Your average reality TV fan might find it hard to believe that Richard Park, the tough-talking, take-no-prisoners headmaster from BBC singing contest Fame Academy, is the brains behind the soft-focus, chilled-out sound of Magic 105.4.
But beyond the blunt appraisals that provoke pantomime-style booing from a baying public, there is arguably the most successful radio programmer the industry has seen, responsible first for taking Capital FM to record ratings, and now for turning Magic 105.4 from a station no one admitted they liked to the entirely credible number one London station it is today.
When we meet, Park is still visibly thrilled after the latest Rajar results, which declared Magic the top station for the third time in five quarters.
He admits his excitement is out of character, but with a win that comes on the back of virtually no marketing, it is evidence that the Magic team chemistry is working.
Though Emap Radio's managing director of programming, Mark Story, attributed Magic's success to Park, the man himself is keen to stress the result was a team effort.
He speaks highly of managing director Andria Vidler, as well as marketing director Nicola Thomson and commercial director Alison Finch - known at Magic as "The Blonde Mafia". He credits Vidler with creating a team whose strengths complement one another with "blinding results".
Shared vision
But the key, according to Park, is the "shared vision" that he brought to the station - to create a relaxed station Londoners could listen to "without a tidal wave of words".
The vision seems to be popular across the board. Magic is now the second most popular commercial station in London for 15 to 24-year-olds, behind fellow Emap brand Kiss, and its listenership is shared almost equally between 15-24s, 25-34s, 35-44s and 45-54s with a 58:42 female to male percentage split.
"As far as sales are concerned, I couldn't have planned these figures better myself," he says proudly.
"What Andria, Alison and I are working up to now is going out to agencies and telling them precisely what this station is about."
The latest success proves that the last two times Magic hit number one weren't a fluke.
However, Park acknowledges: "We now have to maintain first place and that won't be easy. It is all about loyalty, which is built up over time, but the fact we reached number one without marketing (the latest TV campaign broke after the end of the Rajar period) is certainly a good sign."
Unsurprisingly, Park denies radio is dying, pointing out that Magic has gained 800,000 listeners in a matter of years.
"People say it can't be done, but it certainly wasn't a problem I had in my previous incarnation," he says.
At Capital, he dragged reach up from 25% to 44%, with a 33% share at its highest point. As well as hiring, among others, Chris Tarrant, Neil Fox, Tim Westwood and Pete Tong, he also launched Party in the Park, Help a London Child, Capital Gold and Capital Gold Sport and brokered the deal that saw Pepsi sponsor The Chart Show.
So does it pain him to see the demise of so many of his successes, not least Capital 95.8 itself?
"Capital now doesn't in any way represent the Capital of the period I was there," he says dismissively.
"I'm hugely proud of those days, but the people who succeeded me did not recognise my vision."
Unwavering loyalty
Park blames the "chopping and changing" for "killing" Capital, but concedes that, with the return to Leicester Square of some of the people whose careers he had a hand in launching - such as its new London programme director Pete Simmons - his old values could yet be revived.
He is renowned for his "brusque" and at times "fierce" manner, but as Simmons says, that does not stop employees offering him "unwavering loyalty".
"He could be quite brutal, but it was spectacular working with him," he says. "He ran his stations very hard but very fairly, and was the most inspirational character to both broadcasters and producers. He demanded hard work and generally got it."
Park reluctantly concedes he may have become "more considered" with age (he hits the big 60 next year, though professes to feel 38), but is adamant that he is as demanding as ever. "There is nothing in the industry that cannot be improved," he says passionately. "We can improve every corner of our output and the same is true of advertising."
The most striking thing about Park, besides his tangible passion for the sector, is his relentless quest for perfection.
He has two Sony awards, 25 years apart, has been at the top of his game for nearly four decades and is part of the most popular commercial radio station in London. Yet for Richard Park, the best will never be quite enough.
CV
2003: Consultant programme director, Magic 105.4
2001: Formed media consultancy, The Richard Park Company
1996: Founder and director, Wildstar Records
1991-2001: Board member, Capital Radio
1991: Group programme director, Capital
1987: Programme controller, Capital Radio
1974: Head of entertainment and sport at Radio Clyde
1966: Presenter, Radio Scotland pirate station
- Park is also a fellow of The Radio Academy and executive chairman of The Richard Park Company. In 2006, he was named Programmer of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, and was 1981 Broadcaster of the Year.