John Benson
ABC North’s chief announcer.
Video of John Benson announcing at the start of The Eamonn Andrews Show courtesy of TvTimes1966 on YouTube
John Benson makes the ABC North authority announcement between Perpetuum Mobile and the ABC March, used 1959-1968
The announcer’s announcer, the “herald of them all” according to Southern’s Christopher Robbie as he prepared to close that station for the final time, was John Benson. His voice was to become famous nationally thanks to its rich tones working wonderfully in a range of television quiz shows – it’s him saying “And now, from Norwich, it’s the quiz of the week!” at the start of Sale of the Century. He was ABC North’s chief announcer for many years, going freelance upon the establishment of Thames, where he was paid by the second to announce, and made a good living from it. He died in 1995.
Video of the titles of Sale of the Century courtesy of allenjeremy on YouTube
About the author
Kif Bowden-Smith is the founder of the Transdiffusion Broadcasting System.
