Veterans take radio awards

TONY BLACKBURN'S was the first voice broadcast when Radio 1 was launched, he has been on air for nearly three decades, is 50 this year and yesterday was named Best Contemporary Music Breakfast Show Presenter in the 1993 Sony Radio Awards, writes Martin Wroe.

Not to be outdone, John Peel, the only DJ to survive at Radio 1 since it started in 1967, was named National Broadcaster of the Year.

But it was not all old, gifted and back at the radio industry's 11th annual awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Classic FM - still to reach its first birthday - was named National Station of the Year. Nick Bailey of Classic, which launched last September, was awarded Best Breakfast Show for Non-Contemporary Music.