Frank McCarthy (disc jockey)

Life and career

Frank McCarthy was born in Bellshill (Scotland) near Glasgow but grew up in Germany. His family moved to Rhinedahlen in 1974 where they lived in Wegberg. His father was the Deputy Head at the British Forces St. Clement's School in Wickrath. In 1982 the family moved to Bielefeld where Frank McCarthy senior worked as the Headmaster of Oerlinghausen Primary School for the British Forces Service Children's Education up until its closure in 1994.

After leaving school in 1990, Frank McCarthy worked for as a Programme Operations Assistant for BFBS Germany in Bielefeld, then 2 months later from October 1990 he moved to the all-new Network Centre at Herford, where he worked in the same position at first and then as a presenter and producer. The first show he presented was The Late Show in October 1992. Other shows he presented and produced were Saturday Lunch (January to October 1993), Weekend Breakfast (January 1994 to April 1996), Weekday Drivetime (April 1996 to April 1999) and Weekday Lunch (April 1999 to April 2001).

During his last years in Germany he was detached to Priština twice, where he worked at BFBS Kosovo. In July 2001 he was posted to BFBS UK and then immediately detached as a presenter/producer and or station manager to Falkland Islands, then Kosovo, Bosnia, Belize, Gibraltar, Iraq and Cyprus where he was the Breakfast Show presenter from April 2004 till his departure in August 2006. From September 2006 till present he now lives and works in the UK for BFBS Radio. Frank also returned to BFBS Middle East, in Basrah in Iraq, from March 2008 until May 2008 as the Station Manager and was based at the C.O.B. or Contingent Operations Base.

From 19 January 2009 Frank was appointed as the Head of Music for BFBS Radio worldwide, a position which he holds to this day.

Frank McCarthy has played the drums since the age of seven, has joined several bands and is also known as "Frank Drummer". In his spare time he enjoys keeping fit, going to see live bands and festivals, critiques new songs for unsigned bands and artists, occasionally plays golf and loves spending time with his family and friends. From time to time he also produces young bands.

He lives in the county of Buckinghamshire, which is also the home county of BFBS UK.

In January 2016, according to the Daily Mail, McCarthy was rumoured to be the next Stig for the Chris Evans revamp of Top Gear.

When he was 15 he had trials for West Ham United FC, he turned down a five-year contract to focus on radio. He is a distant relation to footballer Phil Stamp.

Radio shows

Frank McCarthy was on air from Monday to Thursday (6-9 pm GMT). His programme blended a mixture of new music, current artists and more unusual tracks from the Alternative- and Independent-scene, including rock, electronica and pop. He wasn't just the Presenter (DJ) but he also produced the programme as well.

Frank was also responsible for the BFBS Live Sessions, in which bands or solo artists play sets at the BFBS UK studio's.

As of 19 January 2009 Frank McCarthy changed jobs, while remaining at BFBS Radio, he was promoted to Managing Editor Music. The ME-Music (this job title changed to Music Manager as of 2011) is responsible for everything that the network of 12 BFBS Radio stations, in 23 countries around the world plays, as well as for BFBS Radio 2 the easy listening BFBS station with more speech. One of the main responsibilities for Frank is to develop a brand new music format for BFBS Radio to play based upon the audience demographic and trends within listening habits of the British Forces. Frank also presents his radio programme called 'Music First' which is based around the independent & alternative music scene always on the pre-release and is broadcast around the world on a Sunday evening from 18:00-20:00 (UK Time), the format of Music First is to break new rock and pop music before anyone else on BFBS Radio.