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Alan Smith (born 1966) is a presenter [1] and newsreader on BBC Radio 4, who also appears on sister station Radio 4 Extra. Born in the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion, Edinburgh, Scotland, [2] he moved with his family to Cumbria when he was two.
BBC Radio 4 is a radio station owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. On 21 January 2019 Williams announced she was quitting the role. There are no details of when or who will be her replacement.
BBC Radio 4 Extra is a British digital radio station broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on sister station BBC Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain Radio 4 programmes.
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.
He joined Radio 4 in 2002 after presenting on regional radio & TV. In addition to his BBC work, he hosts an in-flight entertainment programme for British Airways together with corporate presentations. In 2006/7 he had the unusual experience for a formal radio announcer, of having his vocals used as a rap on a dance track after UK electronica act The Young Punx sampled him reading the Shipping Forecast for their track "Rockall". [3] Alan Smith has previously read the news for Radio 2.
In-flight entertainment (IFE) refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2 1/2 day flight between Europe and America. After the Second World War, IFE was delivered in the form of food and drink services, along with an occasional projector movie during lengthy flights. In 1985 the first personal audio player was offered to passengers, along with noise cancelling headphones in 1989. During the 1990s, the demand for better IFE was a major factor in the design of aircraft cabins. Before then, the most a passenger could expect was a movie projected on a screen at the front of a cabin, which could be heard via a headphone socket at his or her seat. Now, in most aircraft, private IFE TV screens are offered.
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, headquartered at Waterside, Harmondsworth, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. It is the second largest airline in the United Kingdom, based on fleet size and passengers carried, behind easyJet. In January 2011 BA merged with Iberia, creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), a holding company registered in Madrid, Spain. IAG is the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index. British Airways is the first passenger airline to have generated more than $1 billion on a single air route in a year.
The Young Punx are an English-based electronic dance music group whose eclectic and energetic style encompasses french house, breakbeat and drum and bass, mashed up with elements as diverse as 1980s pop music, rock music, disco and jazz.
As of June 2018, Alan Smith reads the news on the Radio 4 flagship Today Programme.
