FEATURE:
Beyond Their Ken…
PHOTO CREDIT: Bauer Media/PA
Why Losing the Legendary Broadcaster Is a Massive Blow for the BBC (And Us All)
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THIS is meant to be a celebratory feature…
PHOTO CREDIT: Bauer Media/PA
but it started with some anger. Yesterday (24th February), Ken Bruce announced that his last show on BBC Radio 2 will be on Friday (3rd March). He already made the sad announcement that he was departing the station to work at the wonderful Greatest Hits Radio. Proudly featured and spotlighted on their homepage, the station is clearly very excited to have the legendary Bruce in their ranks. I think the oriignal plan was he was going to work at BBC Radio 2 until the end of March. Bafflingly, the station have asked him to leave earlier! The Guardian were among those who reacted to the shock news that Ken Bruce’s departure was moved forward:
“Ken Bruce has suggested he has been forced to leave the BBC earlier than he intended with his final Radio 2 show scheduled for next week rather than at the end of March.
The 71-year-old Scottish broadcasting veteran will present his final 9.30am-to-midday show on 3 March.
He wrote on Twitter: “I will be presenting my last show on Radio 2 next Friday. I had intended fulfilling my contract until the end of March but the BBC has decided it wants me to leave earlier. Let’s enjoy the week ahead!”
Vernon Kay, 48, is returning to the BBC to replace Bruce on the coveted mid-morning weekday show, the broadcaster announced earlier on Friday.
Bruce announced last month he would be stepping down from presenting on Radio 2 after 31 years.
The BBC confirmed Gary Davies, host of the station’s Sounds of the 80s, would present the mid-morning show from 6 March until Kay joined on a yet to be confirmed date in May.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Ken decided to leave Radio 2 and it’s always been known he’s leaving in March.
“Returning to [BBC Two’s base at] Wogan House for a week after a month of broadcasting the Piano Room sessions at Maida Vale provided a natural break. We wish Ken all the best for the future.”
Bruce is joining Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio in April to present a new mid-morning show from 10am to 1pm.
He has hosted the current incarnation of his show since 1992, and prior to that had worked at the broadcaster since 1978.
There has been widespread criticism of Radio 2’s recent effort to rejuvenate its lineup.
Longstanding DJs Paul O’Grady, Vanessa Feltz, Craig Charles and Simon Mayo have all left or announced their departures in recent months. Their replacements – such as Rylan Clark and Michelle Visage – are all younger, leading to ageism complaints from listeners.
Steve Wright also left his weekday afternoon show last year, replaced by former Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, but still hosts Sunday Love Songs and occasional specials”.
What was going to be a much-deserved and noble end of a career at the BBC now seems tainted and rushed! Bruce would have liked to have left when he originally intended, and I am not sure what logic can be applied to him being asked to wrap up next week. It is a massive sign of disrespect for one of the country’s most beloved broadcasters! I wish congratulations and praise to Vernon Kay on taking over. He will be a great replacement…and we always knew Bruce would not stay at BBC Radio 2 forever! The fact he is going to another station means we still have him in our lives. Not moving too far from Wogan House – Greatest Hits Radio is situated a short walk from that London Fitzrovia location in Golden Square, Soho -, we get to enjoy Bruce in a new setting. He joins a station that has broadcasters like Simon Mayo among their ranks. It is a great new home where Bruce will get to spin classic hits and terrific songs. Many of his listeners will follow him there, and he will recruit an army of new listeners and fans. I think we are going to see Bruce keep going on radio in the same way his BBC Radio 2 colleague Tony Blackburn has. Blackburn, now eighty, shows no signs of slowing down. Let us hope we have at least another decade of the magnificent Ken Bruce on the radio! It seemed like a slap from the BBC. The fact he is leaving and has been so respectful and professional has not been reciprocated.
I guess BBC Radio 2 will have a host of temporary presenters on his morning slot until Vernon Kay officially takes over later this year. We all love and admire Mr. Bruce very much! Someone who has been a stalwart of BBC Radio 2 for years and years, his iconic PopMaster quiz has brought the nation together. We all stop and play along at around 10:30 every weekday morning. It is a radio institute that he and he alone owns and is master of. I am glad that, alongside some nick naks and presents, he will be moving PopMaster with him to Greatest Hits Radio. I titled this feature what I did because, not only is Ken Bruce ‘our Ken’. He belong to an adoring worldwide audience. He seems like a relative who takes care of us each morning and makes us laugh! The fact that the BBC has chosen to let him go earlier than everyone likes will hit them very hard. It is beyond their comprehension how much he will be missed and what a loss he is to the station. Without doubt one of the major reasons the station is as popular as it is can be attributed to Ken Bruce! Vernon Kay will do a mighty job, but there is nobody like Ken that is for sure. After such loyal and loving service to the station, there is something almost hurried about his leaving. I should turn things to something more positive and lighter…
PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Merry
One can only imagine the mood inside and outside of Wogan House on Friday. I know there will be people waiting outside the building when he leaves for the final time. There are bound to be gifts and celebrations from his colleagues. Showing their affection for someone who has not only been with them for years. Ken Bruce has mentioned and inspired so many of his colleagues. A veritable messiah and sensei of the airwaves, there will be a massive void when he leaves. As this fellow article from The Guardian explains and explores, Bruce is a huge signing for Greatest Hits Radio. Someone who could have gone to any station he liked, he is with one of the best in the business. A station that plays a selection of classics from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, it has a verve for life and energy that is attractive to both younger and older demographics. My heart goes out to colleagues of his like Richie Anderson (who presents travel on Ken Bruce’s show), and Zoe Ball (who presents early breakfast before handing things over to him at 09:30). That walk out of Wogan House on Friday. It will be very sad and strange knowing that he may never come back! If foolish and unwise to let one of their greatest ever broadcasters go early, let’s hope that they have at least laid on something incredible when it comes to commemoration or leaving gifts. A simple card and cake is not sufficient or close to good enough when it comes to acknowledging how Ken Bruce has changed radio and created something truly magical and unique.
I am going to sign off soon but, rather than jab the BBC, it is worth highlighting how they have helped him grow this gigantic army of fans. There are so many reasons as to why his show has their biggest audience. Not only the must-hear and almost deified PopMaster. It is Ken Bruce’s warmth, his incredible humour and sharp wit, in addition to the way he can bond with the listeners and, as I say, almost seems like a family member. And, when a family member leaves us, the effect it has on us is devastating. Of course, we will adapt and follow him to Greatest Hits Radio - but things will not be the same without him at BBC Radio 2. Let’s hope that the station fully understands that and realises they will never have anyone like him at their station. He really was one of a kind. We all thank Ken Bruce for making our mornings so much brighter. How will he sign off? I’d like to think he’d start a speech and then give himself the PopMaster ‘clock’ (where, if a contestant does not answer quickly enough, there is a jingle that counts them down from five). When he appeared on the Fortunately… with Fi and Jane podcast back in 2019, he was asked about what he’d say if he ever left. Bruce made it clear there would be no huge speech and a lot of tears.
He would simply sign off and throw to the news. I suspect there will be more than that. I know there will be some tears. He will choke up a bit when he realises, whilst saying his thanks and goodbyes, just what has happened in the world since he joined the station. It is the end of an era. There will be a lot of thanks and I am sure colleagues will pop by to show their love and sadness. So will we all. We will be there. Whilst there is going to be an intense and very palpable sense of upset in the air and on the air on Friday at midday (when, I guess, he will pass things to Jeremy Vine), we have a lot to be happy about, knowing what he has done for broadcasting and millions of listeners. I hope Bruce has a chance to grab a Scotch someone close to Wogan House and reflect on everything he has given the nation (and the world) since he came to BBC Radio 2. He starts this exciting new venture at a terrific station that is going to ensure they keep him for as long as they possibly can! Bruce seems like he is already comfortable and happy there. Knowing that Greatest Hits Radio will allow him to do PopMaster and present the sort of show he wants, it will be exciting tuning in to his first broadcast there. I am not sure whether I have done justice to Ken Bruce or tried to vocalise what millions of people feel. He means something different to everyone, but I was compelled to react to the news he posted on Twitter yesterday – concerning the fact the BBC wants him to leave at the end of next week rather than nearly a month later. It will be so sad to hear his final broadcast, but we know he is going to a fantastic station and is very much going to be in our lives for many years to come. We wish the magnificent, irreplaceable and hugely loved Ken Bruce…
ALL the thanks and luck in the world.