Phil McGarvey, Vernon Kay programme
- Mid morning show
- Live every week day
- 9.30 – 12pm
- Took over from Ken Bruce, so Vernon inherited Tracks of My Years feature
- This is the main interview guest slot on his show
- Guest picks 10 songs from across their life, it’s a pre-recorded interview that is split
across the week Mon-Fri - Omnibus on Sunday
- 40 mins / hour pre-recorded interview
- Put out 2 / 3 social clips a week of this chat
- Pre records tend to be straight after show (12 – 1pm), but they can be slightly
flexible on this (depending on Vernon’s diary)
- They are looking for instantly recognisable, household names
- Very mainstream audience
- Entertainment show, nothing too high-brow or too serious
- Said they probably wouldn’t do Ian Rankin or Marian Keyes
- Vernon is interested in having warm, engaging conversations with guests
- Booked through to May / June at the moment – go to Phil as far in advance as possible
- Don’t send books in advance, they will request once guest is confirmed
- They prepare extensive notes for Vernon, so even if he isn’t able to read the book, he is fully
prepared
Tim Collins, Jeremy Vine programme
- Biggest news and current affairs show in the UK
- Generally books on this show fall into 3 categories:
- Contributors that they speak to on a fairly regular basis
- A big name guest (e.g. Greta Thunberg, Hilary Clinton)
- The book is the main focus in that it works really well for the Jeremy Vine show (e.g.
Merlin Sheldrake)
- They are into politics and current affairs type of authors, so that they complement news
stories that are running on the show - Psychology and history of ideas are less popular
- Happy to receive pitches via email, send when you can, a month in advance is usually a good
timeframe - Also happy to hear about brilliant people next week
- Love getting people into the studio
- Authors have to work with the grain of the show, needs to be powerful and engaging as a
news item - They wont just have an author on to talk about their interesting book for the sake of it, it has
to work with the show’s current programme
Jordan Hemingway, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show
- Produces Zoe on a daily basis
Zoe’s show is on 5 days a week
6.30 – 9.30am, biggest breakfast show in the country
They have guest slots every day of the week – Mon to Thurs, then the big Friends Round
Friday slot (8-9am, 3 guests are in the studio for full hour, biggest and best names in
entertainment)- Friday show – April is already full, so reach out with big names when you can
- Want to hear about biggest and best names, celebrity authors needed for Friday show
- Household names can work for their Mon – Thurs guest interview slots
- Kids books / authors work well for them
- All guests are in studio, everything is filmed
- There is the option to pre-record if it’s a big name, pre-record post show after 9.30am
- Typically no remote / Zoom or down the line interviews
- Radio 2 Book Club podcast – a BBC sounds proposition, they play clips on the main radio show. Zoe will speak to author / bookclub / librarian etc each week
- Produced externally by Joe Haddow
- Selections / submissions are made via Reading Agency
- Last min opportunities are always good for them
- Sometimes books work better with cover presenters when Zoe is on holiday, Jordan will
always be honest about that - Jordan is happy to have coffees with publicists, and is always keen to hear what we have
coming up and will give instant yes / no feedback - Happy to pencil dates if there’s someone they really want
- Don’t send copies of books unless you’ve been asked to
- If Jordan is interested, he’ll always try and make it work by giving 2 slots
- Happy to hear about human interest stories – doesn’t always mean they will come on as interview guest, but Zoe may well mention on the show
Hilary Robinson, Independent Producer Religion and Ethics for Audio North covering Good Morning Sunday
- Religion and Ethics show based in Media City – soon to be handing over to Audio Always
(independent production company)
Will pass on the new production contact but still send to Hilary for the moment - Good Morning Sunday is produced from Media City too
- Covers all religions and none
- Keen to find subjects that are accessible for a Radio 2 audience
- They work remotely, so sending books isn’t helpful. They like to receive PDF’s and key
information in the top line / subject - Cathy Newman is going on a few weeks with her book
- If it’s not a religious link it needs to be something that matters, or talks to the audience in
some way - The presenters make tricky subjects digestible and accessible for their listenership
- If you’re keen to tie an interview in with a key moment in the year, e.g. international
women’s day, they are happy to hear about your author / pitch a year out if it’s a strong
enough pitch - Celebrity names are popular
- Heart and soul matters are popular
- Core religious audience
- Also a spiritual audience, some that may not consider themselves religious still listen
- Interviews are nearly always live, and done remotely by Zoom
- They have a strong social media team, cameras are going up into the studio for socials clips
- They are open to authors who can be critical of religion, but it depends on the why and how comfortable the presenters would be