BBC Radio 2 hit by listeners' anti-Evans protest

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 07-Mar-06, 11:00

LONDON - The BBC's decision to hand its Radio 2 drivetime show to Chris Evans has provoked a backlash from listeners, who have flooded BBC messageboards with complaints.

The posters' resentment has been increased by the belief that the BBC has been censoring their comments, which it denies.

The rebellion started last week when station controller Lesley Douglas announced that Evans would move from the Saturday afternoon show he began hosting last September to take over from departing drivetime host Johnnie Walker.

The decision reignited a discussion thread on Radio 2's website, which had originally been created by listeners opposed to Evans joining the station.

On Saturday, Douglas started a new thread backing the former Radio 1 and Virgin Radio DJ and claiming feedback from his Saturday show has been positive.

"All change is disruptive and I do not underestimate the effect that such a major change will have on listeners. Once the programme is on air I would be very interested in your reaction and feedback," she wrote.

Her post has so far attracted 437 comments, with the more outraged accusing the station of turning into Radio 1 and calling for Douglas to resign.

Some claimed that messages they had posted were censored, but the BBC denied the allegation saying it was due to the high volume of posts.

A BBC spokeswomen said: "Posts are only hidden when they are under review, but if they are libellous, break house rules etc, then they will be removed permanently and the user will be emailed to let them know why they have been removed. Some people may be complaining because their posts have been hidden yet they haven't received a note from us to state why.

"Bearing in mind Radio 2 has an audience of over 13m listeners, the BBC complaints unit had only received a small number of complaints about Chris Evans and the controller of Radio 2 has only received a handful of emails."

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.