Roger Lewis Classic FM

 Roger Lewis Classic FM throwback

Welcome back to the Roger Lewis blog. Here we will look back at Roger Lewis and his time at Classic FM. Back then he was with Decca records and left to join Classic FM as MD and programme controller, stated emphatically that he would not be applying for the job of Radio 2 controller. "I have no plans to do anything else other than stay here and enhance the station," he said. Yesterday, in the wake of the Capital Radio-GWR merger announcement, he quit.

His departure - to become managing director of ITV Wales - offers rich possibilities for conspiracy theorists. The key question facing the two boards was how they would combine their managements, and for the hugely ambitious Lewis to move to what is, by any reckoning, a less significant job suggests he knew his days as a board member and perhaps as programme controller were numbered.

Roger Lewis, the worldwide president of Decca Records, has been appointed as managing director and programme controller of Classic FM. He will also take a seat on the board of GWR Group, Classic’s owner. It is significant that Lewis has been replaced by Darren Henley, Classic's managing editor since 2000. Henley will take the title station manager and it's a fair bet that his salary won't be £350,000.

The question now is what difference Lewis's departure will make to Classic. His ambition and occasional bumptiousness made him unpopular in some quarters, and he took a lot of flak when he sacked Henry Kelly last year. But his evangelical commitment to classical music was never in doubt -he championed awards schemes for music teachers and last year became chairman of the troubled Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Ralph Bernard, GWR chief executive, says: “During his [Lewis’] tenure at both EMI and Decca, he has successfully challenged traditional precepts about classical music, coming up with new ideas and marketing them to great effect. Roger joins Classic FM at an important stage in the station’s development… as we approach the digital age.”

According to the latest RAJAR listening figures, Classic now has an average weekly reach of just over 5 million listeners and a share of listening of 3.7% (RAJAR Q2 1998).

Lewis was being touted as the most likely candidate to takeover as the new controller of Radio 3, but this post has gone to Roger Wright, head of BBC Classical Music since March 1997. Wright succeeds Nicholas Kenyon who moved to controller of BBC Proms and Millennium Programmes in July.

Subscribers can access the Radio Database by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page. Find out more about Roger Lewis, music lover, sports lover and business leader here. Read this article about Roger Lewis Wales here. Make sure to follow and subscribe to our blog for more.