OFF AIR…Radio presenter Sean Coyle told listeners last Friday his show was now axed
Following Coyle’s emotional departure on Friday, presenter Joe Lindsay was filling in his morning Radio Ulster/Foyle slot from Monday.
But Sean’s fans have vowed never to tune into Radio Foyle again after his popular show was axed after five years.
It is understood the official new presenter is expected to be in place by either the end of September or the middle of October.
Front runner is Stephen Clements who was poached from his Q Radio breakfast show for a lucrative new contract at the BBC.
Coyle left Radio Ulster after more than 35 years with the station, with the 72-year-old occupying a prominent role alongside Gerry Anderson, before taking on the iconic show after his friend’s death on August 21, 2014.
Mr Anderson’s widow Christine branded the BBC’s decision to end the show “a disgrace”, with the news was broken as family and friends were marking the fifth anniversary of his death.
The wider outcry was led by `Derry Girls’ creator Lisa Magee, who described the decision as “madness”.
Coyle’s mid-morning show reportedly attracted an average audience of 82,000 listeners, the third most popular programme on Radio Ulster after the Nolan show and Good Morning Ulster.
The petition on change.org said: “Today Sean Coyle announced he has been axed in a terrible decision by BBC bosses to the upset of his many loyal listeners across Ulster and the world.
“Let’s petition the BBC to reverse this terrible, illogical decision and reinstate Sean”
He signed off on Friday “with a heavy heart” after a meeting with BBC bosses five days earlier revealed “there’s a whole new schedule coming off in Radio Ulster and Radio Foyle and they’re making changes and I didn’t figure in the changes, I wasn’t there.”
The late great erry and Anderson and Sean Coyle now axed from Radio Foyle
Said Sean: “When I see and hear the messages, the social media conversations from the public, emails, the phone calls to the house from former employees and former bosses saying that they cannot understand it and the reaction from people on the street, it is just so overwhelming.
“I want to thank all those who took the time to reach out to me. I really, really appreciate it all. There have been times I have had to stop reading the comments because it has made me so emotional.
“I knew the programme was popular. I knew the figures, but that is just a number, your listening figures.
“There were people crying down the phone saying that they were so upset about the show stopping.
“When you read on social media with faces and names attached, and the stories that are attached to them, about how much the show meant to people, it is very humbling.”
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