To hate Jo Wiley

[bridgetjonesmassivepants]

Not personally obviously, surprisingly enough I don't know her, but I love the Radio 2 Drivetime programme and she is going to ruin it. I find her voice grating, she has a babyish breathy style that is highly irritating. The Drivetime show was perfect and now they have got rid of homework, foody Thursday with Nigel and they are getting rid of MATT!!!! Are they crazy???

I'm all for gender equality but why can't Jo share a show with Steve Wright as his show is already awful.

I know I may be getting this out of proportion but it feels like this show is part of my life and it's just gone.

I wished of all the shows on radio 2 they hadn't messed with this one

That's the part I don't understand. It was perfect as it was. Exactly what people needed and wanted to hear at that time of night, light, funny, upbeat, relaxed. After a stressful day, people cooking dinner, driving home from work ... it was one of the few remaining shows on Radio 2 that did its job and ticked all the right boxes.

But some bright spark decides they need to bring in the modern day Annie Nightingale - pseudo cool muso presenter Jo Whiley of the dulcet tones, name dropper extraordinaire, serious 'I'm passionate about music' presenter, lacking in humour and someone to whom 'banter' doesn't come naturally and make her co-presenter, while getting rid of the rest of the crew. Oh, and we'll extend it by an hour while we're at it.

I'm sorry, but it's a shit show now and one I just cannot listen to any more. I'm sure she's lovely and all that but she's not what I want to hear on the radio at 5pm of a weekday evening.

She doesn't work. It doesn't work.

I agree. I am bereft. A small thing I really enjoyed is no more 😢

Yup. It came on accidentally last night and within ten minutes I was changing the channel. Drive time had a unique character which relied on the particular presenters. Really can't understand how the new style could be considered by anyone to be an improvement. It was the only Radio 2 programme I listened to so now I don't listen to Radio 2 at all.

I never realised how much I liked it until they messed with it

It was sort of effortless and funny, entertaining

Now the program bores me

I been cringing through it again this week. There was a guy on an item this week that proposed the theme tune for Auf Weidersein Pet and she started on about what slogans he remembered and how it was “before her time”. I was in the car going whilst Somons clearly decided to just sit back and let her swing in the wind.

She might be a music genius but she has the conversational skill and wit of a wire coathanger.

Is this thread still going? .

Its awful - in a way - when people are slagged off on on MN so I try and avoid it generally. Except when its Caitlin Moran .

But I've never "got on" with Jo Wiley. I haven't listened to her for ages but I remember she seemed a bit fake - that low, breathy, controlled voice - where she never actually seems to take a breath - always seemed forced and fake "cool" and sytlised. It seems journalists in the public eye always sound more careful and less spontaneous like someone's watching them, which ironically makes them less interesting and fun to listen to. Thank god for the comediennes is what I say!

I meant female presenters btw. Male presenters tend to come on and sound like they'r enjoying themselves! Maybe all the PC shit is partly responsible. Women probably police themselves far more and maybe alot of the joy's sucked out - do I look good, do I sound good, do I blah blah. Men tend to not care and just have a laugh or say whats on their mind.

!

I’ve just signed this petition. I miss Matt.

www.change.org/p/bbc-bring-back-simon-mayo-and-the-dream-team?recruiter=875881336&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial.pacific_abi_share_button_ordering_1.abi_featured_fb.zATQRrLVRUu1HGws730cAw.1&utm_term=share_petition

How could Auf Wiedersehen, Pet possibly be before her time?? She's a fair few years older than me and I remember it.

As soon as the news at 5 finished today I switched to Radio 3.

I think it's important to keep the thread going.

I used to post on the Radio 2 forums (which they've long shut down because they didn't like the criticism they used to get), and the folks in charge at Radio 2 have a real arrogance towards their listeners. They know what is best for us, and just steamroller through with their plans until we all just shut up and accept the changes.

That is what they've always done, and I don't see that methodology changing. They know not everyone will like the show, but they assume we will either get used to it, learn to accept it, or if we do tune out then others will come in to take our place. BBC management willl only make changes when the presenters themselves (think Chris Evans and Top Gear on the telly) realise things aren't working and fall on their sword / resign.

I can only hope that Jo Whiley comes to realise that it's not working for her, Simon, and especially those loyal listeners who loved the show as it was.

There is a place for her on radio - of course there is - just not at 5 o'clock on Drivetime.

I've signed the petition and I emailed Bob Shennan. He hasn't replied....

Last night's show was dire. It very much depends on how upbeat she is. She introduced the show and prattled on a while to the extent I thought Simon wasn't there for a while. Either they move her to another slot or get them to workshop working together off air so they can improve things on air. It is awful - no chemistry, not natural, etc and this is on the most listened to radio station in the UK!

By the way, I totally disagree with the OP upthread who said female presenters generally don't sound as though they're enjoying themselves. What the Jeff are you listening to?

I don't think there is a hope in hell of JW falling on her sword , she comes across as having the self awareness of a gnat , although that may be unfair.But she has more to lose in that she just has a radio show.

Simon Mayo is already developing a life outside radio , which was incidentally what made him so much more interesting and eclectic; he is able to talk about books , food and seemingly a million other topics as well as music.Jo Whiley is just music , and thats fine but not for a 5pm magazine show. In contrast i suspect Simon would be just as awful in a late night muso slot.

My prediction is that Simon will fall on his sword and give up.Its his show that they have mutilated, he has his new podcast and his film programme etc and with luck a rival commercial station will pick him up.

I was never an obsessive listener , tended to start at 5 with PM on Radio4 and then gravitate over as the news got depressing or boring , or Mayo was great for long journeys .DS2 and I used to have to travel on a friday afternoon every week and we always listened to Mayo and Kermode on Radio 5 .I have tried to listen a few times in the last couple of weeks but really it is soooo booooring .

It very much depends on how upbeat she is

The problem for me is, even her 'upbeat' sounds forced and faked. With Simon Mayo (and others) there is a lightness to the way they present - it's uncontrived and natural.

With Jo Whiley it doesn't come naturally. Her presenting style is earnest and her attempts at being light-hearted, engaging in banter and so on - are awkward and sound forced.

She is also very verbose - using 10 words when one will do, and that starts to get on your nerves after a while. Fine when you are talking in depth about music on a late night slot ... but irritating as hell when she's wittering away on Drivetime as I'm sat in a traffic jam or cooking the tea!

It's like getting Joe Pasquale to present the Antiques Roadshow or David Starkey to present Take Me Out. Wrong presenter on the wrong show. On the right show (her own, music orientated) she's great. On Drivetime - she's shite.

You're right and the things people have pointed out on this thread keep metaphorically poking me in the eye now when I hear her!

I suspect Simon is being pushed out . If he goes to a rival station, I'd listen to him there in the same slot.

Every single day I have an "ouch" moment when I hear one or both of them snap at each other.

The way she corrected a child yesterday who mispronounced "Bow Wow Wow" made me cringe onside out.

Is there any chance radio 2 will listen to what is an almost universal dislike of the new format and put it back to the way it was?

I feel so sad at 5pm every day.

Shout Nope. They won't care.

It'll be interesting to see the ratings figures...

I've not yet met a person who likes the new show. They've all said they've tuned out, as have I. I tried again on Friday. Useless for all the reasons people have previously stated.

The BBC have a meeting room called Teletubbies. They are either On Drugs or couldn't give a flying fuck.

I'm HOWLING at this thread

I have to say, I think this thread is a bit unfair on Jo. She didn't ask to be put in this timeslot with Simon and is obviously struggling to make it work, as is he. I think it's done a disservice to both of them tbh. She was fine where she was, as was he. It's not like she's muscled in on his show, it was the BBC who made that decision!

And there are lots of R2 female presenters that are obviously enjoying themselves, Liza Tarbuck, Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Elaine Paige. They all sound like they're having a blast!

Do the presenters have absolutely no say in what show they are on? I realise they're under contract, but I find it difficult to believe that they have no say in it whatsoever. What if they'd both said no, this is not going to work? Would they have been fired?

All the main presenters are likely to be 'talent' and self-employed rather than employees - of course they have the choice as to what they do. It's down to them or their agents to negotiate a good deal for them. Of course if the choice is between doing something they're not keen on and not having a show then that skews things, but neither of these two would struggle to get other work.

I really miss the format and co presenters of the old show. Think the bbc have got this spectacularly wrong, Jo and Simon just don’t work well together, fine on their own separate shows.

I know this thread has been around for a while, but I thought that fans of Simon might be interested.

Not sure how to post a link on here but this is an interview with Simon in which he discusses the new show. If you listen to the whole interview you will see the significance of his brevity on the subject, but his disappointment is still pretty clear either way.

He talks about the new show at 48 mins.

wordpodcast.co.uk/