1993 was a turbulent year for popular culture: Graham Taylor resigned as England football manager, the legendary comedian Les Dawson dies at the age of 62 following a heart attack and UKIP is formed. Yet amongst these significant headlines, 1993 would be forever etched into the story of BBC Radio 1 as in September of that year, former law student Matthew Bannister replaced Johnny Beerling as controller. A dedicated radio enthusiast for the majority of his life, Bannister was bred on a diet of classic radio comedy such as The Goon Show, ITMA, The Navy Lark and most critically Hancock’s Half Hour his father on a reel to reel tape recorder. Radio was in his life from a young age and helped to form part of his cultural awakening. Unlike his peers who would be listening to the latest pop music, Matthew preferred the informative style of Radio 4 which would unbeknownst be crucial in years to come.
Studying law at Nottingham University would ultimately help him decide where his passion truly lay and it had absolutely nothing to do with a courtroom. Nottingham University was unique in being the only university in the country to have a student led theatre. The New Theatre offered students the opportunity to take charge of every aspect of running a theatre from acting, lighting and business management. After attempting some acting roles, he became aware that his skills were more valuable behind the stage rather than on it. Directing several successful shows which eventually made it to the Edinburgh Fringe, Bannister had caught the entertainment bug. This was where Matthew really shone and at this moment he realised that law wasn’t for him and instead of pursuing his legal career, he knew that entertainment was what he wanted to do.
Deciding to turn down a postgraduate course in theatre studies at Cardiff University in favour of a one year contract at BBC Radio Nottingham as a sports reporter would ultimately get his foot in the door at the corporation that would dominate his career. Rising through the ranks to the presenter of the breakfast show on Radio Nottingham, Matthew felt he didn’t represent the audience of middle aged working people and felt slightly out of step to their wants and desires. Leaving the BBC for the en vogue Capital Radio would offer Matthew an insight into a modern approach to popular radio. In this era, Capital Radio were beating the BBC for listenership with vibrant broadcasters such as Chris Tarrant who were re-writing the rule book for daytime radio and their news coverage had to reflect this. This was totally different from the conservative approach at the BBC and allowed Matthew the opportunity to cultivate his on air style which soon made him appear on the radar of BBC radio.
In 1983 he was offered a role which combined two of his greatest passions and secured the job of newsreader for Radio 1 Newsbeat. In this era, Newsbeat wasn’t aligned with any other major outlet and didn’t fall under the umbrella of BBC News or Radio 1. With the mandate to make current affairs relatable to the 18 -25 demographic, Newsbeat became its own entity and Matthew had achieved his goal to appear on the show he loved. The use of jingles, background music and fast paced stories made the programme fresh and something that spoke to the youth which cultivated a template for news presentation which still survives today.
In 1989 Bannister left Newsbeat to become the Managing Editor of BBC Radio London which was rebranded as Greater London Radio (GLR). This was a time of change and Matthew could see opportunity to recruit household names while allowing new talent to flourish. Radio legends like Johnnie Walker, Janice Long and Tommy Vance offered the network some much needed legitimacy while figures such as Danny Baker and Chris Evans kept things fresh. This provided evidence that there was a growing need for a new style of radio. Originally hired as a producer, Chris Evans had been working on a local radio station but Matthew recognised his flair for entertainment and placed him with the broadcaster Emma Freud which proved successful. Yet he could always see Evans’s potential as an on air personality and this would prove valuable for his next career move.
In September 1993, Bannister was unveiled as the new controller of Radio 1, replacing the outgoing Johnny Beeling and tasked with updating the station for a new generation. Hired by the then BBC Director General John Birt; himself radical in his approach to the running of the corporation, Bannister realised that a lot of significant changes would have to take place in order to retain the station to its targeted demographic. This resulted in an unprecedented overhaul of talent: some of whom had remained loyal to the station since its inception. From an organisational perspective, Matthew was merely carrying out his duties as station controller, making the necessary changes which were somewhat inevitable. Yet from a personal standpoint, it wasn’t a good feeling to inform those who had been loyal ambassadors to the station that their services were no longer needed.
Despite the overhaul of talent, this new approach paved the way for a fresh investment in new music and programmes such as The Evening Session suddenly had the power to be a platform for new music. This perfectly coincided with the era of Britpop and Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq were able to create a platform for such a revolution to take place. Obviously we will never know if this phenomenon would have still taken place without Bannister’s Radio 1 overhaul. However, it’s impossible to deny that the sequence of events helped Britpop hit traction and Matthew is the first to acknowledge the chicken and egg scenario between Britpop and Radio 1. Being the first radio station in the world to incorporate this new sound into its daytime playlist, there was no denying that Britpop wouldn’t have enjoyed such success without the network. Over thirty years later, Bannister is still credited as a key figure in the development of the Britpop scene and remains proud to have made Radio 1 the centrepiece of such a pivotal revolution.
From Mary-Ann Hobbs to Mark and Lard via Judge Jules and Chris Morris, the plethora of talent which the station cultivated in a short span of time was unprecedented. Each creative discipline was accurately represented in the roster of shows which the station boasted. Maintaining the network’s core values of being popularist by day and reputation by night, Matthew realised that by having a variety of popular broadcasters throughout the daytime schedule would justify a slightly more specialised programming at night. By recruiting Chris Evans, Lisa I’anson and maintaining Simon Mayo’s contract meant that he could afford specific expert personalities at the end of the day. Therefore Steve Lamacq, Jo Whiley, Fabio and Grooveryder, Pete Tong and Danny Rampling could each concentrate on the slightly more specialist shows, safe in the knowledge that there would be an audience carrying over from the daytime. This formula proved successful and was a constant feature of Bannister’s tenure.
Radio 1 had lost its identity and in order to justify its purpose within the BBC charter, it had to be different from other channels. For over a decade, the network had still been appealing to the baby boomer generation who had grown up with the network since its founding in 1967. To regain the correct demographic, the network would need to echo the zeitgeist of the time and re-engage with the 18-25 audience. It would need to have a unique offering which listeners couldn’t find anywhere else and Matthew believed that the answer lay in live music. At this time, live sessions were something totally unheard of and possibly only reserved for specialised programming like John Peel. Yet by creating the Live Lounge, listeners could now hear live, unplugged sessions from their favourite artists throughout the working day and this was a significant breakthrough in regaining the targeted audience.
The irony of this story is that despite having revolutionised Radio 1, Matthew himself, didn’t fit the targeted audience and was actually a big fan of folk music which was a million miles away from the DNA of the station. The secret to great leadership is knowing where everyone’s strengths lie and accentuating their skills to achieve the end goal and this is exactly what Matthew executed. Therefore his own musical tastes were totally irrelevant as he’d identified what the network needed to reflect and focus suitable voices to do so. The fact that Matthew was the wrong age group to be interested in the rise of Oasis or Battle of Britpop was irrelevant because he had assembled a squad of highly talented young presenters who were. This may be a contributing factor in the success of Bannister’s Radio 1 revolution.
While embracing new talent, Matthew acknowledged that certain elements of the network needed to remain in place. By fulfilling part of the BBC’s vision to offer a platform for new talent, the legendary John Peel and Annie Nightingale had been instrumental to continuing this aspect and had built up a reputation for doing so. There was a common misconception that Matthew solely wanted young talent at Radio 1 but age was irrelevant, it was all about attitude. If you possessed a passionate enthusiasm for music, you were in and it didn’t seem to matter if you were nineteen or ninety! Essentially Radio 1 was a state of mind as opposed to a rite of passage.
By focusing on the live music aspect of its remit, Matthew extended the station’s coverage of Glastonbury and in turn, laid the foundations for the wall to wall music that we enjoy today. At the time of his appointment in 1993 Glastonbury was merely an item of conversation on the station. Yet he could see the potential for making it into a significant event for Radio 1 even if people couldn’t be there in person. By broadcasting sets live on the station which was something unprecedented for a network, brought listeners closer to their favourite artists. This interactivity helped to retain the network back to its original purpose of appealing to the 16-25 demographic and Matthew had done it.
Throughout his five year tenure as Radio 1 controller, Matthew oversaw many changes to the station which helped to change the trajectory of broadcasting hereafter. In 1996 Matthew became Director of BBC Radio with particular emphasis on the transition of on air talent between Radio 1 to Radio 2. Nowadays it’s become the norm for personalities to make such a route but thirty years ago it was unheard of. Forever conscious of the decisions that he made at Radio 1, Matthew was determined to create this pathway to avoid similar culls in the future. In many ways, this was the ultimate resolution to the fallout from his radical shakeup. This illustrates Bannister’s moral compass and his compassion as a man. Hopefully this pathway will continue to thrive for years to come and remain a timely reminder that broadcasting will always need to constantly change in order to reflect the world around us.
After his departure from the station, Matthew returned to broadcasting, first on Radio 5Live before returning to his first love: folk music in 2018 when he created the successful podcast Folk On Foot in which he takes significant figures on rambles through parts of the British countryside. Yet if remains impossible for him to ignore his formidable contribution to changing the broadcasting and music landscape forever which is undoubtedly his greatest achievement. It’s very clear that Matthew Bannister isn’t the biggest name to have ever graced Beyond The Title and his story may now just be a moment in time. However, the decisions that he made between 1993 and 1998 still have strong ramifications in today’s entertainment landscape and his legacy will be felt for generations to come.
For more information on Folk On Foot, visit the website at https://www.folkonfoot.com/
Beyond The Title