Allan Lee - Profile

I've been worked in broadcasting all my life - starting as a sound engineer (I was the one on the 'knobs 'end of the boom microphone that you see creeping into the top of shots on TV)... and then progressing into production and presentation.

I started working in Independent, commercial radio in the UK in 1982. I worked as studio operator on a variety of speech-based programmes and also as a presenter (jock, dj, announcer, whatever you want to call it). After six years, I transferred to BBC Radio, where I worked as a producer for three years before joining the wicked world of BBC Television.

As a producer/director with the BBC, I soon came to know the truth of the glamourous world of TV. Yes, I spent most of my life in seedy motels and eating in motorway service stations, seeing my wife on alternate Fridays if there was an R in the month. However, I DID get to make programmes with the BBC all over Britain, and in America, Europe and the Middle East.

In 1996 my family and I emigrated to New Zealand where we now live. I work for the country's main radio news provider as a chief sub-editor, and moonlight occasionally as a presenter.

I'm happily married to Annette... we met doing an early morning breakfast show on the radio together and realised that, having seen each other at our worst, things could only get better. We have one son, Nicholas, who's very unphased by the world of broadcasting and rather more interested in The Simpsons.

Our home is in New Zealand, about forty minutes north of Auckland in a seaside area called Whangaparaoa (which means Bay of Whales... and yes, we have seen Orca from our beach). New Zealand is a fabulous place to live, but don't tell everyone, or they'll ALL want to move here.

We have two cats -one called Shirley Bassey (don't ask why), and the other's called Frisbee - and I enjoy walking, photography, music, movies and, of course, TV and radio.

I'm 43 years old, and grew up in England (during what many refer to as the Golden Age of British TV). I enjoy using the net as a tool (which I have to do for work) and as something to browse through (which I do at home). While far from expert, I enjoy finding my way around the net.

I believe broadcasting is one of the few disciplines that reaches all our lives... whether it be by free-to-air TV and radio, cable, satellite or even via the internet. It affects us all and we need to be aware of what's going on behind the scenes if we are to put it all in perspective. Having worked for one of the world's leading state broadcasters... and commercial broadcasting... and now working in a completely de-regulated industry ... it's not hard to see that the next few years could change the way we're entertained in a radical way, wherever we live in the world.