I don't think you're making a valid point.

It's perfectly possible to be incorrectly accused of something and still correctly accuse someone else in a different context. These two scenarios are perfectly able to co-exist.

I don't think Iain's ever made fun of people with mental health of depression issues. He will give people suffering such huge amounts of time on the air, often the whole slot between ad-breaks and news

But as one of the retweets says, Digital Spy does spend an inordinate amount of time writing up imaginary schedules

Iain addressing exactly the points made on here about the regulars, numbers of callers, and whether the show can seem cliquey or not. I always like his upfront-ness and honesty.

It's a perfectly valid point. If you accuse someone of racism without any proof, don't cry foul when the same happens to you. He seemed to take offence at a comment on the thread, when he comes out with plenty of sleazy comments to Kath and others. I don't mind the comments, but I do mind hypocrisy.

Hmmm - well, to be valid, you'll need to come up with something better than the BIB. On what occasion(s) has Iain accused someone of racism without any proof or reason? Otherwise, it's just you saying it, and it's not something I recognise. I stand by my point that it's perfectly possibly to be wrongly accused of something, whilst correctly accusing others. That isn't hypocrisy.

OOh - we were just referenced on Periscope! Hi Iain!

Tonight's show is a corker, and I'm not just saying that because he's reading this. It's a shot in the arm to have the new/newer callers, and hopefully some of them will ring in again in future.

But not too often, obviously

Sadly, I'm still too nervous to call in. I would freeze...

He has used the term for people who might want to call certain shows on LBC for instance. Like I say, I don't mind any of the comments he comes out with and I do not think he is a racist, sexist or whatever. I do think, however, that he would be wise to not read too much into comments on an internet forum.

I've been that way and honestly it's fine, you'll wait on line for awhile (which doesn't help with the nerves ) and suddenly you;re on the air

Iain is great, just have one thing to talk about, he'll probably take you off on a tangent and suddenly it's all over

I found the 2nd call much more nervous

Probably best to agree to disagree, but I don't recognise the picture you're painting or yet see the evidence for your earlier strong opinion. Personally, I think you're comparing apples with oranges, but to deconstruct that further would really de-rail the thread.

I really enjoyed the first time or newish callers show last night.

For me, where the show has a smaller listener base and even fewer regular callers, the show can become very predictable and pedestrian with the same callers repeating the same lines of chitter chatter.

What with some great guests, fresh blood and tales of animal milking it was a very fun show.

Maybe Iain should limit regular callers to a few calls per week instead of phoning in EVERY night . I think it encourages those that haven't phoned in before to have a chance. It's a bit like a small pub where the drinkers have formed a tight clique which might seem intimidating to those that want to pop in for a chat and shandy,

Just finished listening to the show, and what a show. I am a strong supporter of regular callers and don't mind them calling in most nights. But there is always something special about new caller shows and last night was no different. Also you usually get a past regular caller who hasn't yet phoned on talkRADIO, and last night we had Stacey from San Diego who I used to chat to quite a bit either on here or on the Iain on Absolute Facebook page. Nice to hear Iain mention Louise from Barnsley last night, famous for calling Nick Abbot a lot on Real Radio and LBC pre-Global and I wish she would call in again.

I know I keep saying this but the only time we'll start hearing an increase of new callers on TalkRadio is the minute the 0844 number is dropped, but for some very strange reason the station management just will not back down.

The lack of promotion would seem to play a part as well. I dunno. I'm not a radio guru or investor or any bally thing, but from a layman's point of view is seems a shame to start a new radio station and not give it a chance by not bothering to tell anyone it exists. Surely promotion is normally built into budgets, etc? Why do they think they can spend all this money on setting it up and then magically people will suddenly listen to it? Maybe I'm talking balls and they all know what they're doing and good luck to 'em. Just strikes me as hobbling yourself before you start. The concept of promotion to generate sales/listeners has been around for a very long time.

I don't see the 0844 as much of an issue, how long does the call last. easily less than 2 minutes possibly less than a minute,. I make the call via Skype and it's never been more than €1 but of course that's become a lot cheaper for me of late

Anyone who wants to rant about Brexit, Muslims or NHS cut backs isn't going to care about a 5p per minute phone call. I know you want something to blame, but it really isn't the phone number for anyone but a handful of Internet nerds who pay any attention to such matters and then foam at the mouth over 5p/minute phone calls.

0844 is expensive if you dial direct from most UK mobiles. AFAIK, the cheapest way is using the 1899 service. The website says 084 numbers are 7p per minute plus 5p connection charge but it is silent on Access Charges, so they may not be levying them. My last few calls to talkRADIO (using 1899 from a landline) have cost:

20p (1 minute 10 seconds)
52p (5 minutes 3 seconds)
92p (10 minutes 37 seconds)

1899 can also be used from a mobile using a freephone 0808 number.

So are lots of calls from UK mobiles. It doesn't stop millions of people voting in reality TV shows or more than enough people phoning Jeremy Vine every day. They feel as passionately about that stuff as others do about Brexit, paedophiles, Muslims or Jeremy Corbyn when TalkRadio are discussing it. Credit people with that.

To blame a phone number as the sole reason for a lack of calls is naive at best, desperate at worst. The station's ratings are hardly spectacular. Even Virgin Radio has considerably more, and it offers nothing that many other stations don't already provide. You can argue that Talk Radio is a genuine alternative from LBC, TalkSport, Jeremy Vine, Five Live and Radio 4. But it still hasn't attracted as many listeners as other stations that launched at the same time.

The phone number isn't to blame. The number of calls reflects the size of the audience and the subjects being discussed.

Tonight's show is all straight-to-air, not just the last hour.

https://twitter.com/iainlee/status/769152146575065088

Micky Dolenz on Radio 2 right now - yet again!

There's been so much airplay of their last single and interviews with them in the last few months on Radio 2.

Has Iain Lee got any of them on the show yet? They have a special compilation album to promote. Does Iain Lee own some kind of company that sells or licences their music in the UK or something like that?


Might phone up after 11pm, if I'm in by then. I haven't listened in a couple of months. Perhaps Ed has tonight off in return for working the bank holiday or something like that?

If you do phone in, I dare you to identify yourself as "Isambard Brunel from Digital Spy!"

My last call (1min 20 seconds ) cost the princely sum of €0.36 or 25p so I don't see cost as a reason not to call. I use Skype as it looks to avoid additional mobile charges

Sweet 😊

Oh.... if only Skype were available on the mobiles of Digital Spy users, in the same way that ad blockers are available on the web browsers of Digital Spy users...


Dares don't do it for me. I'm above 14 and don't have that kind of ego. Feel free to complain to the mods about this post if you think Iain Lee wouldn't like it