Wimbledon wonderland!
By John Cushing, June 2023
If anyone knows me they know, apart from my wife and son, radio and sport are my passion. I've had some incredible experiences in my career covering the Olympics, Euros, Rugby World Cup, Commonwealth Games and London Marathon, for the likes of LBC, Heart and Capital and all Global stations.
Since setting up Anything but Footy, Michael and I always wanted to focus on delivering content about sports that weren't getting the coverage they deserve week in, week out. So I'm delighted, as we said in our latest episode of the podcast ⬇️ that summer is finally here, and even other media are now getting interested in the likes of Tennis and Athletics again!
And next month, we're really pleased to let you know that Anything but Footy will be covering Wimbledon and the British Athletics Championships for Radio News Hub and talkSPORT. It's lucky Michael's up north, so he's doing the trials for the Budapest World Championships for the UK’s biggest commercial sports station on July 8/9 weekend in Manchester. And for the first time since 2019 I'm back at SW19 and back on the radio reporting on a sport I've loved since John McEnroe wasn't a grumpy old man, but a young grumpy one!
Global news distribution company, Radio News Hub , will be offering free hourly updates from The Wimbledon Championships to stations around the world, recorded and dispatched directly from the oldest tennis tournament in the world and stations who sign up can expect regular and in-depth analysis from the prestigious event from a certain person - me, John Cushing! I’ll be fronting all the broadcasts and providing daily breakfast previews and evening roundups. Hopefully you'll be able to hear me on your local stations, and the likes of News Radio UK across the country.
Radio News Hub was set up by a pair of really passionate journalists that I'm so happy to be working with again - Jamie Fletcher and Steph Otty - who incredibly built this much needed service from scratch. They've now been joined by David Prever as Head of Programming and Marketiers, so with my former colleagues at Global's Newsroom still knocking it out of the park, I really believe the local commercial radio news product has never looked so strong.
Speaking about the broadcast, David,said: “Wimbledon is one of the most highly anticipated events in the global sporting calendar and it always serves in terms of drama, atmosphere, and sporting achievements. To be broadcasting from the heart of the event, and have John Cushing fronting these efforts, will allow listeners to get a true sense of anticipation and excitement before, during and after each day’s events." I love this! And I wonder did he mean to say 'heart'? A s that's where I met him more than 21 years ago reading his 5am news bulletin on Heart 106.2!
The All England Wimbledon Championships run from July 3 to July 16 - listen out for me, feeling as happy as happy can be!
