FOR decades they have been the kings and queens of the airwaves but the days of the DJ could be numbered after a major UK radio station axed its disc jockeys in favour of a computer.
Alternative music station Xfm yesterday unveiled a radical plan to drop presenters from its daytime schedule and replace them with an automated playlist.
Between 10am and 4pm, Xfm will play only music, interrupted by station jingles and advertising.
The restructure will affect all three Xfm stations in London, Manchester and Scotland, from May 29.
The station claimed the move was designed to "give listeners control of the airwaves", by allowing them to request tracks by SMS and online.
But according to a leading analyst, the cutbacks are part of a worrying trend spreading in the UK radio industry, where stations are opting to "hang the DJ" to balance a shortfall in advertising revenue.
At Xfm Scotland, the two daytime presenters being axed are Julyan Sinclair, the former Scotsport presenter and Fraser Thomson.
A spokeswoman said the two DJs would be offered alternative slots on weekends, but could not yet confirm exactly when.
Xfm Scotland has struggled to maintain its audience since it was launched in March last year, as a rebranded version of Beat 106.
It aimed to tap into a resurgence of interest in "guitar-led music", but listener numbers have fallen sharply, from 347,000 to 282,000 over the past 12 months.
UK commercial stations have been losing their listeners to the BBC. The official annual listening figures for 2006, the Rajars, revealed that the BBC had 54.4% of the audience share, thanks to the success of presenters such as Steve Wright, (6.5 million listeners) and Terry Wogan (8 million listeners).
Facing a shortfall in advertising revenue, many commercial stations are now following the example of North American stations by sacrificing the personalities that characterise their station.
Classic FM has begun using some pre-recorded programmes during its daytime, while Core, the national digital-only station, has gone further by turning into a non-stop music stream.
But the move towards "all music" carries its own risks. It puts the stations in competition with internet stations such as PandoraFM, which offer listeners entirely personalised playlists, based on their individual musical tastes.
A leading expert in the radio industry warned yesterday that Xfm is likely to suffer a significant loss in listeners.
Ken Garner, senior lecturer in media and journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "It is madness for radio stations to abandon presenters but in the current climate for advertising, nothing would surprise me.
"People tune into radio stations for the interaction with the presenters. But with a user-generated playlist, the only interaction is with your mobile phone."
Yesterday, Xfm issued a statement claiming the decision to drop presenters was purely a strategic move, designed to "hand over control of its airwaves to the listeners".
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