Subscribe I played radio stations in the bedroom did the school discos mobile discos
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I played radio stations in the bedroom, did the school discos, mobile discos - all those sort of things. I'd seen an interview in the local paper with a local presenter. I sent him a tape and he called a few weeks later and invited me to an audition."Rob's show at Broadland has often been the country's number-one breakfast show in terms of potential audience reached. "A typical listener comment would be: `You lot are mad, you're crazy, but you make us laugh.'"It's great when we hear that, but the financial rewards are not as good as the public might think - probably as good as a second division footballer."Tony Snell, BBC Radio Merseyside Sixteen years ago, unemployed bricklayer Tony Snell (left) saw an advert in his local job centre for people interested in radio. "Fifteen minutes into the interview I realised that it wasn't a job fixing radios," he recalls "But the guy persuaded me to get involved.
I think he just wanted to prove to the industry that you could pull someone in off the street and put them on air."He may have started as an Eliza Dolittle of the airwaves but, 16 years on, Tony still broadcasts on Merseyside from 8.30 to 11.30am. Based in a modern block in the heart of the city, Radio Merseyside is the biggest BBC local station in terms of audience size."We've got such a loyal audience, you could put two hours of test tone on and they would still listen," he says."It doesn't surprise me that we beat Chris Evans. If he's going on about condoms, the last thing you want is your seven-year-old daughter saying: `Dad, what's a condom?' Our listeners don't want to know whether Julia Roberts has bought a new Porsche, they want to know what that police helicopter was doing over their house last night. We get people coming on and asking for videos of an old Everton game, and a few minutes later you'll get someone ringing in with it. I can't imagine Terry Wogan doing that."Tony's finest hour came when he made the front page of the Liverpool Echo after he'd spilt some milk over his control desk and the whole city had heard the air turn blue. But despite a fondness for the city he doesn't shrink from criticising it: "There is an element who keep looking back and saying: `Wasn't it great with The Beatles, and when we were winning the FA Cup.' But that's all gone You can't go forward while you're looking back I'm also aware that I'm in a very well-paid job I go to nice places on holiday, I have a nice car But it's something I would never mention on air.
I have to remember there are a lot of people listening who haven't got two pennies to rub together."Though he readily admits that its image could be better Tony (or "Snelly" as he is known across Merseyside) is a stout defender of local radio: "I could name you three Alan Partridges and I'm sure the same goes for any BBC station, but I do feel that BBC local radio is a sleeping giant. It just needs a bit of freshness to wake it up."Mary Ann Kennedy, Radio Nan Gaidheal "It's probably the only news service in the world where you'll hear a report on Kosovo followed by an appeal for a missing cat," says Mary Ann Kennedy (above) of Scotland's national Gaelic radio service. Mary, 31, juggles a career as a harpist and folk singer with a full-time post as Broadcaster Without Portfolio on the station, which is based in Aberdeen."Because I'm a singer, most people know who I am but they don't necessarily make the connection between Mary Ann Kennedy the singer and Mairi Anna NicUalrig the news reader The workload can be a nightmare. I spend all my spare time singing: I didn't get home last night until one o'clock But I can pretty much work from anywhere.