CHOICE FM came under further scrutiny this week following news it had axed all reggae shows from its weekday schedule.

According to sources, the London-based station once dubbed ‘number one for hip-hop and R‘n’B’ put the “final nail in the coffin” by moving popular reggae shows to “graveyard” weekend slots in favour of more commercial music.

“Choice FM have really done it this time,” a source told Voice Online.

“It wasn’t enough that they play Kylie Minogue and Madonna on the station, now they’ve basically taken off the only genre of music that clearly identified that the station was one that profiled black music. It’s the final nail in the coffin for them. They will lose a lot of their loyal listeners because of this move.” They added.

Choice FM has faced heavy criticism since Global Radio, owners of a number of dance/urban music stations, purchased the station in 2008 and made controversial changes to the station’s music policy and DJ line up.

In the latest move, all reggae weekday shows will be moved to 3am or 5am weekend slots and their old slots will be replaced by the daytime presenters who have each had an hour added to their three-hour show.

Under the new regime reggae DJs, Gammo Speng who previously hosted the 10pm-12am slot on Wednesdays and Thursdays has been moved to 3am-6am on Saturday mornings and Daddy Ernie whose former slot was 10pm-12am on Mondays and Tuesdays has been moved to 3am-6am on Sunday mornings. Fellow reggae DJ Natty B remains in the same slot, 11om-1am on Saturday nights.

Our source added: “It’s a kick in the teeth moving the reggae DJs to the graveyard slots. Who’s awake then? They’d be better taking them off the station all together! Choice FM? How about no Choice!”

Another source close to the station confirmed that all reggae had been “wiped” from daytime shows and that although some DJs might play the odd reggae song there was no specific show dedicated to the genre.

“Reggae has always been a staple on Choice and it always pulled in decent figures. But now, there’ll be no reggae in the week and it’s sad because reggae played such a predominant part in making Choice what it is. Reggae always gave the station its authenticity in the community. But now, you listen to Choice and you wouldn’t even know it’s Choice. There’s no diversity on the station anymore. ”

We contacted Choice FM, but at time of going online we still hadn’t received a response from their press office.