Peter Allen (UK broadcaster)
| Peter Edwin Allen | |
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| Born | February 4, 1946 Rochford, Essex |
| Occupation | Radio broadcaster |
Peter Edwin Allen (born 4 February 1946,[1] Rochford) is a UK radio broadcaster, and the current co-presenter of BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme.
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[edit] Early life
Allen comes from Essex, attending the independent Brentwood School with Jack Straw (Noel Edmonds was there three years later). At 18 he left school and worked for his local newspaper. He emigrated to Australia and worked for the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
[edit] Broadcasting career
Allen was ITN political correspondent until 1992 when he was one of "a string of high-profile resignations" following the company's budget cuts.[2] He left ITN to join London News Network.[3]
On 1 March 1994 the BBC announced that Allen was to host its new Breakfast programme.[4] In 1997 the Breakfast programme was extended by half an hour.[5] Also in 1997 The Times described the "witty repartee" of Allen and co-presenter Jane Garvey as the best illustration of the station's tone, "friendly, informal, brisk, and mercifully, not terribly politically correct."[5]
On 31 August 1997 Allen and James Naughtie hosted the BBC Radio coverage of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales which saw Radios 2, 3, 4 and 5 compressed into a single service.[6] This coverage won a Sony Award for best news event.[7]
During 13 years working together at Five Live, Allen and Garvey won 6 Sony Awards including the gold award for news broadcaster of the year in 2002.[8][9]
In 2007, the press, including The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, cited unnamed sources that Allen had been rejected as John Humphrys' replacement on Radio 4's Today programme because he was not "posh enough" and did not have an Oxbridge background. A BBC spokesperson responded, "The reason we are not commenting is that it is about whether or not someone went for a job that may or not exist. Consequently, we cannot really get into it."[10][11][12]
[edit] References
- ^ 5 live Best Bits
- ^ Henry, Georgina (1992-11-09). "Here is the news; ...and this is Trevor McDonald reading it. And making it, as News at Ten's first solo, American-style anchorman in place of the familiar double-act. But what's behind this change and all that hi-tech jazz?". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers): p. 2.
- ^ Wittstock, Melinda (1992-10-13). "After the break, trouble". The Times (Times Newspapers).
- ^ Brown, Maggie (1994-03-02). "Media merger rules 'unfair' to small firms; TV regulator attacks two-franchise limit". The Independent (Newspaper Publishing): p. 6.
- ^ a b Frean, Alexandra (1997-04-23). "Bringing politics a-Live". The Times (Times Newspapers).
- ^ Lawson, Mark (1997-08-31). "The death of Diana; Sky and CNN were first, but a royal death is a BBC matter". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers): p. 7.
- ^ McCann, Paul (1998-05-11). "Media: Magic on the air at Radio Five". The Independent (Newspaper Publishing).
- ^ Perthen, Amanda. BBC's golden couple split; One Show host Adrian Chiles and Woman's Hour presenter Jane Garvey break up after ten years of marriage, Mail on Sunday 29 June 2008.
- ^ Wells, Matt (2002-05-03). "John Peel wins top radio accolade". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers): p. 11.
- ^ Adams, Stephen (01 Oct 2007). "Radio 5's Peter Allen 'too common' for Today". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1564720/Radio-5s-Peter-Allen-too-common-for-Today.html.
- ^ Redmond, Camilla (2 October 2007). "Are the presenters of Today too posh?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2007/oct/02/arethepresentersoftodayto.
- ^ OLIVER, JONATHAN (29 September 2007). "BBC Oxbridge snobs stop radio star presenting Today programme 'because he is an Essex boy'". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-484768/BBC-Oxbridge-snobs-stop-radio-star-presenting-Today-programme-Essex-boy.html.
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