To those who say that he just does the same thing every day and talks about the same things every day, remember that every daily radio show is the same every day!
All Scott Mills does every day is play pop music interspersed with the odd game or anecdote.
All the Today programme do every day is report on news and current affairs.
All Radio 3 do every day is play classical music.
And so on. Every radio show has a certain format, and you get exactly the same format day in day out. But as formats go, I would say Allen's show is the most original format on radio. I have never known of any other radio show which simply consists of 3 hours of monologue - I often wonder if any other such show exists anywhere else in the world!
There's no doubt Allen is an odd man. He is very mean-spirited at times, bordering on cruel (especially during his free podcast which seems to be much more vitriolic than his actual show). Yet there is clearly a sweeter side to him as well and people tell me he is very charming off air.
Long may he stay on LBC. Steve is a single man with no family and I get the impression the show is everything to him. There's a strange reciprocal arrangment between him and his listeners - thousands rely on him to stop them from feeling lonely in the early hours yet he too relies on them to combat his own lonliness. It sounds like a win win situation to me. There are too many formulaic call in debate shows on LBC and when Allen finally does go I hope they can find someone who can deliver the same format of show (although I very much doubt anyone else can).
I genuinely think Allen is one of the best kept secrets in radio. I think there are thousands more people out there who would love his show if only they knew about it. I often wish LBC would do a better job of promoting him.
All Scott Mills does every day is play pop music interspersed with the odd game or anecdote.
All the Today programme do every day is report on news and current affairs.
All Radio 3 do every day is play classical music.
And so on. Every radio show has a certain format, and you get exactly the same format day in day out. But as formats go, I would say Allen's show is the most original format on radio. I have never known of any other radio show which simply consists of 3 hours of monologue - I often wonder if any other such show exists anywhere else in the world!
There's no doubt Allen is an odd man. He is very mean-spirited at times, bordering on cruel (especially during his free podcast which seems to be much more vitriolic than his actual show). Yet there is clearly a sweeter side to him as well and people tell me he is very charming off air.
Long may he stay on LBC. Steve is a single man with no family and I get the impression the show is everything to him. There's a strange reciprocal arrangment between him and his listeners - thousands rely on him to stop them from feeling lonely in the early hours yet he too relies on them to combat his own lonliness. It sounds like a win win situation to me. There are too many formulaic call in debate shows on LBC and when Allen finally does go I hope they can find someone who can deliver the same format of show (although I very much doubt anyone else can).
I genuinely think Allen is one of the best kept secrets in radio. I think there are thousands more people out there who would love his show if only they knew about it. I often wish LBC would do a better job of promoting him.




