Producers of the commercial radio chart show, that'll be the Hit40 UK, have announced that Capital Radio drive time presenter Lucio will take over as host from next week. He will replace current presenter Simon Hirst, who is leaving after two years fronting the show.
The presenter change coincides with a format update, which will see various 'listener interaction' features added, though Lucio himself says that doesn't mean the show is going down the more magazine programme route adopted by Radio 1. In fact, he said this: “The dismal, bland and cheesy excuse for a chart that Radio 1 broadcast will really be no contest for us. Our chart will be all about the music with top name interviews and we'll be predicting future hits with first plays of songs months before release."
Rob Corlett, MD at show producers Hit40 UK Ltd, added: “We are really excited by this re-launch as it is a new approach to radio. It's taking the best bits of how music lovers interact with music community websites and doing it bigger and better on an integrated radio and online platform."