John Perkins, the long serving managing director of commercial radio news provider Independent Radio News, is to retire next month.
Perkins, who has been head of IRN for 20 years, will be replaced by IRN’s business development director, Tim Molloy, who will take up his new post on 1 December.
Having joined Radio City in Liverpool as a reporter at its launch in 1974, Perkins left a year later to join LBC as a political reporter.
During his time with LBC Perkins also presented the first ‘rolling news’ programme on UK radio before moving to IRN where he worked as industrial editor and home affairs editor.
In 1982 he was appointed managing editor of LBC/IRN and managing director of IRN in 1989.
Perkins said; “I am proud of IRN’s achievements over the years. It is now taken by over 300 radio stations in the UK with a combined audience of over 30 Million listeners.
“It is also financially sound and this year – despite the credit crunch – will deliver near record profits with a further increase predicted next year.”
IRN now supplies news to more than 300 commercial radio stations in the UK. Last year it switched from its regular supplier, ITN, for Sky News, giving Sky a virtual monopoly in the commercial radio news market.
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