Terry Wogan named the greatest BBC radio presenter of the last 50 years
The Radio 2 stalwart posthumously took the top spot in a poll of radio experts
Sir Terry Wogan has been named the greatest BBC radio presenter of the last 50 years in a poll of radio experts conducted by Radio Times.
Wogan – who passed away aged 77 in 2016 – first broadcast on the BBC in 1966 and went on the present the Radio 2 breakfast show for 28 years (across two stints).
Radio 1 favourite John Peel, who joined the station a month before it launched in 1967 and continued to broadcast on the network until his death in 2004, took second place. Peel, who is widely revered for his broad musical tastes, was also honoured for his work on his Home Truths series on Radio 4, which he presented from 1998 onwards.
The Today programme and Woman’s Hour’s Sue MacGregor took third place. McGregor, who also began her career at the BBC in 1967 is the highest placed female voice and current presenter on the list.
Radio 1’s longest serving DJ, Annie Nightingale took fourth place, while Alistair Cooke of Letter from America fame came fifth and Kenny Everett – who was sacked by both Radio 1 and Radio 2 – filled the sixth slot.
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Woman’s Hour made quite the showing in the Top 10, with Jane Garvey in seventh place and Jenni Murray filling the tenth slot. Meanwhile Sorry I Haven’t a Clue chairman Humphrey Lyttelton came eighth and Radio 4’s PM presenter Eddie Mair took ninth position.
The poll, to mark 50 years since the launch of BBC Radio 1, and the creation of BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4, asked leading radio broadcasters, industry figures and critics for their top 15 broadcasters of the last 50 years from which the names were then ranked. Contributors included: former Heads of BBC radio, Jenny Abramsky and Helen Boaden, Ken Bruce, Paul Gambaccini, Bob Harris, Joh Humphrys, Shaun Keaveny, Bridget Kendall, Philip Pulman, Jenni Murray, Jeremy Vine, Steve Wright and Kirsty Young.
50 greatest BBC radio presenters:
1. Terry Wogan
2. John Peel
3. Sue MacGregor
4. Annie Nightingale
5. Alistair Cooke
6.Kenny Everett
7. Jane Garvey
8. Humphrey Lyttelton
9. Eddie Mair
10. Jenni Murray
11. Brian Redhead
12. Kirsty Young
13. John Humphrys
14. Melvin Bragg
15. Danny Baker
16. James Naughtie
17. Fi Glover
18. Linda Smith
19. Nick Clarke
20. Tony Blackburn
21. Sue Lawley
22. Paul Gambaccini
23. Corrie Corfield
24. Mark Radcliffe
25. Charlotte Green
26. Chris Evans
27. William Hardcastle
28. Mishal Husain
29. Alan Coren
30. Brian Johnston
31. Nicholas Parsons
32. John Arlott
33 Libby Purves
34. Peter Jones
35. Victoria Derbyshire
36. Steve Wright
37. Brian Matthew
38. Ken Bruce
39. Graham Norton
40. Patricia Hughes
41. Jeremy Vine
42. Peter Allen
43. Chris Morris
44. Sandi Toksvig
45. Nicky Campbell
46. Johnnie Walker
47. Paul Merton
48. Dapne Oxenford
49. Carys Matthews
50. Jimmy Young
