Pamela Ballantine (née Rolston, born 20 October 1958,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

)"Interview: The Pamela Pattern"
Belfast Telegraph, 30 January 2003, retrieved 10 January 2008 is a freelance

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

television presenter, best known for her 27-year career at UTV.

Broadcasting career

Ballantine began her broadcasting career at

Downtown Radio Downtown Radio is a Hot Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of AM, FM and DAB transmitters. As of December 2022, the station has a weekly audience of ...

as a secretary, and gradually moved on to reading and reporting for the Downtown newsroom, as well as presenting her own programme and covering for other programmes on the station. She later worked for

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It is ...

as a morning presenter before moving to Ulster Television as a continuity announcer and news presenter in 1983. Ballantine moved from the continuity department to become a regular newsreader on ''UTV Live'' at its launch in 1993. She went on to present and report for the nightly magazine show, '' UTV Life'', from March 1999 to February 2009. She was also a regular presenter and reporter for ''RPM''. and presented UTV game shows ''Ulster Schools Quiz'' and ''Hot Pursuits'' in 1994. In 2009, Ballantine returned to the UTV continuity department and became a relief weather presenter at the station. This followed press reports claiming UTV management had offered her the option of accepting a different role at the station or taking a redundancy severance package from the company. A year later, her staff contract with the station was not renewed. Press reports claimed UTV had told Ballantine that her role was no longer available and had offered her freelance work, which she later accepted. Ballantine continues to freelance for the station as a continuity announcer and ambassador, occasionally presenting the weather or newsreading. In 2016, she returned to presenting ''UTV Life'', which airs every Friday evening.

Writing

Ballantine worked as a weekly columnist for the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

''."Pamela, the Ultimate party girl"

, 31 March 2010, accessed 31 March 2010

Personal life

Pamela Ballantine was married to Downtown Radio presenter John Paul Ballantine until 1994.

References

External links

Pamela Ballantine's management company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantine, Pamela Living people Television presenters from Northern Ireland Journalists from Northern Ireland Radio and television announcers Television personalities from Belfast UTV (TV channel) people ITV Weather 1958 births Women journalists from Northern Ireland Belfast Telegraph people