Richard Matthew Bannister was born on 16 March 1957 and is a British media executive and broadcaster.
17 Facts About Matthew Bannister
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Matthew Bannister first worked for Radio 1 as a presenter of its news programme Newsbeat between 1983 and 1985.
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Matthew Bannister worked for Capital Radio as a journalist in the early 1980s, before returning as head of News and Talks, after leaving Radio 1.
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Matthew Bannister was co-presenter with Sarah Ward of Capital Radio's The Way It Is.
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Keen to return the station to its original purpose for "young listeners", Matthew Bannister overhauled the staff, resulting in many presenters either resigning or being sacked and replacing them with new presenters.
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Chris Evans, who had become a hugely popular national figure as breakfast DJ, was the figurehead of this boom, but eventually things went sour; in January 1997 Evans resigned after Matthew Bannister refused to allow him to waive his Friday show, to concentrate on his TV show TFI Friday.
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Matthew Bannister remained controller of Radio 1 alongside this until March 1998, when he was succeeded by Andy Parfitt.
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In 1999, Matthew Bannister was appointed chief executive of BBC Production, responsible for all non-news programme-making on English television, radio and online.
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Matthew Bannister oversaw production centres in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol.
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When John Birt announced he was stepping down as BBC director general, Matthew Bannister lost out to Greg Dyke.
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In October 2000 Matthew Bannister resigned from the BBC to return to broadcasting.
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Matthew Bannister deputised for other presenters on the station as well as on programmes on Radio 4 such as Broadcasting House and Saturday PM.
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Matthew Bannister has sat in for Jeremy Vine on his lunchtime Radio 2 show.
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Matthew Bannister is chairman of the independent production company Wire Free Productions.
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On 20 July 2011 Matthew Bannister was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the University of Nottingham.
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Matthew Bannister married his first wife, the radio and TV presenter Amanda Walker, in 1984.
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In 1989, Matthew Bannister married Shelagh Macleod, who later became senior vice-president of Legal and Business Affairs at the record company EMI.