The Story of Moray Firth Radio
As Moray Firth Radio approaches its 40th year of broadcasting, The Radio Academy’s Scotland Branch presented an evening hosted by Garry Spence to take a look at one of the most successful stations in Scotland and the UK. Garry and the panel looked at how MFR became such a highly regarded training ground for new talent, and also discuss the importance of broadcasting to the Highlands and the North of Scotland, and what radio means to audiences in this very special part of the world.
This content is only available to Logged-In Members
Registering to be a member is free for many people, thanks to the generosity of our Patron Organisations - and for everyone else it costs just £36 per year. Registering will give you access to all our Members-Only content, plus you can attend any of our events, enter the ARIAS, or nominate for the 30 Under 30 scheme. Find out more and register today.
Meet the panel
Garry Spence – Garry has presented on a number of stations across the UK including Vibe, Galaxy and Capital. He started his career as a volunteer as Moray Firth Radio and now hosts the Drivetime programme on the Hits Radio Network Scotland which includes MFR.
Susie Rose – Susie was a former journalist with Moray Firth Radio. She recently wrote a book ‘Making Waves – Moray Firth Radio: The Independent Years’ which tells the story of the station’s incredible past.
Thomas Prag – Thomas worked at Radio Highland for the BBC before moving to Moray Firth Radio to become the launch Managing Director. During his 19 years at MFR he was also instrumental in setting up a number of community stations in the Highlands. Thomas went on to become a councillor in Inverness and now continues to play a very active role within the local community.
Darren Adam – Darren Adam started as a volunteer at MFR working on the station’s information desk. Since then he’s hosted breakfast shows on Forth 1, Forth 2 and Your Radio. He’s now a speech broadcaster on national station LBC.
Jeff Zycinski – Jeff is from Easterhouse in Glasgow but came to Inverness to start his radio career at MFR. He also worked at Radio Clyde for a period of time before moving to the BBC. He was Head of Radio in Scotland for the BBC for 13 years, the longest serving occupant of that role.
Gemma McLean – Gemma trained on the long running Radio Skills course at MFR in 2010 gaining an SVQ in radio. Since then she’s volunteered at Leith FM, co-hosted breakfast on Central FM and is now the Drivetime presenter for Kingdom FM in Fife.
Grace Nicoll – Grace started as a volunteer at her local community station in Campbeltown. Since then she’s worked at stations across Scotland in a number of different roles. She moved to Inverness 5 years ago when she got the opportunity to co-host the breakfast show at MFR and has never looked back.
