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"2 Day" - Radio 2 goes "upside down" on
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R2Icon



Joined: 10 Sep 2009
Posts: 1444

PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m not sure that having cameras in a radio studio is a good idea. I watched the Simon Mayo/Alex Lester bit ( apart from the technical problem of 6 or 7 minutes when the iplayer started playing a completely different programme without pictures) and it went like this. I was agog.

Say a few words… play track… check phone, fiddle with hair, check phone again, get handed some bits of paper, fiddle with phone, read bits of paper, wave and smile at people behind the glass, … track ends, say a few words, play track, check phone, run fingers through hair- look jolly concerned. Check phone, lean back in chair, fiddle with headphones, cross out things you read out before, check phone, fiddle with hair, lean back … ohh check phone, shuffle bits of paper, fiddle with glasses, check phone, run fingers through hair, think what haven’t I done yet? Check phone, no done that, fiddle with hair, done that too… ahhh swivel chair! Check phone, track ends… say a few words- laugh, check phone… play a track… lean back in chair, check phone- fiddle with hair… ……

Still it was good to see the two old chaps at work…
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essexlady



Joined: 10 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess watching radio presenters work is about as interesting as watching almost anyone working - that is to say - not very interesting at all.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trouble is that they don't really have much to do these days. Gone are the days when they had to sort out their discs - singles, LPs, revived 45s, carts and cartmachines, reel-to-reel tapes, etc. Now it's all a click of a mouse and a press of a button. Move a fader up and down every few minutes and you're done. Then check phone. Attend to hair. Etc.
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 3:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They were only on for an hour- that leaves fully: twenty-three hours to "check phone" Blimey! I look at my phone once or twice a week. If I was in charge...... there'd be no phones in the studio!!! And no coffee either! I once walked for three days across a desert without any food and just half a litre of water- surely they can manage an hour in an air-conditioned studio without sustenance!

Good muisc though.
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Number Six



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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of that was rather boring. It was better when they had live guests but it struck me that being presenter must be pretty tedious. You just spend most of your time waiting for a track to end.
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Helen May



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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought it wasn't bad. It was better than last year, not so hyper and in your face as that was. Didn't hear it all but it made a good background while I was working at various things.

H
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graham b



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PostPosted: Thu May 10, 2012 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was a bit disappointed in Jeremy Vine who chose a track by Magazine and then did not know that Raskolnikov was from Dostoyevsky's classic novel Crime & Punishment. And isn't Claudia supposed to present an Arts programme?
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mark occomore



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 4:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I enjoyed listening to Graham, Zoe and Tony, but missed most of the rest of the day. I will catch up again, and have listened to Sir Terry interviewing Richard Allinson.
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Overall the day was jolly good, I listened 7 till 7. I did think the whole thing was going to be on the TV red button live but it wasn’t (which was disappointing) , only the last part was on the red button. It was of course, on a live stream on the R2 Website but that was quite unreliable, jumpy and with poor quality sound. (Well it was here) It was interesting though to see the boys and girls at work, (I use “work” very loosely), particularly how little some of the presenters actually do. I was genuinely quite shocked by the Simon Mayo/Alex Lester slot, they seemed so uninterested in what they were doing, (thanks for popping-in boys- sorry to drag you away from your busy and interesting lives) I had imagined frenetic activity while tracks were playing, checking that things scan properly, discussing what you’re going to say next, a white board and magic pens, with ideas, animated hand gestures thinking of interesting things to say and practicing saying them but no, none of that! When scrolling through the menu on your I-phone is more interesting than the job you’re doing (and getting paid handsomely for) it’s time to hang up your headphones sweethearts, and there’s the door. I put more effort into the show just watching and listening to it than they did doing it, and all without needing a cup of coffee or to check my phone. Do Simon Mayo and Alex Lester actually like each other? If so, it doesn’t show.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

R2Icon wrote:
Do Simon Mayo and Alex Lester actually like each other? If so, it doesn’t show.


Given the fact that the slots they present are at different ends of the known universe, they probably don't even know each other. By the way, I'm typing this with one hand as I scroll through all the texts (well, one actually) on my iPhone. Is my hair OK for the radio?
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ruddlescat



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ColinB wrote:
R2Icon wrote:
Do Simon Mayo and Alex Lester actually like each other? If so, it doesn’t show.


Given the fact that the slots they present are at different ends of the known universe, they probably don't even know each other. By the way, I'm typing this with one hand as I scroll through all the texts (well, one actually) on my iPhone. Is my hair OK for the radio?


I don't think they worry much these days about 'hair' Colin

Most presenters on Radio Two these days have degrees in 'rabbiting' though at which they are more than competent Laughing
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ColinB wrote:
R2Icon wrote:
Do Simon Mayo and Alex Lester actually like each other? If so, it doesn’t show.


Given the fact that the slots they present are at different ends of the known universe, they probably don't even know each other. By the way, I'm typing this with one hand as I scroll through all the texts (well, one actually) on my iPhone. Is my hair OK for the radio?


Oh. I thought they all lived in one big house, Colin, like the Apprentice contestants. Surely they’ve had washing-up and drying duty together at some point?

Given that they do so little, I’ve come up with a scheme to make the process more efficient and less costly, with upsides for everyone. It's win win. If each DJ came in for just one afternoon a week and pre-recorded a truckload of links and pretend text messages, “loving the show on the M6 says Dave, Sunny here in Australia says, Kevin, listening to the show on the beach”, Thanks Kevin, etc over a few hours, they could have the rest of the week off, leaving the production folk to put a week’s worth of shows together. The DJs would have very nearly all week to check their phones, we’d need only to pay them for a couple of hours work, for reading out loud, say, £7.50 an hour maybe, and everyone would be happy. More for less. It’s the music we want. We’d get lots of great music; the DJs would get 15 Beer Chits a week and lots of time to use them.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They don't need to even come into the studio to do the show once a week - the production staff only need to sample their voices as they say a number of key words (eg: hi, my name is, text, email, tweet, welcome, the time is, you're listening to, love the show, great show, traffic, weather, that was, this is........etc etc) once. Then the playout system can create the show by selecting the music (that's easy - it's selected by robots now anyhow) and then dynamically creating the links using sampled keywords and phrases according to the song titles and musical content surrounding it.

In fact, can't Siri do this already? If not, I think I'm onto something!

Oh, I just realised - Independent "Local" Radio has been doing this for a couple of years now!
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ColinB wrote:
They don't need to even come into the studio to do the show once a week - the production staff only need to sample their voices as they say a number of key words (eg: hi, my name is, text, email, tweet, welcome, the time is, you're listening to, love the show, great show, traffic, weather, that was, this is........etc etc) once. Then the playout system can create the show by selecting the music (that's easy - it's selected by robots now anyhow) and then dynamically creating the links using sampled keywords and phrases according to the song titles and musical content surrounding it.

In fact, can't Siri do this already? If not, I think I'm onto something!

Oh, I just realised - Independent "Local" Radio has been doing this for a couple of years now!


I think you may be right, Colin, I’m a little out of touch having retired a few years ago but really DJs are Dinosaurs- they’re museum pieces. Kapow! It’s just hit me in the last 24 hours. They need to be much broader, more capable and more interesting than they are to keep their jobs on the radio. I think within 3 years – all the Proper DJs will be history, or at least back in their vans, carrying large speakers into and out of wedding venues each weekend.
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Ian Robinson
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

R2Icon wrote:
When scrolling through the menu on your I-phone is more interesting than the job you’re doing (and getting paid handsomely for) it’s time to hang up your headphones sweethearts, and there’s the door. I put more effort into the show just watching and listening to it than they did doing it, and all without needing a cup of coffee or to check my phone.

As a regular listener to Mayo & Kermode on Radio 5 on Friday afternoons, I have heard Mark Kermode admonish Mayo several times for playing with his phone while Kermode is talking - to which Mayo replies that he's checking his twitter feed (and does indeed read out some of the comments that come in).
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Helen May



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mayo is obsessed by Twitter! I remember one time he sat in for Evans before he got the breakfast show almost every other word was Twitter. Thankfully he's not quite as bad on air now.

H
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ian Robinson wrote:
R2Icon wrote:
When scrolling through the menu on your I-phone is more interesting than the job you’re doing (and getting paid handsomely for) it’s time to hang up your headphones sweethearts, and there’s the door. I put more effort into the show just watching and listening to it than they did doing it, and all without needing a cup of coffee or to check my phone.

As a regular listener to Mayo & Kermode on Radio 5 on Friday afternoons, I have heard Mark Kermode admonish Mayo several times for playing with his phone while Kermode is talking - to which Mayo replies that he's checking his twitter feed (and does indeed read out some of the comments that come in).


And so he should admonish him. If they put some thought into the programme they wouldn't need to rely on twitter feed, in any case they can check that on their desk top, or someone in the production team can.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Although I do use Twitter in support of my business activity (and, yes, it does help to generate new business when used properly), it really does annoy me when current presenters constantly refer to Twitter and Tweets in the way that Mayo and others do - especially when the content of the tweets is so trivial and banal. There. That's my rant of the day. If you enjoyed that please tweet me with your reactions. My Twitter feed is... @ilackcreativity and the current trending topic is #thisisallveryboring
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My point wasn’t really that they were checking their phones (it could just have easily have been doing the Times Crossword, reading a book or counting the dots on their screens) but that they thought they had the time to do it. Every word they utter on air should be honed and polished to perfection, there is no excuse for ums, errs and reading out stuff that just doesn’t scan or they get the emphasis completely wrong: though, it’s easy to see why they so often do- because they haven’t got their minds on the job in hand. It shows complacency, over confidence in their ability and lack of respect for the people on the receiving end. It’s unprofessional.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

R2Icon wrote:
If they put some thought into the programme they wouldn't need to rely on twitter feed, in any case they can check that on their desk top, or someone in the production team can.


All radio and TV shows must now have an "interactive element" in them; they must be "accessible" and "engage with audiences in a multi-dimensional way". It's the law.
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to be clear, I’m not having a pop at Simon Mayo here, he was fine-dandy. Twas Alex who did all the phone checking. I’ve spent ten years telling people how fantastic Alex is: and on the one occasion they get to see for themselves, he comes over as a useless waste of space. So disappointing.
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ColinB
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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

R2Icon wrote:
Just to be clear, I’m not having a pop at Simon Mayo here, he was fine-dandy. Twas Alex who did all the phone checking. I’ve spent ten years telling people how fantastic Alex is: and on the one occasion they get to see for themselves, he comes over as a useless waste of space. So disappointing.


Maybe he doesn't like Mayo. I rather like Mayo - the sort you get in a squirt on top of chips served in a cone like they sell in Amsterdam. Perhaps Alex is a ketchup kinda guy!
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nod



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PostPosted: Fri May 11, 2012 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

R2Icon wrote:
Just to be clear, I’m not having a pop at Simon Mayo here, he was fine-dandy. Twas Alex who did all the phone checking. I’ve spent ten years telling people how fantastic Alex is: and on the one occasion they get to see for themselves, he comes over as a useless waste of space. So disappointing.


They shouldn't have let him out in the daylight Rolling Eyes
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 8:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alex has broken his phone over the weekend. He says he "dropped it". I hope he didn't read this thread then throw it in anger ............none of this stuff matters.
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RockitRon



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PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 8:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow! It has been interesting and entertaining to read this thread back.
I missed all of it - I was in exile, in a part of the land where reception of anything other than local radio is as elusive as a drought order.

Simon and Alex looked a mis-matched pair, even without listening to them. Probably reminded Alex too much of his school years.
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R2Icon



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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For those who don't read Alex's blog, and to keep you in the loop. Alex has had his phone repaired. New glass. Oh and he says , his bit of 2-day was the best bit. So there- that's me told. Smile
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