Re: [UK-Radio-Listeners] Terry Wogan voted BBC's greatest radio presenter of past 50 years.

[Colin Howard]

Greetings,

Thanks for this, I am pleased to note my Green is 25, but where is 48 in the
below list?

47. Paul Merton

49. Carys Matthews

50. Jimmy Young

I suspect you may join me in being surprised at some of the inclusions and
disappointed others are missed out!

Who else would you include and who do you reckon ought not to have been
included and why, in each case?

I, for one, am surprized Alan Freeman is not in the list.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Sweeney via groups.io" <tonymsweeney=gmai...@groups.io
To: <UK-Radio-...@groups.io
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2026 1:10 PM
Subject: [UK-Radio-Listeners] Terry Wogan voted BBC's greatest radio
presenter of past 50 years.

Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan voted BBC's greatest radio presenter of
past 50 years
by Fiona Audley

IRISH broadcaster Terry Wogan has been voted the BBC's greatest radio
presenter of the past 50 years in a Radio Times poll.
The Limerick native, who passed away aged 77 in 2016, was chosen for the
top spot by a panel of radio industry experts polled by the magazine.
Wogan first broadcast on the BBC in 1966 and went on the present the
Radio 2 breakfast show for 28 years - across two stints.
Unlike many other BBC presenters, Wogan never went to university.
Instead, he became a broadcaster by simply replying to an advertisement
placed by RTÉ in a newspaper.

He worked with Ireland’s state broadcaster before moving to Britain,
where over five decades he built a career as one of the country’s
best-known faces and most recognised voices.

Second place in the Radio Times poll went to 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.

The Today programme and Woman’s Hour’s Sue MacGregor took third place.
With McGregor, who also began her career at the BBC in 1967, noted as
the highest placed female voice and current presenter on the list.

Fourth place went to Radio 1’s longest serving DJ, Annie Nightingale,
while Alistair Cooke of Letter from America fame came fifth.

The poll was compiled to mark 50 years since the launch of BBC Radio 1
and the creation of BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4.

It 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.

The Radio Times top 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 Matthews

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

49. Carys Matthews

50. Jimmy Young
https://www.irishpost.com/entertainment/terry-wogan-named-bbcs-greatest-radio-presenter-past-50-years-public-vote-134983?utm_source=copilot.com