Reid, Paul

Paul was born in July 1974. Before finishing university, he started working for Downtown Radio/Cool FM as a holiday relief newsreader and occasional reporter in 1997, becoming full-time by 1998 when he graduated from Bournemouth University.

In May 2000, he joined BBC Northern Ireland as a television continuity announcer, also directing some television news bulletins and election outside broadcasts.

In 2009, Paul joined the BBC NI trails department; where he currently produces and directs TV promotions.  He returned to full-time continuity announcing for a few months during Digital Switchover, and again for a year from 2017 to 2018.

He can still be heard covering a couple of live TV continuity announcing shifts per month, and remains a familiar voice on local TV and radio promotions.

Correspondence

Paul R. Jackson corresponded with Paul in March 2020:  “I visited Broadcasting House in Belfast around the age of 12, after applying for tickets to a BBC open day.  It was great seeing around the place, and looking in through the door into what I knew was continuity, and knowing that was where I wanted to be.

“I then had a summer job in BBC NI in the finance department in 1996, and while there arranged to spend a couple of hours in TV continuity one evening, with Edgar Martin,  who subsequently went on to train me when I joined the department in 2000.  My first announcing shift was on 1st May 2000.

“My former university flatmate, Ewan Vinnicombe, worked in BBC Children’s programmes on Record Breakers, Live & Kicking, Xchange etc, so in the late 90s/early 2000s, I often visited London and spent time hanging around TV Centre, poking my head into offices and studios.

“I did actually get to see NC1 and NC2 once in 1998, when I had an audition to be a network continuity announcer (and met one of the announcers, but I was so in awe I can’t remember his name, but suspect it might have been Malcolm Eynon).  I also visited DNC1, DNC2, and the MSA a couple of years later when I was at a course in London.  Subsequently I’ve visited the Broadcast Centre a couple of times and met various announcers, but the place lacks the atmosphere of TVC.”

Personal information

Clips of Paul on The TV Room

Paul may be featured in video/audio clips on our other websites. Click the links below to display a listing (a 404 error will appear if no clips are found):

Rewind | Clean Feed

Online presence

Acknowledgements