Here's what Lesley Douglas (former BBCRadio 2 Head) had to say in yesterday's Guardian:
"Radio is a way of binding people together. At its best, it is magical. I remember, as a child, listening to Radio Luxembourg under the blankets on my transistor radio, and later James Whales' late-night phone-in on Metro. When I first left home and lived in Manchester, it was Piccadilly Radio and presenters such as Phil Wood and Mike Sweeney who made me feel part of a new, strange city. And then, when I moved to London, Chris Tarrant was London for me - I could not have imagined getting up and off to work without him (and desperately hoping he would pick my birthday on the Birthday Bonanza).
Listening to Tarrant made me aware that a lot of radio presentation is about pace; it is as much about silence as it is about sound. The most gifted presenters can say little, yet have the listener hanging on every word. Chris Evans is a lesson in how to connect with people. His listeners lived through his wedding, his house move and the birth of his son - he shared his joy, and listeners responded. On 6 Music, Adam and Joe lay bare the mechanisms of radio to great comic effect. In speech radio, the skill of John Humphrys and Evan Davis in explaining and probing the issues of the day is one of the great things about radio.
Listening to Tarrant made me aware that a lot of radio presentation is about pace; it is as much about silence as it is about sound. The most gifted presenters can say little, yet have the listener hanging on every word. Chris Evans is a lesson in how to connect with people. His listeners lived through his wedding, his house move and the birth of his son - he shared his joy, and listeners responded. On 6 Music, Adam and Joe lay bare the mechanisms of radio to great comic effect. In speech radio, the skill of John Humphrys and Evan Davis in explaining and probing the issues of the day is one of the great things about radio.
The traditional radio mantra is that you speak to one person, no matter how many millions are out there. You hear it with Jamie Theakston and Christian O'Connell; Geoff Lloyd does it brilliantly on Absolute. Words matter, too. That is why listening to a true wordsmith such as Guy Garvey on 6 Music - yes, Guy Garvey from Elbow - is the audio equivalent of lying in a warm bath: his turn of phrase, his soft tone, his passion for music.
And who could fail to be moved by the monumental achievement of Chris Moyles's trek up Kilimanjaro. As a listener you lived through his training, shared his doubts and revelled in his triumph. He talked, on the day he returned to his Radio 1 breakfast show, about his newly found "good guy" status.
Towering above the whole of entertainment/music radio is Terry Wogan. He sets the bar. No other broadcaster can start a sentence with James Joyce and end it with Midsomer Murders. Who else can throw Latin quotations into a link along with his newsreader's obsession with sailing and sheds? He works at every level - the profound and the ordinary. He is an iron fist of humour in the satin glove of delivery; he has one of the greatest voices in the UK, and one of the swiftest minds. If radio is said to have better pictures than television, the proof is in listening to Wogan describing the sun rising over London's rooftops. Great presenters simply make the everyday better".
And who could fail to be moved by the monumental achievement of Chris Moyles's trek up Kilimanjaro. As a listener you lived through his training, shared his doubts and revelled in his triumph. He talked, on the day he returned to his Radio 1 breakfast show, about his newly found "good guy" status.
Towering above the whole of entertainment/music radio is Terry Wogan. He sets the bar. No other broadcaster can start a sentence with James Joyce and end it with Midsomer Murders. Who else can throw Latin quotations into a link along with his newsreader's obsession with sailing and sheds? He works at every level - the profound and the ordinary. He is an iron fist of humour in the satin glove of delivery; he has one of the greatest voices in the UK, and one of the swiftest minds. If radio is said to have better pictures than television, the proof is in listening to Wogan describing the sun rising over London's rooftops. Great presenters simply make the everyday better".
