FANS of a popular breakfast radio programme will soon have a new wake-up call after station bosses announced a radical shake-up.
Heart Radio currently broadcasts Matt & Michelle between 6am and 10am every weekday, but parent company Global Radio announced today that all its Heart radio stations in England, Scotland and Wales will have a national breakfast show.
The exact date of the change has yet to be announced, but sister stations under the Capital Radio brand will start having a national breakfast show from April 8.
And there will also be changes to the drivetime show.
Earlier this year, Ofcom approved plans to allow Capital, Heart and Smooth radio stations to merge areas along the lines of the ITV regions.
As a result, instead of the existing 23 drivetime programmes, Heart will now have just 10.
And at the weekends, all programming will now be national.
It is thought that nationally, 100 people will be at risk of redundancy include Matt & Michelle’s presenters Matt Jarvis and Michelle Jordan. Also affected will be Mark Watson’s Saturday breakfast show and Warren Hayden’s Sunday afternoon show. It is not yet known what the plans are for Luke Smith’s Drivetime slot.
The announcement brings to an end the final days of what was once Radio 210, which launched in the Thames Valley back in March 1976. DJs on the station included Steve Wright and Mike Read. Although initially a Reading-based station, it became a Berkshire station in 1987.
According to industry website Radio Today.co.uk. under the changes announced today, the Calcot offices will remain open but be non-broadcast.
Although the new shows will be national or pan-regional, Global is promising to retain local news and travel information, which it broadcasts between 6am and 7pm on weekdays and 6am and noon at weekends.