Making their minds up for you

Thought you were free to make your own decisions? Think again. Diana Kitt speaks to three people who decide what we eat, wear and listen to.

I decide what you listen to Liam Thompson, Communicorp Group programme director

“There was a lot of concern that radio was going to die a death when the internet took off but the radio listenership figures are the same as they were 10 years. Spotify and iTunes are trying to be radio stations but a successful radio station is a combination of the music, the energy and the personality. The internet is trying to do what radio has always done, but without the personality. I left school and got a job with Century FM. On my first day I had to take all the staples out of the music logs. Then I started to produce a sports show, then I moved to 2FM as programme director before launching Spin in 2002. I joined Communicorp as group programme director this year, and that includes working with Today FM. Today FM has a well-established schedule, the main parts of which have been in place for a while and which work well. Behind each show is a great team, and so items are planned and they’re based around what people are talking about. Each show has a production team which works closely with the presenter to plan the show. I suppose I keep an eye across everything.