SPORTS radio station TalkSport will welcome ex-Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray back to broadcasting on Valentine’s Day. The disgraced duo left BSkyB less than three weeks ago, following the sexism football row which dominated the national headlines.
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| BACK: Richard Keys and Andy Gray return to broadcasting next week |
Gray was sacked after being caught making off-air sexist jibes to female presenter Charlotte Jackson, and making offensive comments about the appointment of female line official Sian Massey for the televised Wolves v Liverpool match on January 22. Keys resigned 24 hours later after his close friend lost his job, after also making offensive comments off-air about Massey and the chief executive of West Ham United, Karen Brady. Before his departure, he went on the airwaves to speak exclusively to TalkSport about the scandal, because he trusted their integrity. Now, from Monday morning, between 10am and 1pm – the pair will be reunited to front a daily weekday show on the football events around the world.
TalkSport saw an opportunity to poach the pair, once negotiations with Al-Jazeera had stalled. When asked by the media about the appointments, the programme director for TalkSport Baz Dee seemed delighted with the new acquisitions; “Andy and Richard are iconic broadcasters with massive TV careers and I know that will have an impact on national radio.”
It won’t be the first time that Keys and Gray have worked on radio. Richard started his distinguished career as a sports editor at Piccadilly Radio before landing the anchor role of Sky’s Premier League’s football coverage in 1992. Before his departure, he had presented over 1,000 live televised games for the network, now in its 20th year of established broadcasting. Gray worked as a radio summariser for BBC Radio 5 Live at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Whether the pair should have second chances in the media industry, especially after what was said remains open to debate. However, it is bound to boost TalkSport’s ratings.
