Wednesday, May 23, 2018

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Those petitioning to get the Simon Mayo show on Radio 2 back the way it was are in danger of dissipating their efforts.

At change.org, "Bring back Simon Mayo and the dream team" has 3647 signatures (at time of writing); on the same site, "Get Jo Whiley out of Simon Mayo's show" has 59. Over at 38 degrees, a previous lost cause, "Save the Radio 2 Book Club on Simon Mayo's Drivetime" has 1472.

Mumsnet's thread on the topic has 91 comments, with some unsisterly remarks about Ms Whiley.
A petition to Parliament, "BBC Radio 2 needs to reflect the interests of listeners - Fire Lewis Carnie Now !" has been rejected, directing complainants to the BBC. Before rejection, a number of MPs signed up, including  Mark Tami, Naz Shah, James Cleverly, Michelle Donelan, Neil O'Brien, Gavin Shuker, Pauline Latham, Mark Lancaster, Paul Flynn, Lee Rowley, Kit Malthouse, David Warburton, Robert Buckland, Neil Parish, Kevin Foster, Chris Ruane, Valerie Vaz and Faisal Rashid.

And the BBC must have had a few, because they've offered a response online.

"We made an editorial decision to pair up two of our most popular and much loved presenters in an exciting partnership. We were delighted that Jo and Simon responded positively to this idea, having known each other for over 25 years. We’re aware that Radio 2 has a very special relationship with its audience and we acknowledge some regular listeners are unhappy with the changes. Every new show needs time to settle down and so we hope listeners will continue to listen and give it a chance".

See ? It was an editorial decision, not just a plain decision, and you can't argue with that.  Ner ! No backsies.

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