Monday, April 18, 2011

Nero fiddles while Gordon Burns

There have been some fulsome tributes to Gordon Burns as he announces he is to step down from presenting BBC North West Tonight. On the whole, I think they are deserved. He is a decent bloke who has done a consistently good job over the years.

He's going to do some projects for BBC Radio across the North from Media City, but there will be a new face when the programme moves to Salford Quays in September.

Who will that be?

I imagine there is talk already of Stuart Flinders, who would be a popular internal choice. I think he carries a lot of local sway. No doubt Andy Crane will be in the mix too. Tony Livesey has been widely praised for his speedy progress from editing a porno paper to BBC Radio Lancashire and now onto Sport and Radio 5 Live. I don't honestly see a step to NW Tonight as career progress for him.

No, I have another hunch. Graham Liver. The BBC doesn't tend to make these plans on the hoof. They groom from within and project their favoured sons. A younger and more modern look for the programme, but with a good folksy northern journalist with charm and charisma. First we have seen Graham get the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Lancashire and then notch up more TV experience doing the local news. Just remember where you heard it first.

Disclaimer. I'm not saying any of that because our Dads used to work together or anything. But they did.

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