Radio One remixes dance programming

Radio One is overhauling its specialist line-up, which MediaGuardian suggests might be to do with making the station younger:

Radio 1 has come under pressure from both its commercial rivals and the BBC Trust to attract a younger audience after the average age of its listenership kept creeping up.

[Ben] Cooper added: "It's important that Radio 1 continues to develop new talent and the station keeps evolving for our young listeners. These changes to our evening schedule will strengthen the range and depth of the specialist music offering on the network."

However, while three of the more durable specialists are stepping down - so long Kissy Sell Out, Judge Jules and Gilles Peterson - others are staying. Annie Mac remains, despite having had half a decade's start on Kissy Sell Out; 45 year-old Judge Jules will be waved off by the 51 year-old Pete Tong, still on the station; and although forty-something Peterson is hoping to find a new home at 6Music, Annie Nightingale remains on One for her 70th birthday year. It could very well be, simply, that Cooper thinks some of the specialists were starting to sound played out, and wanted to bring some fresh sounds - rather than younger blood - to the station.

The full list of changes, as detailed by the press office, are:

The Essential Mix will move from Saturdays (3.00am-5.00am) to Saturday (1.00am-3.00am)

Annie Nightingale moves from Fridays (2.00am-4.00am) to Saturdays (3.00-5.00am)

The Punk Show with Mike Davies will move from Tuesdays (2am-4am) to Wednesdays (12midnight-2am)

Nihal moves from Wednesdays (12midnight-2am) to Wednesdays (2.00am-4.00am)

Annie Mac, Fridays 7-9

Pete Tong, Friday, 9-11

Skream & Benga take Fridays, 11-1.

Toddla T, Fridays 2-4

Charlie Sloth, Tuesdays, 2-4

It did appear that Radio 1 had got totally funky by hiring someone with an asterisk in their name, as the press office reported this:

Friction* will be joining the station to host his own drum & bass show on Mondays (2am-4am).

But it turned out to just be pointing to a footnote inviting journalists to not confuse Friction and Bobby Friction.

Annie after 40 years

You have to take your hat off to Annie Nightingale - for quite a while, Radio 1's only woman presenter, and now chalking up forty years on the station. They're going to celebrate her 40th anniversary - an Annie Versary, if you must - with a night of special programmes:

The main event of the tribute evening will be a three-hour concert, featuring such Nightingale-approved acts as Primal Scream, Fatboy Slim, Tinchy Stryder, Professor Green and I Blame Coco.

I Blame Coco? I should coco, more like.

Naturally, a proper Nightingale tribute concert would feature Is That All There Is and Fish heads, a brief period when her place in the audience would be filled by Mark Ellen sitting in, before a spot of theatre whereby a man dressed as The Controller shows everyone how much they value her by shoving her into a 2am slot on Wednesday mornings.

This will all happen in September. After all, October's when the network lives up to its pledge to honour its previous longest-serving employee, by Keeping It Peel. This year, they're going to build on last year's doing bugger all, and do bugger all, all over again.

The return of Annie After Dark

Break out those copies of Fish-heads and Is That All There Is: as part of the 40th Anniversary celebrations of Radio One, they're reviving - for one night only - the Annie Nightingale Request Show.

We'd be very surprised if she doesn't include Echo Beach somewhere in the two-hour special.