Simon Hirst
Encyclopedia
Simon Hirst is a British radio presenter best known for hosting Hit40UK
Hit40uk
Hit40UK was a networked Top 40 chart show broadcasting on around 130 UK commercial radio stations every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm. It is now a TV programme shown on 4Music. The radio version was produced in house by Global Radio and Somethin' Else...

, the former national commercial chart show. He currently hosts the weekday breakfast show on 105 Capital FM Yorkshire called Hirsty's Daily Dose with Danny Oakes and Joanne (Jojo) Kelly.

Career

Hirst started his career aged 12 at Radio Aire in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 as a helper making tea for Dj's, he soon moved up the ranks and was on the overnight show at 16. Soon after he moved onto Minster FM
Minster FM
Minster FM is an independent commercial local radio station based in Dunnington near York, Yorkshire, England and covering the city of York and surrounding areas...

 in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, then onto The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...

 in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...

 in 1995 to present the evening show, where he claims in an interview "I stopped being a bland DJ whilst doing evenings, and realised there was more to radio than just playing the hits"

In 1997 he moved to Hallam FM
Hallam FM
Hallam FM is an independent local radio station serving South Yorkshire and the North Midlands from studios in Sheffield. The station is owned and operated by Bauer Radio and forms part of Bauer's Place Network of stations.-History:...

 in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, his local station, where he hosted the drivetime programme for three years. He then returned to The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse of West Yorkshire
The Pulse is a British Independent Local Radio station that serves the Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale areas of West Yorkshire. The station was originally known as Pennine Radio...

 to co-host the breakfast show with Elisa Hilton, but quickly left to take over the breakfast show at Viking FM in Hull - the one area of Yorkshire which had yet to hear him - after the departure of JK and Joel
JK and Joel
Jason King and Joel Ross , known professionally as JK and Joel, are a radio show presenters and are best known for hosting the official UK chart on BBC Radio 1 between 2004 and 2007 and then presented on Virgin Radio UK, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at weekends and covering the breakfast and...

. He and his breakfast team (Darren Lethem, Danny Oakes (known on-air as "Pimp Daddy Dogg") and Jamie York) won a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 Sony Award
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...

 in 2002.

Hirsty left Viking FM, to take his current job on the breakfast show (entitled Hirsty's Daily Dose) at 105 Capital FM Yorkshire, formerly Galaxy Yorkshire, a station covering all areas of Yorkshire. Galaxy had therefore shrewdly hired for their biggest show a presenter who did not necessarily have to "introduce" himself to the audience, as much of them would have heard him previously on the many local stations against whom Galaxy, a regional station, were pitching for audiences. The Daily Dose team, led by Hirst, including ex-Viking colleague Danny Oakes and existing Galaxy Yorkshire presenter Joanne (Jojo) Kelly (née Moorhouse) won the title of Commercial Radio Presenter(s) Of The Year at the CRCA Awards, and was nominated in the breakfast category of the 2005 Sony Awards. Hirsty continues to host the show, which can also be heard in some areas via DAB Digital Radio. His style of broadcasting is self-deprecating, real and relatable. Talking for the majority about real life situations and making the listener the star, not himself.

After Neil Fox
Neil Fox
Neil Andrew Howe Fox is an English DJ and TV presenter, known for many years as Dr. Fox before he became "Foxy" in the 2000s. He is now known simply as "Neil Fox". He is not to be mistaken for Conservative MP Liam Fox who is also known as Dr. Fox...

 quit as the long running host of the networked Hit40UK
Hit40uk
Hit40UK was a networked Top 40 chart show broadcasting on around 130 UK commercial radio stations every Sunday from 4pm to 7pm. It is now a TV programme shown on 4Music. The radio version was produced in house by Global Radio and Somethin' Else...

 in 2004, Hirsty - one of his stand-ins previously from 2003 - was recruited, initially with Katy Hill
Katy Hill
Katy Hill is an English television presenter, who worked on the BBC children's magazine programme Blue Peter for five years.-Biography:...

 to host the programme each Sunday from the studios of Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and went on to host the programme alone. Ironically, he was up against JK and Joel
JK and Joel
Jason King and Joel Ross , known professionally as JK and Joel, are a radio show presenters and are best known for hosting the official UK chart on BBC Radio 1 between 2004 and 2007 and then presented on Virgin Radio UK, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at weekends and covering the breakfast and...

 on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 for the chart audience on a Sunday afternoon - the presenters whom he succeeded at Viking FM and with whom he remains close friends, in fact during his chart reign he shared a flat in London with Joel Ross
Joel Ross
Joel Ross is a British radio DJ. Along with Jason King he presented the coveted UK Top 40 show on BBC Radio 1 each Sunday from March 2005 to October 2007...

. Also a spin off TV show Hit40UK TV hosted by Hirst was broadcast on a weekend on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

's youth strand T4
T4
- In airports and airlines :* The IATA airline code for Hellas Jet* Madrid Barajas Airport Terminal 4* London Heathrow Airport Terminal 4- In biology and medicine :* T4 phage, a bacteriophage* Thyroxine , a form of thyroid hormones* The T4 spinal nerve...

. He won a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 Sony Award
Sony Radio Academy Awards
The Sony Radio Academy Awards , started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. They are run by ZAFER Associates in association with the Radio Academy...

 for the show in 2006

Hirst presented his last Hit40UK chart on 15 October 2006, due to objections from Galaxy's rival Yorkshire radio stations Viking FM, Radio Aire and Hallam FM who were due to start broadcasting the chart on 22 October 2006. They were unhappy that a Galaxy Yorkshire
Galaxy Yorkshire
Capital Yorkshire is an Independent Local Radio station owned by Global Radio as part of the nine-station Capital radio network which specialises in mainstream music...

 presenter would be heard on their station, since they could possibly lose a proportion their breakfast audience to Hirsty's weekday breakfast show. The last number one he announced was "Welcome to the Black Parade
Welcome to the Black Parade
"Welcome to the Black Parade" is the first single and fifth track from My Chemical Romance's third studio album, The Black Parade. It was released on September 11, 2006 on iTunes and October 9, 2006 on CD. It is the band's eighth single...

" by My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...

. Hirsty was succeeded by his friend, Capital Radio drivetime presenter Lucio
Lucio
Lucio is an Italian, Portuguese, Spanish male given name derived from Latin name Lucius. Lucio is also an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname.It may be refer to:People* Lucio Amanti , a Canadian cellist...

.

He has said his radio hero is Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett
Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio DJ and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.-Early life:...

, and is a self-confessed radio & music "anorak
Anorak (slang)
In British slang an anorak is a person who has a very strong interest, perhaps obsessive, in niche subjects. This interest may be unacknowledged or not understood by the general public...

" with an archive collection of old radio programmes

He also has a Cat named Dave.

External links

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