Radio bosses have 'lost the gift' for recognising real talent

Published on Friday 4 September 2009 19:45

RADIO 2 favourite Ken Bruce has criticised broadcasters for giving radio shows to television stars who are not up to the job.

Mid-morning host Bruce, 58, was also critical of the trend for network chiefs to recruit stand-up comics instead of those who have worked their way up through the radio ranks. He said radio executives "have lost their gifts as talent-spotters".

Among those to have hosted Radio 2 shows in the past few years have been Russell Brand – who resigned after the Andrew Sachs row – and Alan Carr, although Bruce would not name names.

The presenter, who has a regular audience of more than six million, said: "I have great admiration for people who do fast-moving live television, but an awful lot of television is just stand up, smile and you really often don't have to think for yourself.

"A lot of television personalities have done great radio, such as Jonathan Ross, but too often a famous face is parachuted into a prime radio slot with no experience of, or particular aptitude for, the medium."

In his memoir Tracks Of My Years, published today, Bruce goes further, saying: "Stand-up comedians are also seen as a ripe recruiting area, and here too there are many who have a real gift for the intimate communication that radio needs, but there are far too many who simply come on and do a version of their act.

"Loud, larger-than-life performances work in clubs and theatres, but not on radio."

He continues: "There are very few young broadcasters coming up in the way I did, being allowed to do a music programme with no format.

"There's nowhere for people to learn how to do it. At commercial stations, young presenters are encouraged only to give the name of the station and talk for less than 15 seconds. That's not how you learn to do radio."