[Nicola_Red]

Loved that moment about Tim C0cker "a man taking his wife's surname! That doesn't make sense!"

My husband took my surname. Not sure he would have wanted to if it was C0cker though.

[Topher]

Happy Andy, Mardy Murray is by far the best (genuinely best) mock game that any of them have come up with ever that I can think of. I enjoyed that.

[Topher]

Very much rivalled by today's game, which was also excellent.

[Peteivy]

A bit surprised at the viewing figures. Was hoping it would be more than the average 776000 listeners per week. Mind you, something seems to be amiss with the London figures dropping by 43% from January (I think it was)

[JayE]

From what I heard of the show this morning, he didn't really seem bothered by it. That can't be a good thing.

[Harry Briggs]

Yeah slightly disappointing figures for Chris, being a radio geek it is something I like to read when the figures come out. This is a very good article about Chris's show;

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.mattde ... nt=safari#

If only they maintained their London and Manchester figures they would be close to 3 million.

[welshblob]

A bit surprised at the viewing figures. Was hoping it would be more than the average 776000 listeners per week. Mind you, something seems to be amiss with the London figures dropping by 43% from January (I think it was)

Yes I'm quite disappointed for the team as I'd have been expecting the figures to be nearer double that although I have no real idea about the radio industry! The London figures don't sound quite right do they so maybe they were incorrectly recorded in Q4? Also I would like to see what they are in context to the other london stations which I haven't found a graph for that yet.

From what I heard of the show this morning, he didn't really seem bothered by it. That can't be a good thing.

Oh I'm sure he will be bothered by it but he won't show that too much on air as it will just be really negative and not necessarily make for good listening. Surprised he didn't play "Looking for listeners" like he did on the old show. He has always claimed he will need to build the audience although I'm surprised that more people haven't followed him from his R1 days.

Yeah slightly disappointing figures for Chris, being a radio geek it is something I like to read when the figures come out. This is a very good article about Chris's show;

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.mattde ... nt=safari#

If only they maintained their London and Manchester figures they would be close to 3 million.

Interesting article and I'd love to be able to understand these properly in the context of not being on FM nationally. I guess there are other measures of how popular the show is such as online listeners, podcast downloads, facebook followers etc. Some of which may actually provide a better indication of listeners when compared to the rajar methods.

I also found the infographic here quite interesting which shows the split of DAB/DVB/Internet listeners;

http://radiotoday.co.uk/2016/05/rajar-q ... fographic/

I personally prefer online now at home via my tablet/phone as DAB just doesn't have a good enough signal in my house. The quality and choice of stations is just great online and I sometimes listen in the car as well (must fit my DAB monkeyboard) but I guess I must be in a minority.

So I wonder whether people have just moved on from moyles, don't know he is back, don't have DAB and just stick with their standard FM stations? Wonder what % of cars on the road have DAB radios now as well as its bound to be the minority?

Will be interested to see if the new TV advert boosts the listener numbers.

Btw thanks to all the efforts from people on this site and I just love Podcast Addict with the right feeds

Also I love horses, they are the best of all the animals ! .... off to find bargain hunt booty, ski sunday and bagpuss remixes

[ritchie]

The lack of FM coverage is garbage. No matter what anyone says, FM is everywhere - even having to plug my iPhone in for a 20 min trip can seem like it aint worth it sometimes. I don't own a digital radio, but have 3 FM radios in the house. Both cars have FM radio.

All the shite we get on FM - why can't we have X? Heart/Free Radio/Capital etc. all bash out the same voicetracked crap. Until its on FM, forget about the big audience.

[Peteivy]

You'll have to move with the times Ritchie. It won't be long before FM is switched off (much like analogue TV was) and we are all digital

[ritchie]

X should move with the times and have STEREO sound then?

[James H]

You'll have to move with the times Ritchie. It won't be long before FM is switched off (much like analogue TV was) and we are all digital

I will only be happy with this if DAB+ rollout becomes more widespread, and they don't skimp on the bitrates.

The only dates that the Digital Radio Working Group (wonder if they have a vested interest in FM switch off ) have said we "should" (not that we WILL) switch off FM between 2017 and 2022.

Having said that, no date has been officially confirmed so there's still plenty of life left in FM yet.

This report is only a recommendation and successive Governments have admitted that FM VHF Band II analogue radio would not cease until the "majority" use "digital", so no actual date has ever been agreed.

X should move with the times and have STEREO sound then?

Not only is there limited bandwidth available on Digital One, the costs to upgrade the stream to stereo would probably be pretty high (it'd need nearly double the bandwidth, unless they downgraded to 64kbps Stereo, which would sound even worse IMO). Radio X aren't alone in this, most services on D1 are Mono, and some even lower bitrates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_O ... ns_carried

[welshblob]

This report is only a recommendation and successive Governments have admitted that FM VHF Band II analogue radio would not cease until the "majority" use "digital", so no actual date has ever been agreed.

I wonder what they will set this majority % at and whether that figure will be DAB only or include 3/4G and DVB as well? 3/4G and DVB will have less coverage and maybe costly so maybe unfair to include those. I can also see FM being around for quite while yet.

[Topher]

I think there is a long way to go coverage-wise before they should even be considering turning FM off, judging by the blackspots in Northamptonshire.

[Tunster]

A bit surprised at the viewing figures. Was hoping it would be more than the average 776000 listeners per week. Mind you, something seems to be amiss with the London figures dropping by 43% from January (I think it was)

I'm a bit gutted, but I can see why for a couple of reasons...

1) The music genres that Radio X play is quite restricted and for Moyles fans to go from new-pop to alternative/indie is a hard sell. I can imagine most came on-board and then switched off. It's quite evident that he's managed to convince producers to let go with some of the restrictions; especially in the Platinum Hour. Also Pippa's game that featured rap music. I'm sure at the start of the Radio X relaunch, that would never of been approved by the exec producers. I always feel its Moyles vs Global, and Global not giving Radio X a looser remit is making it confusing to get regular non-Moyles listeners.

2) I can image that being restricted to DAB nationwide makes it harder to market and we don't have a biased DAB listenership over FM at the moment. People need to buy new kit, and to do this just for one station makes it expensive to do.

The nationwide stats do still looks good, but I'm wondering if Global have made a mistake not to go down the Virgin Radio route and make it more 6Music/Radio 1 hybrid. I love the Virgin Radio playlist and made a good effort to listen to some of Edith Bowman's breakfast show sometimes. Global might have the marketing power, but their money is in Heart/Capital that churns a huge return in terms of dosh. These are huge quasi-national networks that everyone understands. They've made a huge investment in those brands to cover all FM/DAB/Online and to convert any more stations to Radio X if Global choose to buy out any more small groups won't happen soon or will be at the bottom of the picking order.

Radio X is left in a weird situation. They can't just bin Moyles if the figures don't dramatically increase. It's been built around him.

Regarding FM, I think the plan will be to knock off the big networks (BBC, Global, Bauer) and have that space for more community radio (as there's still huge demand for space - especially in London). This will give time for people to buy DAB/Online radios. Similar to the Digital TV switch. That won't happen for a long while yet whilst the government has no plan or vision for radio in general.

[hdsport82]

I think Matt Deegan made a good point in his blog linked previously about Virgin etc.,

To me, the difficulty of finding and moving audience to a station like Radio X is a particular warning for Wireless Group and their new Talk Radio and Virgin Radio stations.

If Radio X is having difficulties with tv/billboard adverts, two FM licences and a spot on D1, which has better coverage than Sound Digital, then those stations are really going to have trouble even they it can be cross promoted on their other stations.

[Nicola_Red]

Every time Chris posts anything on Instagram, I notice the comments are just all "you need to get on FM, I can't get digital radio in my van, the app hammers my data" etc. I bet that's x100 on Twitter too. These people are clearly still following what Chris is doing and want to listen, but they can't/won't make the shift to digital (cost, stuck with a company vehicle, myriad of other reasons). I guess if I wasn't in an FM area I might be in the same situation whilst commuting (well, I have a phone plan with unlimited data, but not for much longer if the prices keep going up). If they could convert these people into actual listeners, that would make a huge difference to the figures. But I guess they might see getting onto an FM frequency as a step backwards, in terms of technology and whatnot.

[hdsport82]

But I guess they might see getting onto an FM frequency as a step backwards, in terms of technology and whatnot.

The problem is there physically aren't any national FM frequencies available to be auctioned so the only way they could do that would be to start buying up local stations but even that would probably run into regulatory issues (as well as the cost).

A switchover date would obviously help drive people to DAB further as well as improve coverage but that is one of those decisions (like Heathrow) that successive governments have been kicking down the road. I think Radio X can succeed and I wouldn't write it off after one bad set of results for London. The 'internet radio' jokes clearly was an acknowledgement of how hard it's been to get the word out. Maybe the new TV ad campaign will help and Chris could do some more interviews (both newspaper/TV) as Matt Deegan also said Global need to get the fact he's back and what sort of show it is out there.

[Trigger]

Talking about it from a techno POV is all good and well (that's what geeks do)

But there will come a point where the excuses won't be enough. (lack of transfer to digital etc)

You have to look at the actual show, and the dynamic. I have always believed Moyles is at his best when out of his comfort zone, either dealing with difficult people or dealing with all the fun that comes with getting to know new colleagues. I believe the long opening link has had it's day. I remember when the old show began at 6:55 - and it was bouncing! The interaction with JK and Joel was gold, it was always a pleasure to see him mucking about with new and different people from the station.

That stuff he did with gatecrashing the other radio stations at Global was good - exactly the thing Moyles does, it works because only he will do it. Thinking back to the old days of Brummie Rachel and posh Carrie. You had all these different characters in the same studio, all forced to get along - an example of how not having too much control can bring out the best in him.

With this new setup (I admit I haven't been able to listen much) it feels rather like they are just gelling. Masterman and the producer (what's her name?) seem very well schooled in the ways of Radio X, and both seem very eager to 'get on' in the world. Whereas it seems a lot more chilled and very 'default' with Aled and co - who lets not forget was also a very different character for Moyles to play with before he became 'fully fledged'. Him coming out was a great moment and it showed how awesome it can be when different people gel as one - not because it's pre-destined for them to do so, but because it was what it was.

Dom and Chris are still brilliant. I've spoken before about the lack of jingles and comedy input from Dave - whose chilled personality I quite preferred, he really came up with stuff.

But it's just hit me now I wouldn't have got to know that old show quite so well without the help of this site. A thing which I am now not able to do. The bitesize form of clips on here were vital to my listening experience - that's how I got reeled in, the soap opera aspect of it then kicked in.

It's a lot of work being a regular listener of a radio show that's on five days a week. I am not his core listenership anymore - he needs to be going after those people in cars. he needs FM shutdown ASAP so he can get this ruddy show on the road. And I would like it if Radio x could expand it's musical offerings. You don't get to be all things to all people without being a broader church. (Something Jeremy 'Happy Hour' Corbyn could learn too)

But I have every respect to Moyles and the master he is at his craft. There are always those clips he posts on Facebook for me to enjoy which I appreciate. I'm sure Rome wasn't built in a day, maybe we are only on the 2nd day as yet. I hope it goes from strength to strength, I hope it reaches the peaks it deserves to do, he is afterall the saviour of whatever it is he chooses to save.

Good luck!

[slaphead1982]

Well that's the article read, Now for us normos to get involved.
I have always understood that Chris is not for everyone (Just ask my mum when it comes to the fake fish fingers ad). But he did attract 8+ million listeners at the old national station. I'm not saying he (Or anybody) will get those sort of figures again but the listenership is out there. The type of music is no problem. Maybe the fact he doesn't play a lot of music is becoming an actual issue with the wider nation. But as he has always said, It's called the Chris Moyles show, What else will he talk about? He will always be who he is as an air personality and in my opinion Let him. He is different from others and I like him for it.

[ritchie]

Sorry, just can't see the show going anywhere without nationwide FM coverage. For * sake, how is one of the best DJs of our generation on mono DAB? Anyway - that and the woeful playlist severely holds the station back. I can live with the ads but the dad music is just lame.

[bwfcol]

Eugh. How many holidays does Chris need?! 5/6 weeks back after a fortnight off and then probably off again end of June/early July? Wish I had his holiday schedule!

We have to put up with Vernon although at least the team are there. I presume Vernon will also be doing the Saturday show pre-record too.

Just listening to the podcast, I have big issues with Chris having Justin Lee Collins on after everything we've seen about his personal life, what a vile human. Bit disappointed TBH

[hdsport82]

Just listening to the podcast, I have big issues with Chris having Justin Lee Collins on after everything we've seen about his personal life, what a vile human. Bit disappointed TBH

I had a similar reaction after all the Chris Brown stuff I was surprised Chris (Moyles) would have him on and say 'if you anyone has a problem with it [him being on the podcast] get over yourselves ' was as you say a bit disappointing.

[JayE]

Personally, the figures dropping could also be to do with the show quality. I like it, but I certainly don't listen to the whole show everyday anymore. Back in the R1 days I felt I needed to because I felt like I was missing something.
The show was just more enjoyable back then. This new persona of "I'm a nice guy now" doesn't make for interesting radio. Chris has also adopted the persona of "I can take no criticism" I've listened to many radio people do this eventually and it doesn't make you look good.
I also agree with who said the 30 minute link has had it's day. It really does sometimes seem as though they have nothing to say. On Friday he spent the link explaining how to buy a digital radio and listen to the show with next to no comedy element attached.
The show definitely still has it's moments but it's nothing compared to what it used to be, but I knew it wouldn't be.

[neilt0]

In contrast, I think the show is just hitting its stride now.

Some of the stuff with Pippa and Mastermind is just as hilarious as the best of the R1 shows.

I'm not at fan of the music, so I just skip most of it. That will be a problem if you listen live, though. And the ads are annoying.

There's no chance I'd buy a DAB radio for the car and 200 MB of data x 20 days a month is not going to happen, so it's definitely an issue.

[Harry Briggs]

In contrast I actually really enjoy the 30 minute 'mic test' link. My alarm in the morning is Radio X and I wake up to the pips and opening jingle. I then lie in bed and listen to the opening link before getting up and it's a very nice start to the day. It's obviously something Chris asked for as theirs no ads until just before the 7am news.