Richard Park (born 10 March 1948), is Senior Programming Advisor at
Global Media & Entertainment
Global Media & Entertainment Limited, trading as Global, is a British media company formed in 2007. It is the owner of the largest commercial radio company in Europe having expanded through a number of historical acquisitions, including Chrysa ...
where he advises on all Global brands including
Capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
,
Capital XTRA
Capital XTRA (formerly Choice FM) is a Global Media & Entertainment, Global-owned radio station that broadcasts on 96.9 FM broadcasting, FM and 107.1 FM in Greater London. Nationally, it is heard on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB Digital Ra ...
,
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
,
LBC
LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...
,
Classic FM,
Smooth
Smooth may refer to:
Mathematics
* Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology
* Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions
* Smooth algebraic ...
and
Radio X. He was previously a media consultant and broadcaster in the UK.
Professional career
Voted most influential person in the music industry by Record and Radio Industry Executives in 2001, Park began his career as a Pirate DJ on offshore station
Radio Scotland
Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave (242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in ...
in 1966. Later he joined the fledgling BBC Radio 1 network presenting such programmes as The Radio 1 Club and Round Table show.
In the mid-1970s, he joined
Radio Clyde
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Gr ...
specialising in music and sport programming working his way up to be Head of Entertainment. He hosted a variety of shows and also became the football station's regular
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
commentator, working alongside summariser James Sanderson.
Park moved to London in 1987, to become Programme Controller at
Capital Radio
Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
. He was instrumental in promoting
Pete Tong
Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and ''Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio stre ...
,
Tim Westwood
Timothy Westwood (born 3 October 1957) is a British DJ and presenter. He is often referred to by other DJs and artists appearing on his shows simply as Westwood. He was described by ''The Guardian'' in 2022 as "a veteran of the hip-hop scene ...
and
Neil Fox.
In 1996, he formed
Wildstar Records
Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004.
Background
Telstar was founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,00Telstar RecordsIt was launched as a specialist compilation mar ...
, uniting Capital and Telstar Records. As Director, he was responsible for signing
Craig David
Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...
. In 1997, he was responsible along with executives from
LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
for creating the short-lived television show "Live From The Capital Cafe" which was simulcast on
Capital Radio
Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
. Presented by Dani Behr & Jason Bradbury the 90min show broadcast just after 11pm on Friday nights lasted only four weeks, it did not return for a second season.
In 2001, after 14 years with Capital, he left to set up his own consultancy company, Park Management. Two years later, he set up Park Records, a joint venture with
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...
.
He was also Radio Consultant for
Emap
Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
Ric ...
, working on Magic and Big City networks. In 2004 and 2005, Park appeared on London's
LBC 97.3
LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment, Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed Commercial broadca ...
as presenter of their Weekend Breakfast Show and stood-in for Nick Ferrari & James O'Brien on the mid-morning weekday phone-in. In the Summer of 2005, he also presented a series of Saturday sports shows on
talkSPORT discussing a wide range of sporting topics including football, cricket, rugby and tennis. He appeared as himself in the 2005 Christmas special of ''
The Catherine Tate Show
''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on B ...
''.
Lauren
Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius. ...
and her friends perform a version of the
Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...
' "
Shut Up
Shut may refer to:
*Yana Shut (born 1997), Belarusian snooker and pool player.
* ''Shut'' (1988 film), directed by Andrei Andreyevich Eshpai.
* ''Shut'' (2009 film), starring Lee Baxter.
* ''Shut'' or ''šwt'', "shadow", an Ancient Egyptian conce ...
", which is met with harsh negative comments by Richard.
In 2007, after joining Global Radio, he controversially removed the entertainment programming from LBC 97.3 to turn it into a topical talk station. He built up a management and broadcast team for all Global radio brands which now attracts over 25 million listeners a week.
He is a Fellow of The
Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chair ...
.
''Fame Academy''
Park appeared in both series of
BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
's ''
Fame Academy
''Fame Academy'' was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise ''Star Academy'' known under va ...
'' as the "Headmaster", and gained a reputation for both his harsh criticisms of the students, and his long running on-screen feud with presenter
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality.
Background
Kielty was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Dundrum. He is one of three sons born to the businessm ...
. This came to a head during the 2005 series of ''
Comic Relief does Fame Academy'', where his scathing remarks about the contestants, who were all appearing solely to raise money for charity, caused them to threaten a walk-out.
The BBC eventually received 450 viewer complaints after Park made an offensive hand gesture to host
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality.
Background
Kielty was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Dundrum. He is one of three sons born to the businessm ...
on live television during the Saturday evening charity programme. The incident, broadcast well before the watershed at 7pm, came after Park criticised Kielty for "sycophantically stroking" the egos of the contestants. As the camera cut to co-host
Cat Deeley
Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter and actress. From 1998 to 2002, she hosted the ITV children's show ''SMTV Live,'' for which she won a BAFTA Children's Award, and its spin-off chart show '' C ...
, Park was pictured in the background mouthing the word "
wanker
Wanker is slang for "one who wanks (masturbates)", but is most often used as a general insult. It is a pejorative term of English origin common in Britain and other parts of the English-speaking world (mainly Commonwealth nations), including ...
" before making the accompanying gesture. The BBC issued an apology, and said he had not realised he was on camera at the time.
He made a cameo appearance in ''
The Catherine Tate Show
''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on B ...
'' judging Lauren Cooper and her friends
References
Personal
Married to Anna a successful High Street and Online retailer. They have two children Jonathan and Jack. He also has a son, Paul, and a daughter, Jennifer, from a previous marriage, both of whom enjoy successful careers in media.
External links
The Richard Park CompanyFighting Talk website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Richard
1948 births
Living people
People educated at Kirkcaldy High School
People from Kirkcaldy
British radio personalities
British businesspeople
British association football commentators
Offshore radio broadcasters
Pirate radio personalities
Global Radio