UK jocks join UAE stations

Three British radio names have joined two of Dubai's biggest stations – Channel 4 FM and Coast 103.2.

Jason King and Darren Lee are joining the on-air line-ups, while Tom Ferguson becomes the Head of Production for both stations.

Jason, previously morning host at Key 103 Manchester, Trent FM and 106 Century FM takes over the Coast 103.2 Drivetime show 'The Home Run'.

Darren has stations such as Absolute, Capital & The Orion group under his belt and moves over to host the 12-4pm afternoon show on Channel 4.

Tom becomes the new Head of Production for both services, with the task of re-imaging the stations with a fresh new sound for 2011. Tom came straight from the Galaxy Network and before that at Radio Aire in Leeds.

The signings follow closely after Paul Hayes who joined from London's Heart 106.2 in June 2010 as Drivetime host on Channel 4 and Assistant Programme Director for both services.

Programme Controller Chris Rose told RadioToday.co.uk: "The Dubai marketplace has recently got more competitive and we’re now ensuring that the right talent is in place to face this challenge."

The changes follow news that four people have left the group, after clocking up more than 30 years' service to stations in Dubai between them. We're told Neal Bowden (former PD and Coast drivetime presenter), Tom Green (Head of Production at Channel 4 and Coast), Don Plenty (Coast mid-morning presenter) and Josh Anderson (Channel 4 afternoons) were let go by the group because of cutbacks after a challenging time for advertising incomes.

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