Robin Galloway
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Robin Galloway (born 18 December 1961) is a Scottish radio and TV broadcaster. He is Group Head Of Radio Presentation for
DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...
and he was the breakfast presenter on Pure Radio Scotland until the station's closure in 2023.


Career

Robin Galloway began his career in March 1983 as a presenter for
Northsound Radio Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland. As of September 2024, the ...
in
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
. While working at the station, he joined
Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and which, decades later, was merged with the Central Belt channel STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isle ...
(now STV North) as a continuity announcer and newsreader, and presented a number of regional programmes for the station including feedback series ''Put It In Writing'' (1991–94), and Grampian's local & networked contributions for the
ITV Telethon The ITV Telethons were three charity telethons organised and televised in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. They took place in 1988, 1990 and 1992. Each lasted for 27 hours (28 in 1992) and all were hosted by Michael Aspel. Thames Telet ...
s, and at
Clyde 1 Clyde 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2024, the station ...
during 1993. During the summer of 1996, he was short-listed for the role of new male presenter in a revamp of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...
'', but failed to get the job.


Scot FM and KEY 103

Galloway left Grampian in 1995 to work on the breakfast show for the Central Scotland regional station
Scot FM Scot FM was a regional radio station serving Central and Southern Scotland. Broadcast from studios at Albert Quay in Leith, the station was billed as radio for Scotland's thinking classes but was unable to create a clear identity for itself, wh ...
, which saw his ratings increase by nearly 400%, and helped boost the station. He left the station in March 1997 after a series of clashes with then programme director Jeff Graham. Later that year, Robin moved to Manchester to present the drivetime show on
Key 103 Hits Radio Manchester, formerly Key 103, is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester. As of September 2024, the station has a weekly ...
with stints at 100.4 Jazz FM, During this time, he also presented for Granada Sky Broadcasting and
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
. In March 1999, Galloway started presenting a Sunday lunchtime show on
Scot FM Scot FM was a regional radio station serving Central and Southern Scotland. Broadcast from studios at Albert Quay in Leith, the station was billed as radio for Scotland's thinking classes but was unable to create a clear identity for itself, wh ...
from his new home studio in Manchester. His studio was also used present a Saturday morning show on
Northsound 1 Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral ...
and an overnight slot on Century 105.


Return to Scot FM Breakfast show

In December 2000 he became the Scot FM breakfast DJ for the second time, and by May 2001 he had increased his listenership by 55%. He was joined on breakfast by Marie-Clair, Robin also created a number of characters and sketches for the Scot FM show, * Cecil & Sandy: Two hairdresser from the shop Curlup and Die on Balshagme Avenue, * Winston: A Jamaican with no morals, * Shug the Schemie: Shug the salesman comes into the studio daily with his 'special offers' of dodgy goods. * Old Mrs Galloway and Hector Brocklebank from the wind up calls. In June 2001, the
Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...
acquired Scot FM from previous owners, the
Wireless Group News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...
. This resulted in a major overhaul of the station including an on-air rebrand. Real Radio Scotland began broadcasting at 8am on Tuesday 8 January 2002, with Galloway opening the station. Not all of his characters carried over to Real Radio. Marie-Clair left in January 2004 and was replaced by Cat Harvey, who become his new co-host. Since 2004, Galloway has written a weekly column for '' The Scottish Sun'', which is published every Friday.


Clyde

After being Real Radio Scotland's breakfast DJ for ten years, Galloway left the station in November 2010 shortly after an incident in which his producer ran in the nude past then- Labour Party leader
Ed Miliband Edward Samuel Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2024. He has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for D ...
while he was being interviewed, despite Miliband defending them. In January 2011, Galloway rejoined
Clyde 1 Clyde 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2024, the station ...
in Glasgow to present the station's weekday drivetime show. In addition, he began presenting a Sunday morning show on 9 October 2011 for the Bauer Scotland network of FM stations including
Clyde 1 Clyde 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2024, the station ...
, Forth One,
Tay FM Tay FM is an Independent Local Radio station serving Dundee, Perth and Tayside in Scotland. The station is owned by and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK and forms part of the Hits Radio network. As of September 2024, the station has a weekly a ...
,
Northsound 1 Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral ...
, 96.7 West FM and MFR. In June 2013, Bauer Radio, the owners of Clyde, announced that Galloway was moving over to the AM frequency to start a new networked breakfast show for Clyde 2,
Forth 2 Greatest Hits Radio Edinburgh, Lothians & Fife (formerly Forth 2) is an Independent Local Radio station based in Edinburgh, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Edinburgh, The Lothia ...
,
Northsound 2 Greatest Hits Radio North East Scotland is an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on DAB digital radio and online. Owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio networ ...
, Tay AM and West Sound, as part of its audience growth plans. A Bauer spokesperson said: "His new show is an integral part of Bauer Media’s plans to bring the very best programming and content to audiences across the whole of Scotland, whilst also retaining, producing and broadcasting local news, sport, traffic and travel and ‘what’s on’ information from each of the local
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
Network stations it serves: Clyde 2, Forth 2, Northsound 2, Tay AM and West Sound.". His last day on Clyde 1 drivetime show was 6 June 2013, with the breakfast show starting on Monday 1 July. His network Sunday show continued until early October 2014.


Heart

On 20 October 2014, it was announced that Galloway was joining as new breakfast show host for Heart Scotland, co-presenting with Adele Cunningham. He replaced Ewen Cameron, who left the station to pursue other opportunities. On 31 May 2019, he presented his final edition of the show.


Pure Radio

On 28 October 2019, it was announced that Galloway was being hired to become the new breakfast show host for Pure Radio Scotland, which launched at 8am on Wednesday 27 November 2019 with the Robin Galloway Breakfast Show. The station announced its closure on 12 September 2023. Galloway said the station "didn’t quite reach the listener numbers and revenue that we'd expected" but that "the closure of Pure is in no way a reflection on its brilliant team." He added that he would be focusing on talent acquisition and strategy at DC Thomson going forward.


Wind ups

A long-standing feature of Galloway's radio shows were his wind-up phone calls, first heard on
Northsound 1 Northsound 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Aberdeen, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral ...
, before becoming a fixture on Scot FM shows and Real Radio Scotland's breakfast show. Annual compilation CDs of the wind-up calls were released, with the 2007 edition achieving Gold sales status. In December 2012, he decided to give the segment a hiatus as a mark of respect to nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who committed suicide after being on the receiving end of an Australian radio show's prank call. He admitted a few years later in 2015, he was deeply affected by the tragedy. In November 2015 the wind up calls were brought back to his breakfast show with Adele Cunningham as the "8:10 Phone Tap", with some calls featuring Cunningham in addition to Galloway.


Awards

*Arqiva Broadcast of the Year 2015 Bronze: Referendum Live – Robin Galloway Bauer Scotland *In 1999, Galloway won Gold at The New York Radio festivals, For the Best Breakfast show in the world * Ace award for World's Best Local Radio Personality. * Two British radio awards.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galloway, Robin Scottish radio presenters Radio and television announcers Living people 1961 births Mass media people from Aberdeen Heart (radio network) presenters