Bill MacDonald

Radio executive

BILL MACDONALD, who has died at 95, was in the 1970s the original managing director of Yorkshire’s first independent radio station, Radio Hallam, in Sheffield. It later amalgamated with Pennine Radio in Bradford and Viking Radio in Hull to create the Yorkshire Radio Network.

Hallam was a revelation in its day – the first time the BBC monopoly on sound broadcasting had been broken in the region, if one does not count the unlicensed pirate station Radio 270, which operated briefly off the Scarborough coast from 1967.

Hallam’s launch came in the first tranche of English commercial franchises, following those in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. It went on air in October 1974, from studios at Hartshead in the city centre, with disc jockey Johnny Moran playing the first record. Initially just a station for Sheffield itself, its remit widened a decade later when it began to broadcast to the rest of South Yorkshire as well.

William Symon MacDonald had been brought up in Brighton and studied at the

London School of Economics after completing his national service.

He got a job in market research, joining the American TV ratings company AC Nielsen, which supplied overnight viewing figures for stations across the US.

He spent some years in New York in the early 1960s but returned to England and the newspaper business before getting the opportunity to become involved in the new field of commercial radio. When the Independent Broadcasting Authority sent out an offer for tenders, Mr MacDonald was one with first-hand experience of the medium.

The station was an instant hit with listeners and gave early breaks to a number of presenters and performers – among them Jon Culshaw, Stephanie Hirst and Scottie McClue. The former BBC broadcaster Keith Skues, who made his name with the launch of Radio 1, also had a long association with Hallam.

Mr MacDonald remained at the helm through the amalgamation, retiring in 1992 but continuing with various business and charitable activities until his 80s.

He married Lillemor, a former Miss England, in 1958 and they had three children, Roderick, Neil and Craig.