Pete Mitchell (broadcaster)

Pete Mitchell was born in Crumpsall, Manchester, England. He was previously a radio presenter for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio, Key 103, BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music and Xfm and was one half of duo Pete & Geoff on Virgin Radio. His music documentaries have been aired in America, Canada, Australia and Asia.He now works for Absolute Radio and writes for the Radio Times, the Daily Express and Q magazine.

Mitchell began his career in 1986 as a sports commentator for Red Rose Radio in Lancashire. He moved to Manchester's Piccadilly Radio in 1989 and, as the station gained a new identity and become Key 103, presented the popular afternoon show and developed, wrote and produced IQ, his own specialist weekend music programme. IQ featured guest interviews and live sets from both established and up-and-coming acts. He championed the indie bands of the "Madchester" scene in the early 1990s. IQ featured bands such as Oasis, Inspiral Carpets, James, Badly Drawn Boy, 808 State and Happy Mondays.

Mitchell was introduced to Geoff Lloyd in the mid-1990s by actor and writer Craig Cash, star of The Royle Family. Lloyd was an aspiring comedy writer and performer, and a fellow radio presenter. In 1996 Lloyd joined Mitchell on his afternoon radio show. The duo rapidly established a cult following with their witty and slightly risquė banter, and in 1998 won a Sony Radio Academy Award for their show.

In 1999 they were recruited by Virgin Radio, where they took over the weekday evening show and covered Chris Evans on the breakfast show, and again rapidly built up a significant audience. The pair took over the drivetime show in early 2002. By 2003 they were the most popular DJs on the station and were moved to the breakfast show to increase the audience. This they did very successfully, sticking to their well-established formula of slightly risquė banter about contemporary news and culture, with Mitchell tending to play the "straight man" to the more outrageous Lloyd. They won another Gold Sony Radio Award for their show.

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