LBH Radio / The Scene - 2001 (2)

Alan Keen from Wonderful Radio London joins the team. More from the BBC 2 programme. Narrated by John Peel.------------------------- ----------------From the Daily Telegraph in 2001:TORQUIL RILEY-SMITH makes an unlikely gay-media mogul. For a start, the founder of LBH, Britain's first and only gay radio station, is heterosexual.Then there's his chequered business career whose highs (as a racehorse owner) have been book-ended by lows (a squandered family fortune and, most recently, a misjudged foray into the water purification business).Nor, on paper, does LBH's pedigree seem much more promising. Its music playlist steers clear of traditional gay favourites, such as Village People and Abba, opting instead for the likes of Kylie Minogue. The majority of its DJs are "straight" ("we're an equal opportunities employer," Riley-Smith explains with a grin) and the station itself is based in Colchester - culturally as well as geographically a long way from the gay hubs of Soho or Brighton.Yet a year after its launch, LBH (that's lesbian, bisexual, homosexual radio) appears to have defied the formbook.It may not yet be a household name but with an audience of 300,000 British listeners - and a string of "celebrity" interviewees, including Vanessa Feltz and Holly Johnson, the singer from Frankie Goes To Hollywood - it is well on the way to carving out a successful niche.Next Tuesday, the story of the station's roller-coaster first 12 months will be the subject of a BBC2 documentary, Queen of the Airwaves - part of the Trouble at the Top series that looks behind the scenes of struggling businesses.

Channel: Entertainment
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: radprog

Length: 06:52
Rating: 4.50
Views: 743

Tags: LBH  Medium  Offshore  Pirate  Radio  Satellite  Scene  The  Wave  

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