Not sure if much new easy listening music is left as the new music playlist has gone from the website, they still have the sessions page wtih some good artists.
http://www.smoothradio.co.uk/music/b...oardroom/4b1b5
The album of the week is still Elton John's The Diving Board
http://www.smoothradio.co.uk/music/a...the-week/3acac
but they seem to be playing his old hits.

Radio 2 does well with new esly listening music for the over 40's and Smooth seemed to emulate it well.
New tracks can be a risk that listeners could turn off and Global seem to play safe, even on Heart, but hope new music has not been completely dropped as it provides new finds for users and as at R2 if selected well brightens up the playlist.

.........

Its a shame Andy Peebles has gone and why do Global have this thing of taking over stations only to cut the interaction from the presenters as well as reduce the number of tracks?, they ruin radio stations I mean if they can not afford to keep all the music the do not take over its as simple as that.

I also see Gary King is on Smooth as well as someone else has said David Andrews, I hope they do not get rid of the overnight shows but is it going to change into Gold because with David Andrews there is the Gold connection so if it changes to Gold I hope they keep Simon Bates and bring back Andy Peebles on another night.

Also I hope that they let the presenters interact otherwise if not despite Simon Bates being a household name they will lose listeners as well as Simon Bates etc. One thing I am pleased about is the loss of the Kid Jenson's Double Top 20 on a Sunday as it was just recorded/voice tracked unlike Pick of the Pops on Radio 2 which is live and as I have said before David Jensen just does not make great radio being voice tracked.

I wonder if the lack of interaction is due to the studios being worked on and finished, otherwise it is such a shame for a station which was once good.

As for the name and will Smooth become Gold and if so could it mean a return for Capital Gold?, it would be good as I used to listen to that in London and it would make sense but if that is the case then it would be nice to have the interaction from the presenters as well as live overnight shows and we also need more music variety than they have now.

And another Soul show from 10pm

That's 6 hours of Motwon and Soul on Sunday nights.

Wow what a line up I can hardly catch my breath for excitement. So obvious its a business out to make a profit and that's the bottom line. over the coming months more and more presenters will be on both stations and one brand will eventually be phased out. I don't see why they don't reduce the newsreaders as well surely LBC can provide all the news and staff for everything that comes out of Leicester Square> it will happen one day Im off to Oldies paradise its brilliant and then a couple of BBC locals. I would love to hear Simon Bates on Radio 2 I don't see where else their is a more deserving home for him.

As we know Classic Gold and Capital Gold became one in 2007 and rebranded to Gold.

Now that's been running for 6+ years then why now rebrand to Capital Gold. Global seem to like the Capital brand as they've rolled it out nationally with the FM stations and now Capital Xtra

So why not Capital Gold and Capital Smooth?

That's happening already.

Considering the new logo and brand new studios which look very high tech and Smooth branded with pink/purple, surely Smooth is staying otherwise why bother?

There maybe a crossover between Gold and Smooth in terms of presenters, why not. Gold is also more up tempo so they compliment each other rather well I think.

That's a good idea I like the sound of that Capital Gold and Capital Smooth although would there be room for them both on DAB?, with the loss of Gold on DAB in some areas if Smooth became Gold then those who lost Gold on DAB would get it back although again if Gold became Capital Gold and Smooth became Smooth Gold then they could both be on DAB nationally.

Yes, it seems that Smooth is staying and will replace Gold in most areas based on this post

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=1698

The same user also posted that Smooth 70s would be gone within a week before it was announced yesterday.

No doubt the wild speculation and theories about Smooth closing/Gold replacing it will continue anyway.

On radio today that Andy Peebles are reporting The Soul Train transfers to Gold on Saturday nights from November.

No presenter listed for weekend overnights so it looks like just back to back music

Very pleased to hear the news regarding Andy Peebles Soul Train moving to Gold in November, Its about time they had a real music broadcaster on there!!! We might even get Dave Brown on there as well??

Perhaps in areas where Choice is on local / regional transmitters they may get Gold as a replacement.

Personally I think a station likes Gold deserves heritage presenters. Simon Bates, David Jensen, Andy Peebles should be on a station like Gold. Their personalities should be allowed to shine more than on Smooth.

Maybe giving David Andrews a show on Smooth is to introduce his voice to their audience before moving him there permanently and moving Simon to mid mornings on Gold. Jensen can do to Gold's Drivetime swapping with Paul Coyte.

Classic radio names need to be on a station broadcasting classic hits.

But Jensen left Gold to join Smooth.

Yes I know but when he did they were owned by different companies so he left Global to go and work for GMG.


He's gone full circle now and he's back at Leicester Square although he was removed by Emma B today fairly suddenly.

You've hit the nail on the head. Smooth i can see will do very well in London, while the north RAJAR may drop a bit the London one i can see will increase a fair amount, not straight away but in 12 months i can see there being a massive increase.


He had exactly the same at GMG ?You don't seriously think he got to pick his own music do you ? Those days are long gone thankfully.

Smooth is horrible under global with that dire playlist. I knew this would happen under them and there's nothing we or I can do about it. Must admit the adverts are just as repetitive as the songs. Thanks global. I hope it gets better but I really can't see it. All they are playing is heart songs and softer songs off Gold. All from that crappy global playlist.

I can't see it to be honest. Having Capital Gold in the 80s/90s made sense as the two stations was close in target age.

Today there is gap between Capital and Gold - with Heart in between. With that in mind Heart Gold would make more sense if you wanted it to become a brand extension.




Emma B appeared on today's schedule yesterday - hardly removed "fairly suddenly"

I see Tony Blackburn has been tweeting saying the new Smooth sounds just like Magic, but not so good, and also couldn't they have come up with something different.

I actually meant to type replaced rather than removed.

Worrying times for presenters in Leicester Square I'd imagine.
I wonder if any other of Gold's presenters will get a try out on Smooth

Personally I'd like to hear Dean Martin on Smooth evenings with his jukebox format. I know Smooth have call Carlos but I think Dean has got that slot sewn up on Gold.

So Tabour is trying to compete with magic. No chance. Goodbye smooth and its great presenters. Such a shame global got their hands on it.

You change the word but the fact it was on the schedule last night means it wasn't "fairly suddenly"

suffolkblue, with all due respect we get the idea now. It's time to move on.