Presenter changes from April 2025

[Old Grumpy]

Why?

As I understand it Salford has a distinct identity and resents being regarded as "part of Manchester".

[smittims]

Salford is older than Manchester and much of Manchester's wealth came via Salford. Manchester Docks and Manchester Exchange Station were both actually in Salford. It may be hard for peopel south of the Trent to understand this. I used to share an office with a young woman from Dagenham who really believed that everything north of Watford was slag heaps and Coronation Street (which was also in Salford, though the film set is now in Manchester).

The acid test is to get someone to pronounce the place-name 'Irlams o'th' height' (yes, it is a real place). .

[Old Grumpy]

Salford is older than Manchester and much of Manchester's wealth came via Salford. Manchester Docks and Manchester Exchange Station were both actually in Salford. It may be hard for peopel south of the Trent to understand this. I used to share an office with a young woman from Dagenham who really believed that everything north of Watford was slag heaps and Coronation Street (which was also in Salford, though the film set is now in Manchester .

That's rich coming from someone from Dagenham!

[Barbirollians]

That's a new one trying to blame a potential new government for Sam Jackson's decision to move Breakfast to Salford . There is nil evidence of that they have been progressively moving more and more content to Salford for years.

As I don't listen to either Breakfast or In Tune it won't make any difference to me . I am sorry for Sean Rafferty sounds like a sacking rather than a voluntary retirement but he has never been a favourite presenter of mine - His or Derham's voice is usually a prompt to switch stations. I am no fan of McKinney or Trelawney either - I am not interested in what they have been doing just the music being played.

[Ein Heldenleben]

As I understand it Salford has a distinct identity and resents being regarded as "part of Manchester".

I once spent 40 mins on the tram from Manchester Piccadilly to Salford Quays and I can confirm that Salford is not part of Manchester. The real problem in relocating from London to “Manchester “ is that the old BBC Oxford road studios were central but Salford takes an age to get to . It also had a reputation for being wind swept (because of the way the development was constructed) , street crime and lack of local amenities, Not surprised many BBC staff opted out . Apart from anything else once you’ve sold up from the south east you can forget about coming back again without a private income or inheritance money.
I notice that BBC R3 management didn’t seem to be moving there although many of their programmes have. Who wants to sell up in Henley when you don’t have to ?

[Barbirollians]

I suspect the analysis about PT refusing to go to Manchester and the knock on effects are right . They had to give him something else - and he fancied In Tune - Derham was sacrosanct so Rafferty got the chop and Radio3's resident Northerner got the Breakfast job.

[french frank]

That's a new one trying to blame a potential new government for Sam Jackson's decision to move Breakfast to Salford . There is nil evidence of that they have been progressively moving more and more content to Salford for years.

Weekend Breakfast was moved to Salford at least five years ago. I thought that was why they brought ElizabethAlker over from 6 Music, namely that she didn't mind working in her home patch. That presumably applies to Tom McKinney too. Th BBC's gradual move to Salford has put off a lot of southern-based BBC staff.

This from ten years ago:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/31/bbc-staff-london-salford

[Ein Heldenleben]

I suspect the analysis about PT refusing to go to Manchester and the knock on effects are right . They had to give him something else - and he fancied In Tune - Derham was sacrosanct so Rafferty got the chop and Radio3's resident Northerner got the Breakfast job.

A not entirely implausible theory.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Weekend Breakfast was moved to Salford at least five years ago. I thought that was why they brought ElizabethAlker over from 6 Music, namely that she didn't mind working in her home patch. That presumably applies to Tom McKinney too. Th BBC's gradual move to Salford has put off a lot of southern-based BBC staff.

This from ten years ago:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/31/bbc-staff-london-salford

Worked for the Beeb in Manchester and Leeds but Salford is a chilly canal too far. Went to the building there once and disliked it - too many of those awful meeting booths for a start. There was an excellent pub behind BBC Oxford Road - the Lass O Gowrie - the club also had a full size snooker table. That’s my kind of meeting.
I’m creating the wrong impression aren’t I ? Believe me all that’s gone.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So perhaps it’s a good thing that the latter isn’t taking over from the former. I disagree incidentally. Both are very good presenters.

For one hellish moment, I thought you were referring to a different Tom.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

What makes Radio 3 like Classic FM is the hour after hour of presenter-led/hosted 'shows' that litter Radio 3's schedule. Intellectually bankrupt, not rescued by having amiable presenters.

And they so obviously copy one another’s styles. The Break trailers are virtually identical, with either “Dairn Walker” or Elizabeth Alker talking over the Muzak.


Incidentally, even R3 Forum Hosts/ex-Administrators are immune from being sacked for making controversial comments. I’ve now been blocked from the Facebook pages of both Radio 3 and Classic FM.

[french frank]

Incidentally, even R3 Forum Hosts/ex-Administrators are immune from being sacked for making controversial comments. I’ve now been blocked from the Facebook pages of both Radio 3 and Classic FM.

Serves you right for going over there . Replacing the old messageboards with Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) were only ever BBC ploys to stop members of the public telling a mass audience what they really thought about what the BBC was serving up to them. Don't misuse marketing tools.

[Serial_Apologist]

As I understand it Salford has a distinct identity and resents being regarded as "part of Manchester".

Manchester is indeed a fascinating city - walk short distances, and the local accents and dialects change more noticeably than those between Lancashire and Yorkshire on the wider scale (or any of the neighbouring counties), or between those in London.

[kindofblue]

I once spent 40 mins on the tram from Manchester Piccadilly to Salford Quays and I can confirm that Salford is not part of Manchester. The real problem in relocating from London to “Manchester “ is that the old BBC Oxford road studios were central but Salford takes an age to get to . It also had a reputation for being wind swept (because of the way the development was constructed) , street crime and lack of local amenities, Not surprised many BBC staff opted out . Apart from anything else once you’ve sold up from the south east you can forget about coming back again without a private income or inheritance money.
I notice that BBC R3 management didn’t seem to be moving there although many of their programmes have. Who wants to sell up in Henley when you don’t have to ?

Salford Quays, which is where the BBC is now based, is now anything but run-down and grimy, it is by some distance one of the more affluent parts of Greater Manchester. Yes, it may take forty minutes to go by tram to Manchester Piccadilly, but it can take a similar amount of time to go across London by tube. The Quays is now full of chic appartments, bars and restaurants and the Lowry Theatre is a part of the complex. We should also not lose sight of the fact that the whole Quays was intended to be a part of the re-generation of that part of the world, and why not indeed? In all of the talk of people being obliged to 'move north' it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that local people may actually possess the necessary skills. Yes, there is a bit of a Salford/Manchester running joke but that's mostly to do with football as Manchester Utd is ironically in Salford, and also within easy walking distance of Salford Quays. Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Northern College of Music, and Chethams/Stoller Hall are all also a tram ride away. Obviously it's pretty disconcerting if you're told that your primary place of work is relocating, but that kind of thing happens all the time and I have no doubt that senior BBC staff are pretty well compensated.

[french frank]

BBC story from 2022 about the gradual move of R3 to Salford:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-63879564