Introduction to Ian King Live
It is Monday, June 2, 2014, at 6:25 p.m. and my heart races. After 20 years as a national newspaper journalist and a few years before in the city, I had made a lot of radio journalism over the years – for BBC Radio Five Live’s Weekend Business and Watch with money, BBC Radio Four’s Today program and regular appearances in Sky News – but they were known as a guest expert or in media jargon, which is known as the "friend of the moderator".
The First Show
It was different. Sky News had entrusted me to enter the considerable shoes by Jeff Randall, his influential business moderator from September 2007 to March 2014. After four or five rehearsals using Jeff’s old screenplays under the guidance of the experienced director Neil Hunter and with the colleagues Dafydd Rees, Katie Mandel and Hannah Capella, who acted as guests, I was ready for ready. I was awaited from Sky’s original city studio on the 15th floor of the legendary Gherkin building in St. Mary Axe before I expressed the introductory words: "From the heart of the city this is Ian King Live."
Guests and News
This first half-hour show surrounded: Our guests were Dorothy Thompson, Managing Director of Power Generator Drax; Clive Efford, the Shadow Minister for Sport; And Lily Cole, the model and the actress. Not bad on a slow news day, although we broke the news that we would leave Frank Lampard Chelsea during the program, which was supervised by my first producer Peter Hoskins. Other guests this week were Andy Griffiths, British Managing Director of Samsung; Ed Balle, the shadow chancellor; Sir Tom Hunter, the billionaire and Tom Crotty, director of the Giant Ineos chemical.
Changes in the Business World
The worlds of business, markets and business have changed immeasurably during this time. In April 2014, when I came to Sky News, Walmart was the world’s largest company. It is now only the 15th largest in the S&P 500 – in the shadow set by Tech Giants Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia. Mark Carney was the governor of the Bank of England, David Cameron was a prime minister and George Osborne was a chancellor.
Major Events
The Brexit referendum from 2016 led to some spectacular gyrations worth British stocks, bonds and the pound. A few months later, Donald Trump was elected for the first time, with the markets soon moved by his increase in a trade war with China. Then, in 2020, Covid came and for a few months it felt like I was never out of the air and brought messages to the market that accompanied the closures, and later the financial answers to the pandemic of governments, central banks and companies.
Guest Interviews
I have interviewed three governors in the past and present: Lord King, Mark Carney and Andrew Bailey. Companies have also often changed in the change of management. During the last 11 years I have interviewed Three Different Chief Executives of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and BP, Two Each from – to name a Few – Rio Tinto, Centrica, Land Securities, Lloyds Banking Group, Marks & Spencer, Glaxosmithklin, Bae Systems, National Grid, British Airways, John Lewis Partnership, Prudential, Easyjet, Greggs and RBS/NATWEST.
Notable CEOs
Few had the same managing director for the entire period, but two CEOs that have stayed everywhere are easily one of the most outstanding of their generation. One is Sir Pascal Soriot, the French genius, which helped Astrazeneca, to ward off an undesirable takeover offer from Pfizer before building the drug maker into the most valuable company in Britain. The other is Michael O’Leary of Ryanair, a man with a rare talent for assessing customer demand and ruthless exploitation of gaps in the market.
Conclusion
Many thanks to the thousands of guests who have passed and submitted to colleagues over the years and submitted. While the moderator is the only person who see the audience in the air, television is an enormous team performance in which producers, directors, runners, lighting and sound technicians and makeup artists are all contributing. Many thanks to Sky News viewers from all over the world and especially to those who would contact the feedback. It was a pleasure and a privilege that appeared on screens on their laptops, mobile devices, trade floors, fitness studios, hotels and, even now in living rooms.
