Following on from yesterday's shock news that Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles is to be laid off due to cutbacks at the BBC-run station and replaced by a specially trained talking buttock, the BBC's Head of Radio has today announced that Radio 2 is to have a dramatic rebrand.
The station will now be known as Radio 1.99 to reflect the worsening economic times.
Internet discussion boards have been set alight by the news with one listener calling it 'political correctness gone mad'. The Daily Mail has launched a campaign to keep the station as Radio 2 and, in a hard hitting editorial, has said that the effect of the changes on house prices could be devastating. Meanwhile, the Daily Express has devoted it's front page to the news under the headline 'Radio 1.99 - Diana would have wept'.
In related news, it was also announced the Radio 5 Live would, in future, be called 'Radio 5'. The move follows reports that broadcasts thought to be made by 5 Live veteran Nicky Campbell were not live at all but made up of snippets recorded at the Brighton Star Home for the Chronically Bewildered.
Reports that Radio 3 is to be rebranded as 'Radio Jade' in response to the untimely death of the educationalist Jade Goody have been denied. In a statement, the BBC said that 'the Radio 3 brand accurately reflected the listenership which has been stuck at three for the past 42 years'.
