Walter Love was a “terrible practical joker” and the “Mr. Respectable” of broadcasting, according to the former director of radio programming for the BBC.
Mr. Love, a veteran broadcaster, passed away at 88 on Friday. Former BBC Radio Ulster programming director Don Anderson remarked that Walter “embodied the gentlemanly quality” when he was promoted from Gloria Hunniford’s morning position to Walter’s.
“At all times, he was an exceptional broadcaster.” “He initially began his career at the BBC in a non-analytical capacity before transitioning to news reading,” he explained to the Belfast Telegraph.
“I convinced him to transition from a staff member at the BBC to a freelance broadcaster position.” That endeavor yielded him tremendous success.
“He embodied the tender aspect of the gentleman archetype. Always courteous, he possessed a magnificent voice. Broadcasting-wise, he was “Mr. Respectable” in numerous respects.
“He immediately won over the audience, and he established a wonderful rapport with them.”
Walter devoted his life to music, specifically jazz, and subsequently hosted the Jazz Club with Walter Love, a program that concluded in 2023.
“He had a broad musical taste, but jazz was his first and foremost,” Don Anderson remarked.
“He possessed an extraordinary CD collection that covered an entire wall, floor to ceiling. Some of them were jazz, but not all of them were.
“He was also a wine expert with credentials in wine tasting, and the BBC made a name for him as a notorious practical joker.”
“It was quite an accomplishment for him to make other broadcasters chuckle and guffaw while they were attempting to read a serious news bulletin, which deviated from his public persona.
“He was, in numerous respects, a radio pioneer, and his name is legitimately associated with the history of BBC broadcasting in Northern Ireland.” He potentially held the record for the longest tenure of any broadcaster across the entire UK BBC network.
Additionally, he presented the Sunday program Love Forty and hosted Radio Ulster’s Day By Day and Love in the Afternoon.
The family of Mr. Love verified that he succumbed to a brief illness and died in a nursing home on Friday morning. 2014 the Phonographic Performance Ireland Radio Awards Hall of Fame inducted the presenter.
Commencing his career in the 1950s as an independent contributor, he subsequently secured a studio manager position in London and joined the BBC. Subsequently, he dedicated a decade to the role of television newsreader in Belfast.
In the early years of the Troubles, Walter and Larry McCoubrey co-hosted Scene Around Six.
He commenced his tenure at Radio Ulster in 1978 and was honored with an MBE in 1997 for his contributions to the field of broadcasting.
Adam Smyth, director of BBC NI, characterized him as an “extraordinary performer on air” who was “affable, thoughtful, and upbeat” with a “tinkle of mischief.”
“He loved presenting radio programs and his melodious voice, ability to create rapport, and his encyclopedic knowledge of music made him one of our longest-serving and best-loved broadcasters,” he said.
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