Capital's Lucio to front Hit 40 UK

Source: Music Week

 

Capital Radio’s drivetime presenter Lucio is taking over Hit 40 UK as part of a revamp of commercial radio’s weekly chart show.

 

Lucio, who won a Sony Radio Gold award this year while still part of Emap’s Kerrang! 105.2 in the West Midlands, will succeed Simon Hirst in the role starting on Sunday, October 22. Hirst has hosted the programme for two years.

 

The show, which is made by Somethin’ Else and sponsored by Woolworths, will not only focus on the Hit 40 UK chart but will also give a platform to new music. Beginning on October 22, the programme – which is broadcast by 114 commercial radio stations - will showcase the biggest forthcoming releases, while there will also be an increased focus on albums.

 

As part of efforts to make the programme more interactive, listeners will be given the opportunity to vote for new tracks they want to hear and also give their opinions on air and online via www.hit40uk.com.

 

Simon Long, Somethin’ Else’s senior producer for Hit 40 UK, says, “This is a really exciting time for Hit 40 UK. Download sales are surging and as the show evolves to continue to reflect the way music is being consumed, Lucio is the perfect figure head for the Hit 40 UK community. He’s passionate about music, is a keen supporter of new bands and an avid gig-goer. With the show becoming more interactive, Lucio will providing a platform for listeners to voice their opinions on the UK’s top singles and albums as well as putting their questions to the biggest stars every week.â€

 

Hit 40 UK managing director Rob Corlett adds, “We are really excited by this relaunch as it is a new approach to radio. It's taking all the best bits of how music lovers interact with music community websites, and doing it bigger and better on an integrated radio and on-line platformâ€

 

 

 

Excellent news, the prat who does it at the moment gets right on my nerves.

I just hope Hit40uk still plays all 40 of their record on the chart, But the way the press release goes it doesn't look good. :cry:

Lucio to take over hit40uk

National chart show hit40uk, produced by Somethin' Else has dropped presenter Simon Hirst in favour of Capital Radio drivetime host Lucio.

 

Simon has been presenting the show for just over two years, since Neil Fox stepped down after 11 years to concentrate on other work.

 

Even though hit40uk is second in the ratings to Radio 1's chart, he told Media Guardian today: "I'm fully confident that within just three to six months, the new show that we are putting together will be the most listened to chart show in the country.

 

"The dismal, bland and cheesy excuse for a chart that Radio 1 broadcast will really be no contest for us," he added.

 

Emap are ready to drop their own Smash Hits Chart in favour of hit40uk as the Lucio gets ready to present his first show next weekend (22nd October).

 

 

 

So Emap's stations: Metro, TFM, Viking, Aire FM, Hallam FM, Key 103, City FM & Rock FM will start to (re)take Hit40UK a week on Sunday.

One question is what will happen to the Galaxy stations in these areas that took Hit40UK when Emap started the Smashhits! chart in 2003?

There was supposed to be a new national dance chart show starting on Galaxy and Kiss (London), as well as some others. I've not heard anything about these yet though.

Hang on - I've just got this off the Radiojam website:

 

 

 

 

All change for Hit 40 UK

Lucio is the new presenter of Hit 40 UK, Radiojam can exclusively reveal.

 

Current presenter Simon Hirst will stand down as presenter of the national commercial chart show after three years.

 

The decision was made after it was announced the Fresh 40 will finally launch on commercial radio - an urban chart first proposed last year, alongside the A List. MC Dynamite will present the chart, which was delayed because no key sponsor could be found.

 

The Fresh 40 will begin broadcasting on the Galaxy network, while the A List is carried by Chrysalis' Heart stations, meaning that the Hit 40 UK will not be carried by any Chrysalis station. At the same time, Emap's Big City stations will drop the Smash Hits Chart in favour of Hit 40 UK.

 

It's understood that Emap specfically objected to Hirst presenting the chart on their stations, as they were unprepared to promote a presenter who competes directly with key stations in the Big City network - Hirst presents breakfast on Galaxy 105 across Yorkshire attracting half a million listeners every week, to the detriment of Emap's Hallam FM, Radio Aire and Viking FM.

 

Lucio is expected to present Hit 40 UK for the first time at the end of October, which will coincide with the launch of Fresh 40 on Galaxy, Kiss and several other commercial stations across the UK.

 

 

 

 

So it looks like from the 22/10 the will be Hit40UK, The A-List and Fresh40, along with Radio 1.

 

It also explains the politics behind the dropping of Simon Hirst. It's not too surprising that a Capital FM dj has got the gig - after all all the others were from Capital (David Jensen, Neil Fox, Pat Sharp). Also expect an Emap dj to do the holiday fill-ins too imo.