Saturday October 16, 1999

James Hoggarth: Ruling the airwaves

AFTER a busy week of getting up at 6:30am each day, the weekends are anything but relaxing.

In common with a lot of others, my weekend starts on a Friday night.

However, while most people are enjoying a pint or two down the pub, I'm preparing for my second job - presenting the early morning programmes on Kingstown Radio - Hull and East Yorkshire's Hospital Radio station, now broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1350 on the medium wave.

On Saturday you can find me presenting 'Saturday breakfast', between 7am and 9am and then on Sunday from 9am until noon, with most of my time being spent beforehand in preparation.

Kingstown Radio plays classic hits from the 1950's through to the present day.

Therefore, I spend a lot of time ensuring the right balance and quality of music to suit the mood and time of day.

On Saturday the music is bouncy and catchy, while on Sunday it is more light and relaxing.

The Sunday programme includes a number of musical features, such as 30 minutes of classic love songs; the 60s hit mix and the connections quiz, which means music has to be specifically chosen to suit each feature.

The quiz is the hardest to pick the songs for, as I have to select three records, all of which have a link to a common theme such as a topical news item.

Once all the preparation work has been completed, I might be lucky enough to get a couple of hours to enjoy the rest of Friday night, although for me indulgence is a thing of the past as Saturday begins at 5am.

I have to ensure that I'm in the studio one hour before going 'on air' at 7am in order to prepare for broadcasting the weather, news items and travel information.

At 7am it's time to present 'Saturday Breakfast'. However, being the only person in the studio at this hour of the morning I also have the job of answering the phones - a very difficult job!

At 9am my programme finishes and my body reminds me of its lack of sleep. The work continues 'off air', helping to produce the next programme presented by Tom Robinson.

Sometimes getting up early across the weekend is stimulating but it leaves me with very little energy on a night; however, working at Kingstown Radio is very rewardable and extremely enjoyable.