Skinner to front Xfm's mid-morning show

by Emma Barnett, mediaweek.co.uk 06-Jan-09, 13:35

LONDON - Richard Skinner has been hired to host the mid-morning network show across Xfm stations in London and Manchester.

He begins his show, which runs from 9am to noon, on 12 January.

Skinner has made a name for himself as a radio broadcaster since 1973, when he joined BBC Radio as one of the original team on Newsbeat and then went on to present his own shows including Rock On and The Network Chart Show.

In 1993, he joined the launch team at Virgin Radio where he worked as joint programme director, head of music and presented the weekday morning show until late 1996.

Skinner will join a line-up on Xfm that includes Ian Camfield on weekday afternoons, Alex Zane on Breakfast and Dave Berry on Drive Time.

The Xfm network now only consists of two stations instead of three since GCap Media sold Xfm South Wales to Town & Country Broadcasting in May 2008, just before new owners Global Radio took over. Xfm South Wales has since relaunched as Nation Radio.