on Sounds of the 80s to host a new two-hour programme of “upbeat” music and chat, which will air from 10pm until midnight from Monday to Thursday.
Veteran disc jockey Gary Davies will take over presenting duties on Sounds of the 80s, which retains its Friday 10pm slot.
Elsewhere, Welsh singer Cerys Matthews, whose Sunday morning slot on BBC Radio 6 Music is the most listened-to show on the station, is to take over Radio 2’s weekly blues show from Paul Jones.
The 75-year-old former Manfred Mann frontman, who has hosted The Blues Show for 30 years, said it was “time for me to hand over the baton”.
In sad news for listeners who enjoy nothing more than a resounding set of church pipes, The Organist Entertains has fallen victim to the commissioner’s scythe.
The half-hour programme of organ music, currently broadcast at 11pm on Tuesdays, will come to an end this spring, one year short of its 50th anniversary.
Host Nigel Ogden said it had been a “huge privilege” to present the show for the past 38 years.
Other victims of the reshuffle include the station’s Thursday night arts show and the stirring brass of Listen To The Band.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - November 19, 2024
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - junk food, health drinks, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Band Aid 40: time to change the tune?
In the Spotlight Band Aid's massively popular 1984 hit raised around £8m for famine relief in Ethiopia and the charity has generated over £140m in total
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light – still a 'crown jewel'
The Week Recommends This 'superlative' Tudor drama returns to BBC One and remains 'appointment weekly viewing'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Threads: how apocalyptic pseudo-documentary shocked a nation
In the Spotlight The rarely shown nuclear annihilation film will reappear on TV screens this week
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
'Ludwig': David Mitchell's new quaint and quirky British detective drama
The Week Recommends The BBC's new cosy crime drama is the 'role of a lifetime' for Mitchell
By The Week UK Published
-
Mishal Husain: BBC journalist shares her six favourite books
The Week Recommends Newsreader and Radio 4 presenter picks works by Louisa May Alcott, Jamil Ahmad and more
By The Week UK Published
-
The Jetty: Jenna Coleman is 'magnetic' in 'claustrophobic' crime thriller
The Week Recommends BBC's new four-part show keeps viewers 'hooked' until the end
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Michael Mosley 'collapsed' during holiday hike
Speed Read Tributes paid to 'national treasure' who did so much to popularise science
By Hollie Clemence, The Week UK Published
-
Aitch or haitch: the linguisitic debate that 'matters a lot'
Talking Point 'University Challenge' host Amol Rajan has promised to change the way he pronounces the letter 'H'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Secret Army: the IRA propaganda film forgotten for almost 50 years
Why Everyone's Talking About 'Chilling' BBC documentary reveals how US TV crew documented the inner workings of paramilitary group in 1970s
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published