Apple's Beats 1 radio service (part of Apple Music) is shaking up its weekday primetime programming starting January 8, bringing a new DJ to its daily lineup and moving around its primetime shows.
Matt Wilkinson, who formerly hosted Beats 1's weekly Saturday alternative music show, will now join Zane Lowe, Julie Adenuga, and Ebro Darden as a weekdaily presence on the network — he'll be broadcasting live from London from 6AM-8AM ET Monday through Friday, and will have Mike D of the Beastie Boys on to celebrate his new show on January 15.
Beats 1 Creative Director and presenter Zane Lowe says, "Matt's done fantastic work on Beats 1 - he's a natural on air talent with great music knowledge. Our new schedule reflects our commitment to bringing a live experience around every moment as it happens in music. Our audience wanted another daily show out of London - to highlight the incredible talent coming out of the UK."
Wilkinson has been with Beats 1 since June 2015, hosting an eponymous weekly Saturday show from London covering alternative music. He's also covered for Lowe's primetime show on occasion (and, in fact, is doing so this week, while Lowe is on holiday).
This is the first time since Beats 1's launch in 2015 that the primetime lineup has changed significantly: Adding another London voice at the 6-8AM ET slot will nix many of the replays and countdown shows formerly occupying that space; in addition, Julie Adenuga is moving from 3PM ET to 9AM ET, with Ebro Darden bumping up to the 3PM ET slot from the 6-8PM ET evening beat. Beats Creative Director Zane Lowe will continue to hold his flagship 12PM ET slot.
This move will no doubt increase the presence of Beats 1's big-name staff during primetime hours, leaving just single-hours available for fill shows between their air time; in addition, it frees up the ET evening hours (and PT afternoon hours) for the network's on-demand shows (like Elton John's Rocket Hour), which were previously relegated to 9-10PM timeslots.
Speaking of those late-night music hours, Apple is also slightly changing up its game in that arena: Previously, the 11PM-12AM ET slot was held by show repeats, but it's now introducing a new show from playlist curator Carl Chery called "#OnDemand". The 1-hour show will bring some of Apple Music's most popular playlists to the forefront — with witty commentary from Chery, no doubt.
Here's the new schedule from Apple:
NEW BEATS 1 SCHEDULE (Launching Jan 8, 2018)Matt Wilkinson: Monday to Friday 6am-8am ET - apple.co/mattJulie Adenuga: Monday to Friday 9am-11am ET - apple.co/julieZane Lowe: Monday to Thursday 12noon -2:00pm ET, 12midnight-5am ET - apple.co/zaneEbro Darden: Monday to Thursday 3pm-5pm ET - apple.co/ebroOnRepeat Live: Monday to Wednesday 11pm-12midnight ET
Are you excited about these changes to Beats 1? (Do you still listen to Beats 1?) Let us know in the comments.
