back to article Brum DJ canned for cutting short Her Maj

A Brum-based DJ has been given his marching orders after cutting Liz II's live Xmas broadcast and declaring: "Two words: Bor-ing." BRMB presenter Tom Binns was binned after listeners from the station, plus those tuning into Wyvern in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Mercia in Warwickshire, and Beacon Radio in the Black …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We are making contact with the small number of listeners ...

    How many people listen to BRMB on chrstmas day? Any that do are unlikely to realise that they are offended.

  2. Lottie

    He was only telling the truth.

    The queen IS boring.

    However, had he done this during an airing of Fat Bottomed Girls, I could understand the stations point.

  3. Jamie Jones Silver badge

    Give this man a medal

    Does anyone under the age of 70 give a crap about the queens speech?

    What an outdated institution

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    BRMB

    Does that stand for Brummy Resents Majestic Boredom?

  5. Jim Carter
    Pint

    Fire him?

    Should have given the man a bloody payrise...

    Mind you having seen him perform standup live I'd pay for it myself.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Other channels...

    It's not just broadcast on that one channel.

    These stations are ones where they share national sections, and even the music line up with local broadcasters in between.

  7. Stratman
    Unhappy

    Title required

    Did the station sack him for having an opinion on Betty, or just having an unapproved one?

    If he had spouted gushing obsequiousness about her would he still have a job? I think he would.

    1-0 to the Thought Police.

    1. Aaron Em

      Yo, Your Majesty...

      ...I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but...

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Two Words

    "He's Right!"

    Why aren't his bosses doing a cost-benefit calculation weighing the "small number of listeners who were offended by Tom's comments" against the undoubted multitudes who were delighted not to have been forced to sit through Brenda's tedious sappy anodyne drivel? If I had known he was going to do this, I would have tuned in twice!

    A beer to him for having the guts to say what everyone else was only thinking!

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    sitting on dry ice?

    The entrants in that competition deserve what they get for being totally stupid no matter what some muppet from the radio station says.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  10. DV Henkel-Wallace
    Go

    For Shame!

    I always liked sitting with my Nanna (boy I miss her!) and listening to the speech. It gave everyone a chance to finish their drink before the party started up again.

  11. Pat M
    Thumb Up

    You've got to check out his standup

    Their not realy doing him any justice- I saw him live doing a comody sketch; ivan brackenbury hospital radio DJ; It was bloody great.

    I'm shocked they alow him to do any live broadcasting having heard that, especially if their that uptight.

    Fair play to the bloke- If the queen want's to do something interesting she could disolve parliment until an fairly elected representitive came along, as a result of proportional representation.

  12. Paul RND*1000

    Semi-pointless institution

    "the small number of listeners who were offended" - says it all really, probably a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the listeners, unless they have *really* lousy ratings.

    I'm with the DJ on this one. Never had much interest in what HRH had to say on Christmas Day anyway and I don't miss it one bit now that I'm ex-UK. I always found it dry, boring and more than a little condescending ("annus horribilis"? Is that supposed to be Posh for "badass"? Plus we hardly need a monarch to tell us it's been a good or bad year for the country anyway, I think most peons, even the ones who read the Sun, can figure that out without the Queen's help.)

    Face it, the only reason to keep the Royal Family on the national payroll is because they're a great tourist attraction, especially where 'Merkins are involved.

  13. Pete 8
    Troll

    Sid Vicious said..

    "God save the Queen

    Her fascist regime

    made you a moron

    potential hate-bomb"

    Thanks Sid.

    1. NogginTheNog
      FAIL

      Sid Vicious said "wot?!"

      I think you'll find it was the infinitely more intelligent Johnny Rotten/John Lydon who said the above. Sid just played the bass sometimes (badly).

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    :Simon10

    The post states " plus those tuning into Wyvern in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Mercia in Warwickshire, and Beacon Radio in the Black Country" so that's three other stations, plus Beacon Radio Shropshire is a 4th. These are local stations owned by Orion Media and optional buy in feed such as the Top 40 or whatever it is called these days. Yes they were part of a large group GCAP media but if memory services me right where brought by another company all the stations were/are being convereted to Heart the ones mentioned here had to be sold off due to Heart already having a station covering most of these station foot prints. Point is they are still crap :)

  15. J 3
    WTF?

    Sitting on dry ice?

    That's Darwin Awards material right there. Did any of them become infertile (and hadn't had kids yet) due to the incident? Nominate them!

  16. Andy 97
    Thumb Down

    Unprofessional

    As someone who spent ten years behind the mic, I can't say I'm sorry to hear he got canned.

    Nice bit of PR for the station, however, I would wonder if he'll be working in the UK market for a long while.

    If radio is his main source of income I'd think he may need to retrain for a career in I.T.

    A stupid thing to do, even on a supposedly hip and groovy station.

    Even though you think it, you don't say anything about the Queen or Royal Family on radio. There are scores of estabilshment-crazed zealots (and even worse) automated logging stations all over.

    What a dick head!

    1. Cameron Colley
      Black Helicopters

      "...automated logging stations..."?

      Aren't most of those owned by the US, who don't care about the queen or operated on behalf of the government, who wish to abolish the royal family?

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    @ Simon10

    The post states " plus those tuning into Wyvern in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Mercia in Warwickshire, and Beacon Radio in the Black Country" so that's three other stations, plus Beacon Radio Shropshire is a 4th. These are local stations owned by Orion Media and optional buy in feed such as the Top 40 or whatever it is called these days. Yes they were part of a large group GCAP media but if memory services me right where brought by another company all the stations were/are being convereted to Heart the ones mentioned here had to be sold off due to Heart already having a station covering most of these station foot prints. Point is they are still crap :)

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sir, I salute you.

    The most trailed and most tedious yearly event. Bostin'!

  19. Will Godfrey Silver badge

    Should think himself lucky

    In many countries he'd be in jail now, and in more than a few he'd have been summarily executed.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    He's Bonkers!

    If he keeps on getting the sack like this, he'll end up only working on hospital radio or sommat.

  21. nowster

    Live?

    The Queen's Speech is never live. It's always pre-recorded several days before. The BBC and ITN take it in turns to record it. This year it was ITN's turn. I haven't checked, but I would suspect that the IRN network is used to distribute it to commercial radio stations on the day.

    1. Oz
      Headmaster

      Queen's Speech

      And while we are being pedantic, the Queen's Speech is delivered to Parliament when it re-opens for business. The Queen's Christmas message is delivered on the 25th December. I find both boring FWIW....

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    David Lloyd

    Your OBE is in the mail...

    Liz Mk 2

    1. Andy 97
      Thumb Down

      David Lloyd....

      Not forgetting all the "great work you did" when you worked at the Radio Authority......

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My Government

    A quick transcript of the Queens speech, in case you missed it:

    "My Government.. blah blah fishpaste moonwalk pickle warble...

    My Government ... wibble fribble barble lizard queen bibble bobble

    My Government ... I can't believe I'm saying all this crap about the shower of shites currently running the show...

    My Government... zzzzzzzz"

    1. spiny norman
      Thumb Up

      @Matt 89

      You're getting confused with Her speech at the opening of Parliament. The Xmas day one goes...

      My Husband and I ... blah blah fishpaste moonwalk pickle warble...

      My Husband and I ... wibble fribble barble lizard queen bibble bobble

      My Husband and I ... I can't believe I spend my Christmas afternoon talking to a load of couch sitting mouth breathers in shell suits. Hey, Camilla, is East Enders on yet?

  24. Piro Silver badge
    WTF?

    Sitting on dry ice? Frostbite

    Kind of sounds like something that would happen in parody, on, say, GTAIV, and not in real life. I guess people really are that stupid

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    the speech

    He should have been commended

  26. VulcanV5
    Stop

    Brilliant Radio Medium Brum

    BRMB is to be thanked, not reviled, for coming up with the idea that Her Majesty should deliver her Christmas Message whilst sitting on a block of dry ice.

  27. Daniel Owen
    FAIL

    From wiki

    CO2 changes from a solid to a gas at −78.5 °C

    Which genius thought it was a good idea to sit on something that cold? ROFL

    Read this on the beeb tbh and it's probably already got more publicity than it deserves.

  28. Keith Williams
    Coat

    you're missing the point.

    The management/ownership of the station decided that it would be appropriate to broadcast the HM's christmas message. The DJ decided differently, thus placing his judgement ahead of that of the management. Therefore management reacted and the DJ is no longer employed there.

    Here's your coat, there's the door.

  29. willowtoo

    Encouraging precedent

    Perhaps someone could dredge up a version of the truth that sounds plausible before leaping to conclusions

    >> From www.chortle.co.uk ( republished in the Dail Mail and others )

    However, the group of stations, which includes BRMB in Birmingham and Mercia in Coventry, was never meant to broadcast the Queen’s message in the first place.

    Binns told Chortle: ‘I was working on my own on Christmas Day; I’d even had to let myself into the studio. After the guy before me finished, we should have taken the news from Sky, and then my show would start.

    ‘But instead of the news, we got the Queen’s speech. I knew it shouldn’t be there, but having never heard it before, I didn’t know how long it was going to go on for.

    ‘I’m not trained to make editorial decisions, but I decided to get rid of it and make a joke. I said, “Two words: bor-ring”

    >>

    If true this looks completely different. Listeners should have been complaining about the Queen interupting Binns.

    I see the small number of complaints appears to be two, enough to lose him his job. Anyone care to complain about:

    Brown

    Cameron

    Clegg

    [other name of your choice]

    ( * tick all that apply )

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Sitting on dry ice until you get frostbite is ...

    ... pretty much the definition of a dumb-arse!

    1. Manas Straw
      Coat

      Re: Sitting on dry ice until you get frostbite is ...

      I think the word you are looking for is numb-arse!

  31. Mark Rendle
    Big Brother

    Legal case

    Doesn't he have a case for illegal dismissal?

    Oh, and @Will Godfrey, in many countries the Queen would have been summarily executed years ago, so perhaps she should think herself lucky instead of asking for an increase to the annual £8 million we pay to have our country represented by an out-of-touch old lady.

    1. peter_dtm
      Happy

      The Civil List

      oh what ignorance !

      The Royal family is paid out of the Civil List

      The Civil List is funded by the money paid into the government's thieving coffers by the properties and businesses that were transfered to the government FROM THE CROWN when the civil list was set up. The civil list runs at some 5% of the income generated.

      If you get rid of the Windsors; they get their family business back (loss of income to UK government 20 times the amount paid by the civil list)

      Why can't republicans ever ever bother to read the legality behind the civil list ?

      1. Alex 32
        Flame

        ...which dimwit voted AGAINST this fact? - "The Civil List"

        ok.. this smacks of "playgroundism" (TM) as some dimwit voted against Pete's post.

        It's fact, and a fact that many Ney-Sayers always stand dumbfounded at when confronted with these facts.

        Nice one Pete, a pint is on it's way to you! :-)

      2. Dan Likes Spoons

        You see, Tom

        "If you get rid of the Windsors; they get their family business back"

        To misquote my spiritual leader; "You know the phrase 'to get rid of something'? Well, I realise now that you meant that in a sort of Julie Andrews way. Whereas I was thinking more along the lines of Al Pacino."

  32. Dr Patrick J R Harkin

    This is BRMB we're talking about.

    And at 3pm on Xmas Day, none the less.

    He probably upset both listeners.

This topic is closed for new posts.