AIBU to be pissed off at XFM's axing and even more so at the Men Focused Rebranding?

[RedToothBrush]

Global Radio are axing XFM - both London and its Manchester sister shows.

Instead they are replacing it with a rebrand radio station called Radio X fronted by Chris Moyles on its Breakfast Show.

Their pitch is that 'Its target audience will be men aged between 25- to 44-years-old, and will play rock and guitar-based music'.

Not only am I distraught that Manchester is loosing a place which championed and promoted local music and musician, but I'm also incredibly peeved at this rebranding being pitched at men only.

Global's own description of XFM's current listenership and target audience is as follows:
XFM listeners are engaged, eclectic and influential.

As a community, they’re loyal and enthusiastic. As music fans, they’re passionate and supportive. And as an audience, they’re exactly what advertisers crave. They go to gigs, live events and club nights, they have taste when it comes to music culture, cinema, video, gaming and exhibition, and they’re the kind of people who help form opinions across the world of music and entertainment. Put simply, they’re huge consumers and tastemakers. And that means XFM offers huge opportunities.

And its listenership is 'Slightly favoured by men at 63% compared to women at 37%'. And now women are apparently being erased in this rebranding. With '79% of those who listen to XFM across the UK are aged between 15-44.'

So effectively the difference really seems to be that women are being axed from the target demographic.

It doesn't even make commercial sense for male listeners. A hell of a lot of XFM listeners listen to XFM because they never could stand Moyles and the axing of the Manchester radio station is going to destroy its huge percentage of the radio listenership up here.

Its a sad decision for music lovers. Moyles, Vernon Kay, Johnny Vaughan and Ricky Wilson are Blandsville Extreme.

AIBU in thinking that the whole pitch is both a travesty for music and really has a sexist vibe to it, that women don't like guitar bands and rock music?

What music and radio should I be listening to instead according to Global's bollocks logic?

(And BBC PLEASE don't axe 6Music now).

Lol alright, only playing.

Merely making the point that you seem to know a lot about this is all.

Anyone looking forward to Chris Moyles in the morning?

From Digital Spy:
Chris Moyles has returned to the airwaves after three years away with his new breakfast show on Radio X - and immediately set about poking fun at the station's declared "male-focused" rock remit.

He dismissed suggestions that the successor station to Xfm is just for men, saying that everyone's welcome to listen - and chose a surprising opening track.
have specifically chosen a very, very apt record to start the first show, and indeed the entire Radio X with," Moyles said, playing 'Love Machine' by Girls Aloud after a trademark long link to introduce listeners to the new station and his team.

Moyles has reunited with newsreader Dominic Byrne and his former Radio 1 producer Pippa Taylor, with the trio joined by Xfm stalwart Dave Masterman.

"We don't see gender, we see listeners," Byrne remarked at one point in the opening half-hour, to which Moyles replied: "Let's hope so."

So apparently the first thing that Chris Moyles did on Radio X this morning was turn around and say

"If you've read about Radio X being a radio station being for men only, that is rubbish. Nobody agrees with this except for the one person who put it in the press release." Before insisting that Radio X is "not a radio version of a Yorkie bar".

So do we think the marketing has worked (in that it was a headline seeking thing) or is that a massive backtrack as they have realised they have pissed a lot of people off?

As for the music, it was 30 minutes of chat before he played the first record - Love Machine by Girls Aloud to dispel the fact Radio X is aimed just at men.

Well as a woman I hate Love Machine, and I don't quite get how that proves anything other than Radio X is going to play shite music I don't like and indeed suggests that I would like Girls Aloud when I'd rather poke my own eyes out than buy a Girls Aloud record.

Erm, it was a joke. "Girls allowed."

I tuned in for 5 minutes yesterday. Couldn't bear it. Anyone got any recommendations for a decent in car dab so that I can listen to 6music?

Might have been a joke. But that shite would never have been played on XFM

A joke? I didn't get that. Nice to see they're taking it seriously.
I'm not being funny, but I found that press release like a kick in the teeth so sorry if i'm not on board with the banter....

I found it rather curious that he claims that the only person who thought that was the person who wrote the press release yet there has been no retraction/correction to the press release. It's clearly bollocks. The girls aloud 'joke' was patronising and not funny in the least.. A quick little pop crap number to pacify the little ladies amongst them - hilarious

I did listen for about an hour to give it a go as I love indie/alternative but there were only two songs played and a whole lot of whittering on by that self obsessed twat

Urgh, he's horrible. Was trying to explain to ds yesterday about why the return of Johnny Vaughn, Vernon Kay & Moyles was such a pile of poo.

Then Vaughn talked solidly for about 10 minutes. Yep, 'that'.

Exactly Fairy.

I think I'm struggling to work out which offended/patronised me most

Playing Girls Aloud
Playing a record for the Ladiez (a shite none indie one at that)
Dragging out Noel and Marr to appease Manchester
30 mins without a record
Chris Moyles
Saying that it was only one person who was in charge of the press release (have they been fired then?)

Difficult call.

(It does look like the weekend schedule is largely unchanged though, with Clint Boon now on Sundays I believe)

There is talk on twitter of X&Y FM being set up in Manchester to fill the hole though its likely to be digital only if it does come to anything.

They did an announcement about 8ish on Monday which, iirc said "you may have heard radio x is just for men - of course it's for women too. We love women, with their high heels and make up, they're so cute"

Ugh, I think they'd run screaming from this "cute" woman in DMs.

Kind of hope this fails.

I liked Moyles with a big team. The other two are shit.

Interesting article in the Huffington Post today on the new Radio X and Moyles show. Predictable rubbish spouted in the comments after though.

m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/8232188?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

I tuned in last Saturday morning for background music whilst cleaning, and Christ on a bike it was shite! It was like Dave tv for radio. The two pillocks presenting came across like two buddies playing at radio presenter, and giggling insanely at private "in" jokes in between stories about getting pissed. Yawn. Turned off after ten minutes. Sod that....