In Chris’ early years he ran the local newsagents in
his home town of Warrington and set up his own
Kiss-o-gram and Private Detective agencies. Having
started his broadcasting career at Piccadilly Radio,
he went on to nurse Emma Freud through her first
serious interviews at GLR. At the London station his
infamous "Round at Chris’ " Saturday morning show
attracted a huge cult following and he later took the
format to Virgin 1215. A stint on the short-lived BSB
Channel, "The Power Station" allowed Chris time to
iron out any presenting rough spots, until Channel 4
opted for a different type of early morning show with
The BIG Breakfast.
Chris dived into the nation’s cornflakes in September 1992, spearheading the morning extravaganza alongside Gaby Roslin. From the first sitting, his name became synonymous with the television story of the decade and within weeks The BIG Breakfast topped two million viewers. Chris’ years on the show made him a national broadcasting institution.
In 1993 Chris formed his own company called Ginger Productions to formulate a brand new variety show for Saturday nights, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush. Devised, written and performed by Chris, the ratings peaked at a combined six million viewers. News of the totally original format resulted in a global clamour for the rights, which to date have been sold to networks throughout Europe and all over the world including Australia and Brazil.
With Chris at its helm, Ginger Productions fast became one of the major players in entertainment production. Under the Ginger banner, Chris produced and presented a second series of Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, revitalised BBC Radio One with his Radio One Breakfast Show before bowing out to concentrate on his unique end of the week TV show TFI Friday, broadcast on Channel 4 and currently in its fourth series.
In October Chris returned to his radio roots to host the Virgin Radio Breakfast Show alongside his former Radio One team. Then in December, in spectacular fashion and with financial backing, Chris bought Virgin Radio from Richard Branson, whilst the MMC were deliberating on a buy out from another company. The newly formed Ginger Media Group (GMG), headed by Chris Evans, now handles all of the interests of Virgin Radio and Ginger Productions.
The article was taken from the Virgin Records Website at: http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs/evans.htm.