BBC Radio Oxford presenter Sybil Ruscoe is off again, prompting a reshuffle at the station.
And Mike Knibbs, the ex-police officer who does travel bulletins on the breakfast show, has been told his contract is not being renewed.
Managers at Radio Oxford said the changes had been prompted by Ms Ruscoe's departure, and were not due to financial cutbacks.
Ms Ruscoe, 45, was a popular replacement for Anne Diamond in the breakfast show slot last year, but quit after six months to concentrate on other projects.
She returned earlier this year to fill the afternoon slot but, after six months, she is leaving again.
Early morning show presenter Jo Thoenes will take her place, and Joel Hammer will take the 5am slot. The new line-up will begin on Monday, September 24.
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Mr Knibbs, 63, from Oxford, known to listeners as 'the Nibbler', told the Oxford Mail: "I'm very disappointed - this came out of the blue.
"I was able to use my local knowledge to give listeners regular updates and now it will be done from a traffic link in London. They obviously don't know the roads and the area as well as I do.
Mike Knibbs
"I gather this is all down to finances but I would even be prepared to do this on a voluntary basis because I think it gives the listeners a good service."
BBC bosses said last night they were looking at ways of keeping Mr Knibbs in the Radio Oxford family.
Ms Ruscoe, a former BBC Radio 1 and Five Live presenter, who lives in Stow-on-the-Wold, in Gloucestershire, said yesterday: "I only planned to do the afternoon show for six months because I want to get on with writing a novel.
"My novel will look at life behind the scenes in broadcasting - it will be Bridget Jones meets Smashie and Nicey with a bit of Jilly Cooper thrown in.
"I'm sure I'll be back at Radio Oxford to fill in for other presenters at some point. I love working there."
Radio Oxford fan Derek Honey, from Witney, said: "I'm sorry to hear Sybil's leaving again because she's the station's greatest asset.
"Mike Knibbs has done a good job with the travel bulletins and obviously knows the local area so it will be sad to see him go."
He added that he hoped the station could do more with presenter Tim Bearder.
Darren Gough, 42, from Banbury, said: "I'm shocked and saddened to hear that the Nibbler is going because he has got great local knowledge and now the travel will be done from London. Sybil is the best thing to happen to Radio Oxford since we lost Ali Booker, but Jo Thoenes should be a good replacement."
Radio Oxford assistant editor Will Banks said it was a great shame Mike Knibbs' contract was not being renewed and thanked him for "a first-class service".
[quote][bold]C[/bold] wrote:
Personally I couldn't give a toss whose on, I don't listen to that mind-numbingly boring station anyway![/quote] You're interested enough to read and comment on it though,may be you are a closet listener?
C wrote:
Personally I couldn't give a toss whose on, I don't listen to that mind-numbingly boring station anyway!
You're interested enough to read and comment on it though,may be you are a closet listener?
Posted by: Christian, Oxford on 10:06am Sat 8 Sep 07
This is a disgrace to BBC Radio, They call it local radio then remove a local traffic show host to instead offer us links from London.
Please join me in supporting the Nibbler, by signing the ipetition:
[bold]http://www.ipetition
s.com/petition/keept
henibbler[/bold]
This is a disgrace to BBC Radio, They call it local radio then remove a local traffic show host to instead offer us links from London.
Please join me in supporting the Nibbler, by signing the ipetition:
[quote][bold]Terry chandler[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]C[/bold] wrote: Personally I couldn't give a toss whose on, I don't listen to that mind-numbingly boring station anyway![/quote] You're interested enough to read and comment on it though,may be you are a closet listener?[/quote] Just because I read a comment in the paper that makes me a listener? D'oh!
Terry chandler wrote:
C wrote: Personally I couldn't give a toss whose on, I don't listen to that mind-numbingly boring station anyway!
You're interested enough to read and comment on it though,may be you are a closet listener?
Just because I read a comment in the paper that makes me a listener? D'oh!
Posted by: Mike Stranks, Oxford on 2:47pm Tue 11 Sep 07
My role in the BBC South Audience Council is to reflect back to BBC 'bosses' the views and comments of listeners and viewers. Although I have a group of people I regularly consult, I'm always happy to receive new opinions. Contact me at mike_stranks@ntlworl
d.com
My role in the BBC South Audience Council is to reflect back to BBC 'bosses' the views and comments of listeners and viewers. Although I have a group of people I regularly consult, I'm always happy to receive new opinions. Contact me at mike_stranks@ntlworl
d.com
Posted by: John Kennedy, Ardley on 9:58am Wed 12 Sep 07
If you lose Mike Nibbs you lose me as a listener to Fox FM.
I want [bold]LOCAL[/bold] traffic reports not some numpty 60 miles away looking at generic traffic info.
If you lose Mike Nibbs you lose me as a listener to Fox FM.
I want LOCAL traffic reports not some numpty 60 miles away looking at generic traffic info.
Posted by: Roddas, Wantage on 8:49pm Fri 14 Sep 07
I think the Nibbler is awful, he has no personality and is almost incoherent if he has more than 1 thing to say so I am delighted he is going!
As for Shabina, she needs the 5am slot before most of us are up and let us have someone we can actually wake up with properly in the morning doing the main breakfast slot.
I think the Nibbler is awful, he has no personality and is almost incoherent if he has more than 1 thing to say so I am delighted he is going!
As for Shabina, she needs the 5am slot before most of us are up and let us have someone we can actually wake up with properly in the morning doing the main breakfast slot.
I used to take part in radio O many moons ago..I know Martin stanford (sky News)from his beginings at radio Oxford..I know timmy Mallet from my past with R.O
The station isnt what it was but people like the Nibbler with local road reports are dedicated and needed,loved and wanted on OUR local radio.
people like Sybil are "users"..i never ever felt she was dedicated to "our" station.
Danny Cox is the only presenter who saeems real and supportive of our area except Bill Heine who has been around for years and seems dedicated to the area.
I used to take part in radio O many moons ago..I know Martin stanford (sky News)from his beginings at radio Oxford..I know timmy Mallet from my past with R.O
The station isnt what it was but people like the Nibbler with local road reports are dedicated and needed,loved and wanted on OUR local radio.
people like Sybil are "users"..i never ever felt she was dedicated to "our" station.
Danny Cox is the only presenter who saeems real and supportive of our area except Bill Heine who has been around for years and seems dedicated to the area.
[quote][bold]Simon[/bold] wrote:
<SPAN id=google-navclient-hilite style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">Radio</SPAN> <SPAN id=google-navclient-hilite style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: cyan">Oxford</SPAN> would quadruple its listener numbers if it got shot of the dreadfully thick Shabina[/quote] We switched off and went to Radio 4.
Simon wrote:
<SPAN id=google-navclient-hilite style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow">Radio</SPAN> <SPAN id=google-navclient-hilite style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: cyan">Oxford</SPAN> would quadruple its listener numbers if it got shot of the dreadfully thick Shabina
What the station needs is stability. Changing presenters every six months is akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The Breakfast Show is the flagship program and yet we have Shaina who is an uneducated and totally unskilled presenter, I fear due to her ethnicity she'll be around for a long while to come. Moving the travel reports to a central office also goes completely against the "we know Oxfordshire" jingle. Everyone knows it's the A-thirty-four that runs through Oxfordshire and yet we're repeatedly told it's the A-three-four, all this does is confuse the listener. If finances are a problem then it would be better for all concerned to shut up shop and turn off, this second rate rubbish that's being churned out is just completely pointless.
What the station needs is stability. Changing presenters every six months is akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. The Breakfast Show is the flagship program and yet we have Shaina who is an uneducated and totally unskilled presenter, I fear due to her ethnicity she'll be around for a long while to come. Moving the travel reports to a central office also goes completely against the "we know Oxfordshire" jingle. Everyone knows it's the A-thirty-four that runs through Oxfordshire and yet we're repeatedly told it's the A-three-four, all this does is confuse the listener. If finances are a problem then it would be better for all concerned to shut up shop and turn off, this second rate rubbish that's being churned out is just completely pointless.
Posted by: Ronnie Koch, Oxford on 12:48pm Sat 3 Nov 07
Knibbs was great in the floods. There was so much to say and he became barely coherent. The travel is less local now but with far fewer 'errr's' and doesn't assume you know the name of every hamlet in the cunty.
Knibbs was great in the floods. There was so much to say and he became barely coherent. The travel is less local now but with far fewer 'errr's' and doesn't assume you know the name of every hamlet in the cunty.
Posted by: Neil Earl, Wheatley on 1:51am Sat 28 Jun 08
Has Shabina left ? If I had a pound for every time she said ' Morning ' or 'Good Morning ' I'd be a millionaire by now ... bring back Mike Knibbs on the traffic .... because I know **** well that the reports from Tom will be wrong ... especially reports about traffic on the eastern bypass ... if he doesn't mention bad traffic ... it is guaranteed there is log-jam near Littlemore and up to the A34 ... and if he says it is busy it never is ... I travel that way every day to work ... at least I could rely on what Mike Knibbs said .... how Shabina got a job on radio I will never know ... she is the most annoying presenter I ever heard in my life ... I wish I could earn money saying 'Morning' and talking crap like her
Has Shabina left ? If I had a pound for every time she said ' Morning ' or 'Good Morning ' I'd be a millionaire by now ... bring back Mike Knibbs on the traffic .... because I know **** well that the reports from Tom will be wrong ... especially reports about traffic on the eastern bypass ... if he doesn't mention bad traffic ... it is guaranteed there is log-jam near Littlemore and up to the A34 ... and if he says it is busy it never is ... I travel that way every day to work ... at least I could rely on what Mike Knibbs said .... how Shabina got a job on radio I will never know ... she is the most annoying presenter I ever heard in my life ... I wish I could earn money saying 'Morning' and talking crap like her
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