"No presenter is bigger than the station"

It's an old saying in radio - suggesting talent should be team players and rely on the station's overall success for the platform they have.

While I will always agree with the former (an issue of morality), I would question to what extent the latter is still true given how much more radio and other media we now consume.

Ultimately, it depends how the presenter as a brand compares to the station as a brand.

If the presenter merely exists as a voice to link together the overall package and talk up the whole station, despite fulfilling a valuable role, they are obviously not bigger.

If they consistently factor in personalised content that listeners emotionally connect with in some way, perhaps prompting people to follow them on social media, that's when the tables can turn.

However, it takes a lot of work to get into that position if you're starting from nothing on the radio.

You may have heard a few community station egos who believe they are the big draw - often doing shows that seem to be all about them which, ironically, is the first barrier to winning an audience.

Anoraks like to criticise radio for hiring influencers or any celebrity who isn’t a jock, yet we’re enticed by TV shows hosted by the most famous faces.

For radio, as just one platform in a multi-media world, hiring the biggest and best talent has never been more important. The risk of them having a stronger personal brand is one the industry has to take.

Chris Evans was far bigger than Virgin Radio upon joining and went on to more than double its existing reach in his first quarter, adding almost a million listeners. He began to drive audience for the whole station with more people tuning in throughout the day.

If Evans left, would the overall churn be just as significant?

On the flipside, Radio 2 remained fairly static when Zoe Ball took over from him and, despite seeing declines by up to 2m since then, it is still the most listened-to.

No one presenter is bigger than Radio 2.

Eurus on Twitter shared their analogy:

That's like saying no train is bigger than the station. But, many come to the station to catch or watch trains, surely. Though there also are some, who are interested in certain stations as well.

I think this sums up today's radio landscape well.

Many railway enthusiasts enjoy everyday service trains, but a special loco with distinctive characteristics attracts specific attention and people go out of their way to catch a glimpse.

Why music quotas can be counterproductive

As an autistic person, diversity & inclusion and equal opportunities for disabled people is very important to me personally.

There is also still much work to be done in these areas for women, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQ+ community and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

It is not my place to comment on anybody else's experience and those of us who are not affected by something owing to a certain privilege should listen and learn.

Radio 3 presenter Kate Molleson's has said that quotas should be imposed to broaden the range of classical music composers played in daytime programming.

It is not clear if Kate's suggestion was specific to the BBC or asking the same of commercial stations, but it's got me thinking, hypothetically, about what regulatory intervention in this way would mean.

Radio 3 vs Classic FM & Scala Radio

Let's take a look at its remit:

Radio 3 should aim to enrich the cultural life of the UK and reflect its musical and arts agenda.

The service should aim to educate audiences about music, broadcasting a wide range of programmes that expose listeners to new and sometimes challenging material they may not otherwise experience.

It should commission new work from composers, musicians and playwrights and draw on the best talent from across the world to create its output.

The service should produce regular special events on significant themes across a wide range of music and arts topics.

The great composers should regularly be represented on Radio 3, but there should also be a range of less familiar music in order to introduce listeners to new works.

Kate acknowledges a lack of diversity within the classical music industry. With an annual budget of £35m, and not having to play ads, the BBC is best placed to introduce lesser-known composers.

To those who are defiant against quotas: of course it has to be about quality and suitability, but there is so much great work from minority groups to be celebrated. Had the world never began to embrace diversity and inclusion, could you imagine how little progress would've been made?

Commercial radio is a more complex picture. If you made the same demands of Classic FM and Scala Radio, for example, they would come under enormous pressure.

The first step in building a sustainable music radio business is to play tracks that people know and like - and that applies to all formats.

In fact, removing music requirements from analogue local and regional licences was part of the commercial radio deregulation set out by DCMS in 2017 (yet to be legislated) to ensure the long-term viability of stations.

What makes the BBC unique is that it can afford to take risks.

Similarly, the Audio Content Fund brought diverse public service content to commercial radio and I'm disappointed that the government chose not to renew financial support for it.

Final whistle goes on 5 Live's classified results

And so, after 70 years on BBC radio (originally via the Light Programme), Sports Report will no longer include the classified football results - at least not in the traditional form.

The obvious point to make is that scores are available at the touch of a button today, in real time, but what about those who listen while driving?

I have it on good authority that a punchier round-up from across the leagues will be heard instead, as part of a shorter programme preceding commentary of the Premier League's late kick-off.

It may be part of the match day fabric for many in the way the racing results once were to others. Old habits die hard.

Genuine question: when did you last switch on specifically for the classifieds? (Not just general sport).

There's appointment listening, and then there's just routine listening where it happens to be on.

They think it's all over... it's not

Anyway, panic over, talkSPORT will be keeping the tradition alive every weekend.

I wonder how much of the uproar is from people who claim the BBC doesn't do anything different from the commercial sector?

On a related point, if Radio 4 axed the Shipping Forecast, would it get a similar outpouring of affection to this? Good luck trying to modernise that one…