Welcome to The Listening Post, where each week we get an insight into the radio listening habits of a guest contributor. Once each person has made their picks, we ask them to nominate someone for the following week's Listening Post...
Last week Rock FM Producer Sam Van Geffen provided us with his listening highlights. They included Annie Mac's Friday Night on BBC Radio 1, The Message Podcast and Wordaholics on BBC Radio 4. You can view his full selections here.
Sam has nominated Jon Jackson to provide this week's Listening Post. Jon is a Freelance Radio Presenter who has presented shows on networks including The Hits, Free Radio and Heart. He can currently be found on the new Virgin Radio network, every Saturday 4-7pm and Sunday 1-4pm.
Check out Jon's choices below...
Read moreSomeone who goes against the rules of radio
1. Late Nights with Iain Lee - talkRADIO, Weekdays, 10pm - 1am
"This is without question my favourite radio show in the UK at the moment and it’s only been on air for 4 weeks. Iain goes against many ‘rules’ of radio; he talks to the audience as a group, he openly admits he doesn’t really plan much and he doesn’t stick rigidly to topics as most talk stations do. It’s very much a freeform show. Take Wednesday night for example, in 20 minutes Iain spoke to regular caller Nigel, who performed a song he’d written for Miley Cyrus, first time caller Lloyd, who told an amazing story of how he escaped civil war in Laos 35 years ago and another regular caller Manny, who’s blind and had his white stick stolen! You tune in to Iain’s show and you genuinely don’t know what you’re going to get and that’s what makes it such an exciting listen."
>> Listen here
Everyone wants to be mates with Hamish & Andy
2. Hamish & Andy - Hit Network Australia, Weekdays from 4pm
"The secret to Hamish & Andy’s success is how genuine they are. They weren’t put together by a string of auditions and numerous demo sessions, these guys are best mates and they have been for years. They don’t attempt to shock or offend, they just want to hang out with you and have a laugh. They have an amazing way of pulling off ideas that sound like they should have been left in the pub after the show. How many other presenters would attempt to fill a bus full of listeners, put every fast food restaurant in the city on red-alert before trying to eat a Burger King entirely out of chicken nuggets in a Viking-style raid?"
>> Listen here
Great ideas that inspire UK radio stations
3. Kyle & Jackie O - KIIS 1065, Weekdays from 6am (Australia)
"When it comes to Australian breakfast shows - wherever Kyle & Jackie O go, the audience follows. The reason for this? Massive guests, great prizes and an incredibly well presented and produced show. Yes, they have the money behind them to casually chuck $1000 at a throwaway competition but it’s the laid-back and unforced feel of their show that makes it’s so listenable. The show is full of games, most of them with a risqué theme. At the moment we’re treated to ‘Taking it From The Rear’, ‘Cash Cock’ and ‘Three-way Friday’ where a listener calls their other half and has to try and persuade them to indulge in an activity certain celebrities would try to hide behind an injunction. You can tell how good their ideas are by how many UK radio stations take inspiration from them!"
>> Listen here
Steve says what 99% of us are thinking
4. Steve Allen - LBC, Monday - Friday, 4 - 6.30am
"Steve Allen is an acquired taste. Yes, he’s bitchy. Yes, he loves the sound of his own voice. Yes, he also has the most listeners at that time of the morning as a result of it. Steve’s show is very simple. He flicks through the papers, giving his (usually very blunt) take on the stories of the day whilst interjecting with tales of what he got up to after the show the day before. The thing I like the most about Steve is that he says what we’re all thinking. Towie? Ghastly. Made in Chelsea? Low-rent. Cheryl Fernandez-Versini Spag-bol? Dreary. If 4-6.30am isn’t going to work for you - he also records a standalone daily podcast."
>> Listen here
A master of the studio
5. Scott Mills - BBC Radio 1, Weekdays, 1-4pm
"Radio 1 was pretty much the only station I could pick up in rural Herefordshire growing up. I adored their presenters as a kid... Zoe Ball, Sara Cox, Chris Moyles, to name a few. They’ve all come and gone but someone who’s still there and in my opinion, still creating some of the biggest laughs on the station is Scott Mills. Scott is a master of the studio. I was lucky enough to sit in on his show once and I’ve never seen someone so comfortable and commanding in a radio studio. Then we have Innuendo Bingo. In my opinion, the best modern radio features are those that are great on the radio - but EVEN BETTER when you watch them. Innuendo Bingo is the best example of this - plus, we get to laugh at knob gags - what’s not to love?"
"The addition of Chris Stark was a stroke of genius - not only allowing Scott to back away from the really silly stuff but filling the sidekick role that was absent after Chappers left to grow a beard and talk about the football. Scott’s age is often brought up - can a man in his 40s really engage with an audience in their teens & twenties? Well I’ve loved Scott’s show throughout my GCSEs, A Levels, University and I still love it now as I enter my 30s..."
>> Listen here
Next Week's Listening Post
"I’d like to nominate The Hits/BC3 Breakfast Producer, Louis Chadwick. I worked with Louis at The Hits and he’s been key to my development as a presenter. I think he’ll have some pretty interesting choices..."
Check back next Friday for Louis' selections...
