Monthly Archives: May 2005

Danny Baker Shuts Up His Tree House

So, I get back from my vacation and try to settle into my regular routine. Firstly, it’s disrupted by a strike by BBC journalists although I was amused that somebody quipped you could hardly tell and thus proving they’re over-staffed anyway.

I digress. What I came back to was the news that Danny Baker won a Sony Radio Award and promptly went on to quit his breakfast show:

The ebullient presenter is taking what the station described as “an extended summer holiday” after three years on the show, during which he will work on a film script for channel Five.

He told listeners: “We will reform and come back in another shape one day. People thought we were crying wolf … we were just crying. We’ve been saying it for a while now. We’ve been doing it for three years. We’re packing up the tree house at the end of the month.”

[The Independent]

Now that’s going to mess up my morning routine something rotten – there’s nobody else on air anything like Danny Baker. It’s not just the fact that he is the only speech-driven presenter that’s not news-based it’s because he is bloody entertaining. Ahhh. I think a paragraph from another article in The Independent says it all,

Such confidence that radio requires unique skills will always make Sony award-winning breakfast presenters highly sought after. But they have to be carefully looked after when they arrive. Getting up in the middle of the night to sound fresh at the microphone can become gruelling for even the most dynamic broadcasters. BBC London’s breakfast ace, Danny Baker, proved it with his response to Sony Awards triumph. Named DJ of the year, beating O’Connell, Baker announced his departure from the airwaves within the day. He is going to write a film script for Five. Radio executives searching the market for proven breakfast talent are hoping it flops

[The Independent]

On this day…

2004: Palme d’Or
2003: Amusing Connections in News
2003: Here We Go Again
2003: An identity crisis

Vote 2005

Well I’ve been to the polling booth and registered my vote in the general election and I suspect an interesting night ahead. Like all elections I will be glued to the television coverage and flick between channels but this year I have started on Sky News. The team at Sky have 16 mini-screens on the interactive service and one of them is a live shot of the Sky News production gallery. Already we have heard the director (or somebody) refer to one of the senior sky journalists who was calling on a mobile ‘phone as ‘that f***ing *** ******’ – or something almost that. I think I might watch this for most of the night. I think it is quite brave of them.

On this day…

2004: It’s May