The Sweetest Plum bumped to 9PM Weekdays

One of the great new shows on radio this year has been the Sweetest Plum on Triple M radio.

Declan Fay and Nick Maxwell started off doing the "Sweetest Plum" podcast in 2010, which rapidly shot up the iTunes charts. This led to them getting a gig on Triple M 104.9 Sydney in the 4-6PM Monday to Thursday "drive" shift (with Roy and HG doing their show on Fridays). They also assembled a show of the week's best bits for Melbourne's Triple M 105.1 on Fridays.

Unfortunately, since starting the show early in the year, they couldn't manage to lift ratings for the Drive slot- it even slipped a few points south.

But this was not an accurate representation of the quality of the show they put together everyday (it is/was the funniest thing currently on radio, with some calling them the next Martin/Molloy)- and it was every week-day, with a Podcast-only "Friday Drinks" podcast being released on, well, Fridays (this is something that dedicated fans really value, such as back in the day when Spoonman had his night show and released a complementary After the Forking Show Podcast every so-often).

Hopefully these continue.

You just have to put this "bump" down to the results-driven cut-throat world of commercial radio.

However, loyal listeners can at least take solace in the fact that they will be on 9PM weekdays nationally, as well as keeping their Friday show in Melbourne.

And speaking of interstate listeners, they will not really notice much of a difference in terms of podcasts, and the 9PM slot will also allow them to work a lot "bluer". The only downside to the move is that they could have built a stronger following in the Drive shift (more people listening, etc.), and it is somewhat of a "sweeter plum" in terms of a gig (if you will), however it seems that all involved are focussing on the positive.

The move will presumably have them after the Peanut Gallery (whose show airs from 7-9PM Monday to Thursday).

And I guess Triple M should be commended for keeping them on board and at least showing some commitment to producing comedy (most of their other shows have a news/sport skew) like the good ol' days of Martin/Molloy, The Cage (Melbourne), Get This, etc.

But I repeat, this is not an obituary, and if anything I hope it serves to draw more pairs of ears (?) to the program in its new timeslot to help it find a bigger following.

Those bloody scallop-industry thugs...