[English Bob]

Hmmmm. Zane was on the show this morning...and Moyles mentioned how Zane used to work on Xfm, then had some quick digs, saying 'it's a shambles'. This irked me a bit. I listen to three stations when I'm at work, flicking between them all. Radio 1, Xfm and Planet Rock. I'd be the first to admit that Xfm is a shadow of its former self (Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, Simon Pegg used to have shows there!) and the current crop of DJ's are quite annoying morons. However, they play some good music, which is *gasp* not always current Top 40 songs! The horror! They can also do competitions, giving away proper prizes!

I think it was a bit harsh of Moyles to insult another radio station without thinking about the state of his own station, Radio 1. The playlist they cling to like a child with a teddy bear is mostly awful rubbish designed to get the teenage listeners outside buying singles/albums. As for competitions, well, they can't even give away mugs on Carpark Catchphrase anymore....no more to say on that topic

I don't mean to sound like a raging Xfm fanboy, as I'm not. I only listen to the music really, as the DJ's are largely technically inept dolts and I hate having to listen to adverts. I just think Moyles dig at Xfm was a pot and kettle moment.

Hehe, I just need someone to shout 'Get in 'ere!' at and it'll be a proper rant

[chrysostom]

Goodness, it's almost as if XFM don't have to reach as wide an audience as radio one, and haven't been embroiled in controversy with competitions. I think moyles should have told listeners to switch over right now, and buggar it - should have played a few trails for every other breakfast show.

[ladbroke]

as the DJ's are largely technically inept dolts

Maybe this is what he meant by shambles?

[ladbroke]

Sorry to double post, but for truely shambolic radio try Absolute (formerly Virgin). I had the misfortune of listening on my way home from work on Saturday night, and it was that bad I had to carry on listening as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Don't know the DJ's name (and can't check as site is blocked at work), but he read out a story, in the style of a childs bedtime story, about buying a new Saab. This was followed by an agonising 'lark' about picking your nose.......

As for the jingles, there's one about Michael Jackson which I'm surprised hasn't landed them in court!

[Johnny 1989]

Hmmmm. Zane was on the show this morning...and Moyles mentioned how Zane used to work on Xfm, then had some quick digs, saying 'it's a shambles'. This irked me a bit. I listen to three stations when I'm at work, flicking between them all. Radio 1, Xfm and Planet Rock. I'd be the first to admit that Xfm is a shadow of its former self (Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, Simon Pegg used to have shows there!) and the current crop of DJ's are quite annoying morons. However, they play some good music, which is *gasp* not always current Top 40 songs! The horror! They can also do competitions, giving away proper prizes!

I think it was a bit harsh of Moyles to insult another radio station without thinking about the state of his own station, Radio 1. The playlist they cling to like a child with a teddy bear is mostly awful rubbish designed to get the teenage listeners outside buying singles/albums. As for competitions, well, they can't even give away mugs on Carpark Catchphrase anymore....no more to say on that topic

I don't mean to sound like a raging Xfm fanboy, as I'm not. I only listen to the music really, as the DJ's are largely technically inept dolts and I hate having to listen to adverts. I just think Moyles dig at Xfm was a pot and kettle moment.

Hehe, I just need someone to shout 'Get in 'ere!' at and it'll be a proper rant

This is nothing new, Moyles always slated Virgin Radio & Capital FM when mentioning Johnny Vaughan. All other Dj's do it from time to time, Jon Holmes used to slate Radio 1 when he was on Virgin Radio & still does now he's on 6 Music. Mark Fox used to slate Kiss FM in a long running gag where he would slag off Robin Banks

DJ's of recent times have always done it, it's just a slight dig at their rivals. Plus XFM really isn't the station it was (then again all of the Capital Radio Group station since the GCap Media merger and the merger after that, have been rubbish).

[MK Chris]

Mark and Lard used to have a go at Radio 1 when they were on... er, Radio 1.

I think when Moyles has a go at Xfm, it's not really the playlist he's having a go at (they play The Rifles by the way and they're my new favourite band) so much as the DJs and presenters. I don't really listen, I can't get it on FM and when I'm at home I tend to have my MP3 player on.

[Johnny 1989]

Mark and Lard used to have a go at Radio 1 when they were on... er, Radio 1.

I think when Moyles has a go at Xfm, it's not really the playlist he's having a go at (they play The Rifles by the way and they're my new favourite band) so much as the DJs and presenters. I don't really listen, I can't get it on FM and when I'm at home I tend to have my MP3 player on.

Oh yeah I forgot that M&L used to do that

Yeah it's more the DJ's more than anything. TBH I find most DJ's rather bland nowadays, especially commercial radio. They were good up until 2002/2003, but then loads of Radio stations merged together, more & more DJ's were replaced on local radio stations with one DJ covering several regions & restricted playlists (I know Capital FM had/still have, not sure TBH, a ban on indie & rock music, which, considering the current climate of music rather limits them. Kiss also got dull, they used to have a lot of exclusive remixes & varied playlists, their dance music was great. Unfortunately the bland hip-hop/R'n'B (not all of it is but there is too much bland hip-hop/R'n'B) took over & the station went down the pan

[mcmahonman]

I believe XFM to have the greater playlist but since Danny Wallace left I have no reason to listen.

[English Bob]

I believe XFM to have the greater playlist but since Danny Wallace left I have no reason to listen.

When did Danny Wallace leave? He was the last 'good' DJ the station had!

[TIAL]

In music terms...

Daytime:
Xfm >> Radio 1

After 7pm:
Radio 1 >> Xfm

[mcmahonman]

He stoped doing it over 2 weeks ago. Due to something a guest said. No complaints came in but in the current radio climate it was enough to have him taken off air.

[Munki Bhoy]

Side note: XFM Scotland is now Galaxy. I wonder if they're in financial trouble.

[fish heads]

I believe XFM to have the greater playlist but since Danny Wallace left I have no reason to listen.

He hasn't left, he'll be back in the New Year according to his official mailing list just yesterday.

The problem with XFM is it has no budget to keep any quality DJs. I mean if you listen to Adam & Joe's old XFM shows they were funnier (IMO of course) because they had slightly more creative freedom with speaking to callers and mentioning products and stuff. On the flipside they have more exposure now, so swings and roundabouts. Point is that the budget won't allow for them to keep big names like A&J, Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr etc all at once, and what you end up with is a lopsided schedule with a name at breakfast and a celeb on the weekend and sod all anywhere else. This isn't just a problem confined to XFM, but over much commercial radio I must point out.

[Johnny 1989]

I believe XFM to have the greater playlist but since Danny Wallace left I have no reason to listen.

He hasn't left, he'll be back in the New Year according to his official mailing list just yesterday.

The problem with XFM is it has no budget to keep any quality DJs. I mean if you listen to Adam & Joe's old XFM shows they were funnier (IMO of course) because they had slightly more creative freedom with speaking to callers and mentioning products and stuff. On the flipside they have more exposure now, so swings and roundabouts. Point is that the budget won't allow for them to keep big names like A&J, Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr etc all at once, and what you end up with is a lopsided schedule with a name at breakfast and a celeb on the weekend and sod all anywhere else. This isn't just a problem confined to XFM, but over much commercial radio I must point out.

Absolutely, the problem is that now that the majority of them are now owned by the same company there isn't really as much competition between the stations anymore, so they aren't as willing to pay out extra for bigger named DJ's. XFM has suffered for quite a while, IIRC Capital FM did shut it down for a while, only for the old Radio Authority ordering them to re-open it. Kiss 100 no longer has it's stronghold on exclusive dance music like it used to, Capital FM has limited their playlist, Heart is the more music variety, if you like the same 25 songs all day long (the variety means what order they'll be played in on that day), Magic is suicide FM (or it was when I last listened to it, made me want to end it all) and Virgin Radio just repeated songs, I used to listen to Jon Holmes on Virgin & although I liked his rather controversial show & taped about 8 of them, over half of the songs appear on each disc, I can't speak for Absolute as once Mark Fox & Jon Holmes got sacked from Virgin in Jan/Feb 2002 I gave up listening.

Radio 1 is about the only one I bother with now, and that's only for Moyles, it's such a shame there isn't more "personality" DJ's around, or if there is they are limited to certain regions or limited appearances on air.

[Johnny 1989]

Side note: XFM Scotland is now Galaxy. I wonder if they're in financial trouble.

No, what's happened is G-Cap merged with Chrysalis (or whoever it was that owned Heart & Galaxy), the new plan is to expand the Heart & Galaxy brands (oh look more bland radio stations) Anywhere that doesn't have a station with one or both of these names will ultimately see a station name be killed off. Now, I'm not sure how this fairs for the rest but I believe Capital FM/Gold are safe due to their age (both have been on air for at least 20 years, near enough), not sure how it fairs for Red Dragon, BRMB, Invicta, Power FM, Fox FM, Ocean Fm, Southern FM & Capital Gold outside of London. I believe Capital Radio/G-Cap Group sold on Century FM a while back to someone else (although that could have been Galaxy). XFM's writing is on the wall outside London although I believe Manchester may survive as they already have a Galaxy FM. Not sure about London though, I know at least one XFM is going.

Actually Wonkypedia has the status of XFM, two have gone, the other two look to be surviving (the London one is nationwide near enough): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfm

Actually this also from wonkypedia:

Withdrawal from DAB and disposal of "non-core" stations

In late December 2007 Fru Hazlitt was appointed CEO. Under pressure from a £313m share offer to the board from Global Radio, Hazlitt laid out her plans for the company's recovery to financial health on 11th February 2008. Cost-cutting lay at the heart of Hazlitt's statement, including divesting GCap of its costly involvement in DAB - directly turning her back on the 'digital future' policy of her predecessor. It was announced that GCap had sold its interest in Digital One to Arqiva and that "non-core" DAB stations Planet Rock and theJazz would be closing by the end of March 2008. theJazz ceased broadcasting as announced, but Planet Rock remained on air while negotiations took place with potential buyers, which were successfully concluded in June 2008. In addition, the non-London xfm stations would also be closed if they could not be sold, as the stations were forecast to make a combined loss of £800,000 in 2008 [1]. An improved offer from Global was finally accepted by GCap shareholders, resulting in the departure of the group's senior management. Fru Hazlitt resigned in May 2008

So backwards not forwards then, seems as if the BBC will be safe for years, Radio wise.

EDIT: I never realised how much had changed:

Oh and further to this, seems as if Power FM bit the bullet as well (also from Wonkypedia):

Takeover by Global Radio

The Office of Fair Trading conducted an inverstigation into the takeover of GCap by Global and cleared it in August 2008 [3], on the condition that BRMB, Beacon Radio, Mercia FM and Wyvern FM were sold and Heart West Midlands was amended to satisfy competition concerns. Global later confirmed that it would rebrand Xfm Scotland and Power FM as Galaxy Radio stations [4].

On September 16th 2008 Global Announced that it will rebrand the majority of the remaining GCap media local stations as Heart, (with the majority of the programming produced and networked from London) [5] with only a selection of stations in South Wales, The South East and the East Midlands keeping their heritage names. [6].

On September 23rd 2008, it was announced that Fun Radio had been sold to Folder Media, leaving Chill as GCap's only digital station.[7].

Bloody hell, I never realised how bad the situation was, so basically commercial radio has become rather bland, and, erm, sh*te. No wonder Radio 1 & 2 are getting record listening figures

FURTHER EDIT: Even the Capital Gold name has gone, so all those years of heritage replaced by bland names & dull stations I can't believe this has happened actually, as someone who grew up with Capital FM/Gold as a child & only tuning out in 2002 (although Radio 1 for Moyles, obviously) I never realised commercial radio had become what it has, I always thought Moyles was joking around as well

[john-leybourne]

Sorry to double post, but for truely shambolic radio try Absolute (formerly Virgin). I had the misfortune of listening on my way home from work on Saturday night, and it was that bad I had to carry on listening as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Don't know the DJ's name (and can't check as site is blocked at work), but he read out a story, in the style of a childs bedtime story, about buying a new Saab. This was followed by an agonising 'lark' about picking your nose.......

As for the jingles, there's one about Michael Jackson which I'm surprised hasn't landed them in court!

Probably Tim Shaw. He's a n**head and it's not surprising he's been sacked from every job he has had on the radio. He isn't funny, and his show is terrible

[Andy B]

I like listening to Geoff Lloyd on Virgin although his late show was better.