Tim Shaw (presenter)

Tim Shaw
Born 9 June 1974
Occupation Radio and tv presenter
Known for None of the Above (Street Genius)
Car SOS
True Tube
Tim Shaw's Asylum
The Morning After
Balls of Steel
Fifth Gear
Absolution
Tim Shaw's Rehab
Website
timshaw.co.uk

Tim Shaw (born 9 June 1974 in London, England) is a British radio and TV host. He is currently hosting a selection of factual engineering and science TV series on the National Geographic TV channel in both the US and International territories. He has previously hosted TV series in the UK for Channel 4, Channel 5, More4, Virgin1, Discovery and Current TV.

At the age of 12, he was certified as 'exceptional' in the fields of 'spatial awareness' and '3 dimensional construction' by the British Dyslexia Association and went on to design household products, like rubber ice cube trays,flashing automotive brakelights,including prototypes for folding walkers. Moving from engineering to radio at the age 21, his radio career spanned 17 years until 2013 when he quit due to increasing TV commitments. His radio show often featured secret recordings and phone calls he makes to his family and friends, sometimes even live, but also very candid and honest interviews with guests who have included Kitty Hart-Moxon, a survivor of the Holocaust, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and former underworld gangster Dave Courtney. He received more radio awards over a five-year period (prior to leaving radio for TV) than any other radio presenter in Europe and claims to have carried out over 10,000 unscripted interviews.

TV career

Street Genius/None of the Above

Street Genius (formerly known as None of the Above) is a National Geographic popular science TV show, aired in 140 countries, in which Shaw conducts experiments on the streets and offers viewers a multiple choice question, including "none of the above", and once members of the public answer correctly what the outcome will be, the science behind the experiment is explained. It is filmed on the west coast of the United States.

Car SOS

Currently in its third series on the National Geographic TV channel, Car SOS is the show in which Tim and master mechanic Fuzz Townshend restore classic cars that have been left to rot in garages across Europe. The work is always carried out without the knowledge of the car's owner, however most commonly it is the owner's wife or a close family member who has nominated the car for the Car SOS treatment. A car usually arrives in a pile of parts and gets returned to the owner in near pristine condition. There are very emotional scenes when the owner realises what has been going on behind their back. It is usually either medical or financial misfortune that meant the car was left to rust.

True Tube

True Tube (originally known under the working title of Man Versus YouTube) is a concept devised by Tim and production company Nerd TV, which was originally commissioned as a TV show to be aired by Sky1 in 2013. The concept was to recreate the craziest stunts on YouTube and breakdown the engineering to do so. Following the success of Tim's other shows on their channel, National Geographic stepped in and bought the show from Sky in early 2014. The show aired on 5 February 2014. Tim's co-host is his good friend, Buddy Munro.

Fifth Gear

In August 2008, Tim Shaw became a presenter on the show for series 14.

Britain's Worst Driver

Tim Shaw was the main presenter of Britain's Worst Driver.

Extreme Male Beauty

On 7 May 2009, Tim hosted Extreme Male Beauty for Channel 4, a show that explored male vanity and the various beauty standards that are placed on men but often overlooked. Throughout the course of the show, he explored people's reactions to his own body and made choices on how to improve himself that include a change in diet, plastic surgery and exercise.

Britain's Top 5....

Tim was one of the presenters on this series aired in December 2012 on Quest, an engineering show about mankind's greatest mechanical achievements.

Balls of Steel

Tim featured on Channel 4's Balls of Steel, in which he was called "Mr. Inappropriate" and did outrageous things in public.

Radio career

Radio stations worked on

He has worked on over 145 different radio stations including BRMB, Beacon, Century FM, Hallam FM, Magic Radio, Kerrang! Radio, Kiss 100 and most recently Absolute Radio, BBC WM, and the BBC Midlands network (9 stations).

He replaced Jeremy Kyle on the Orion Media Network when Kyle moved to Century FM.

Kerrang! Radio – The Asylum

Shaw began working for Kerrang! Radio in 2004, on The Asylum. It broadcast between 22:00 and 01:00 Sunday to Thursday with help from members of his team nicknamed Juicy Lucy, Donkhole, Nob Holder, Slippy Knickers, Chris Peacock and Toenail and his special friend Judith the Clairvoyant to name a few. The show ended on 20 September 2007.

Shaw's greatest controversy was in 2005 when he and his then colleague Greg Prebble broke into the house of Kerrang Radio's then station director, Andrew Jeffries, live on air. Jeffries returned to his house at 11:20 pm believing that he had been burgled when Tim and his colleague burst out of the cupboards. Tim was immediately suspended 'until further notice' and did not return to Kerrang! Radio for a month.

Holocaust interview

Near the end of 2006, Tim interviewed Kitty Hart-Moxon, a survivor of the Holocaust and the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Shaw believed that the interview would last 1 hour and 30 minutes but it actually lasted just under 7 hours. Shaw went ahead with the interview as he believes that schools attempting to teach the Holocaust in a 50-minute history lesson is 'a disgrace', and is also trying to get the interview played at schools. Listener feedback has said that the interview has been inspiring and interesting and makes one think in disbelief that the Holocaust only happened 60 years ago.

Tim himself has said "This has changed my life and the best thing I have done in a long time" and audience feedback has been generally positive suggesting that Kerrang! Radio bosses, who were initially sceptical about running an item so different from their usual output until Shaw persuaded them, may have underestimated how supportive the listeners would be.

Shaw became very upset with a listener on 7 January when a text was received saying "If I wanted to hear something depressing, I would listen to Late Night Love". This angered Tim so much that he stopped the interview and had to play a song so he could cool down. The interview is available on CD.

Lotus Esprit

Shaw's wife, Hayley, sold his Lotus Esprit, worth UK£25,000, for 50p on eBay after he told Jodie Marsh live on air that he would leave his wife and two children for her. Hayley placed the lot on the auction site at the 'buy it now' price of 50p with the description 'I need to get rid of this car in the next two to three hours before my husband gets home to find it gone and all his belongings in the street.' The car sold within five minutes. The scandal made international news and Shaw even made a live television apology to his wife on Channel 4's Richard & Judy show. He then bought the car back for £5000.

Controversy

In April 2007, Shaw was deemed to be in breach of Ofcom standards for broadcasting a live telephone call Shaw made to his grandmother in which he said (in his own voice) that "Timothy Shaw died today" to the audible dismay of his grandmother followed by revealing that it he was just a joke, resulting in her putting the phone down on him.

Kiss 100 – Breakfast

In December 2005, Tim, Tony Marks and Neev presented London's Kiss 100. A number of The Asylum calls, wind-up's and features were on the show. Tim subsequently won the "Best Breakfast Show/Morning Entertainment Category" at the New York Radio Awards 2007.

Kerrang! Radio – The Morning After

On 11 September 2007, Kerrang! Radio announced that Tim Shaw had been given the breakfast slot replacing Ugly Phil. The show began on 1 October 2007, it was hosted by Tim Shaw & Kate Lawler and aired between 7:00am and 10:00am Monday to Friday. The show had been gaining popularity and a growing audience according to Kerrang! Radio figures.

Controversy

Tim Shaw was suspended from Kerrang Radio on 23 April 2008. On 9 May 2008, Kerrang broadcast a message stating that Tim Shaw's contract with the station had been ended for fixing the results of a competition. His profile has been deleted from the station's website and was replaced by Simon James and Hill.

Absolute Radio – Absolution

Shaw presented "Absolution" on Absolute Radio, previously Virgin Radio each Friday and Saturday night, 10pm – 1am. The show takes almost the same format as his former Kerrang! Radio show, The Asylum. The first show aired on 3 October 2008. With the original team of Roque Segade-Vieito and Eloise Carr, Tim won the Sony Award for Best Entertainment Show in 2009.

It has also been noted that the station's managers had a direct mobile link to the station. This allowed them to cut Tim's show off if anything inappropriate was said, and allow it to be replaced with an emergency broadcast.

On the Friday night Absolution show of 13 November 2009, Shaw announced that the show would be coming to an end after the following night's programme. The format of the last shows was to play Tim's and the viewer's favourite moments. Tim Shaw said that when audiences knew about 'the project he was making way for', they would understand why his contract was self-terminated 6 months early. Tim said he was extremely 'pleased' with the show, and how no complaints were taken further by OFCOM.

Controversy

The presenter was suspended for two weeks in February after broadcasting content that "crossed the line", offending a minority of listeners. This led to him having to make apologies every half an hour for his next two shows once he returned. Along with this, Tim and the presenters involved also received written warnings.

BRMB/Orion Media – Rehab

Tim presented "Tim Shaw's Rehab" on BRMB and Networked on Orion Media stations Wyvern, Beacon & Mercia each Friday and Saturday night, 10pm – 1am, with help from members of his team Jamie Lee, Pants, Slippy Knickers & Donkhole plus various guests. The show takes almost the same format as his former Absolute Radio and Kerrang! Radio shows "The Absolution" and "The Asylum". The first show aired on 15 January 2010.

The last show aired on 3 June 2010 as Tim was offered a new job at Sky and at the same time that Orion Media decided to give The Sanctuary type of show two more shows on Friday and Saturdays.

The show won Gold in Best Personality: Network/Syndicated at the New York Festivals Radio Program and Promotion Awards 2010.

Bauer Radio

Tim hosted a Sunday afternoon show on Bauer Radio owned Rock FM in Preston. Rock FM is owned by the same company that owns Kerrang radio, who sacked him 4 years previously.

The show was later networked Rock FM's eight sister stations, including: CFM, Hallam FM, Key 103, Radio Aire, Radio City, Metro Radio, TFM and Viking FM. This made the show the first networked comedy radio show for over 20 years on commercial radio.

Awards

Emap (Bauer) Radio Awards

Global Radio and Sony Radio Awards

External links