Dennie Morris appointed to new role as Director of Audio, News Broadcasting; Liam Fisher named Head of talkSPORT, Kathryn Anastasi as Deputy Head

News Broadcasting, the division of News UK behind national broadcast brands including TalkTV, talkSPORT, Virgin Radio and Times Radio, today announces the appointment of Dennie Morris to the new role of Director of Audio. 

In the new role Dennie will have overall responsibility for the multiplatform output of both talkSPORT and Virgin Radio UK. 

Dennie first joined talkSPORT in 2005 and worked in a number of production roles, before joining stablemate TalkRadio as Programme Director in 2015, a year before News UK acquired the two national radio brands alongside Virgin Radio UK. Under Dennie’s leadership, TalkRadio has seen exponential RAJAR growth. He was also the architect of a visualisation strategy for TalkRadio which provided the foundations for the launch of TalkTV. Dennie will report to EVP, President of Broadcasting, Scott Taunton.

Meanwhile Liam Fisher is named as Head of talkSPORT, one of the biggest sports media brands in the world. Liam spent over a decade in a series of senior production roles at talkSPORT before spending the last seven years as Head of National Speech Radio, heading up the launches of TalkRadio and Times Radio, and the re-launch of Virgin Radio. In his role as Head of talkSPORT, Liam will be responsible for building out its enormous potential as a leading international, multi-platform sports media brand. Liam will report to Dennie, as will Content Director, Virgin Radio UK, Mike Cass. Virgin Radio is one of the most popular digital music stations in the UK with a roster of talent that includes Chris Evans, Graham Norton, Ricky Wilson and Jayne Middlemiss.

Dennie Morris said: “News Broadcasting is an innovation powerhouse in UK media and I’m delighted to step into the new role of Director of Audio. talkSPORT and Virgin Radio already engage and delight millions, and I can’t wait to get to work with their talented teams - under Liam Fisher and Mike Cass - as we drive forward their growth across all digital platforms.”

Liam Fisher said: “talkSPORT is a goliath of sports media brands with a peerless roster of talent on both sides of the mic. I know the network has even more potential on air, online and across our social platforms and I cannot wait to get started.”

At the same time, Kathryn Anastasi, currently Head of Live Sport across talkSPORT, is appointed to the role of Deputy Head of talkSPORT. Kathryn has held a number of roles across her 15 years at talkSPORT, most recently running the network’s peerless live coverage including the winter World Cup and over 450 live football commentaries this season. 

Kathryn Anastasi said: “talkSPORT is a unique sports media brand, with growth potential across all its platforms: radio, online, social and beyond. I’m extremely proud of the brilliant live sports coverage we provide and I’m excited to get to work with Liam and the superb talkSPORT team to drive forward our growth strategy.”

News Broadcasting EVP Scott Taunton said: “I’m delighted to appoint Dennie Morris to the new role of Director of Audio, as we turbo-charge our plans for both talkSPORT and Virgin Radio UK. Dennie has driven phenomenal growth for TalkRadio in the last few years and was responsible for the innovation around visualising its content that has created the opportunity for our further investment in digital video, including the launch of TalkTV under Head of TV, Richard Wallace.

“Meanwhile, there are few people who better understand the DNA of talkSPORT than Liam Fisher and Kathryn Anastasi. talkSPORT is an enormous media brand, not just attracting millions of listeners on radio but millions more on online and on social media platforms like YouTube. Liam and Kathryn will lead the talented team at talkSPORT as the brand enters a new chapter in its phenomenal multi-platform growth story.”

talkSPORT is the world’s biggest sports radio station and is the global audio partner of the Premier League. The station is an official broadcaster of the Premier League, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the FA Cup, England football internationals and the EFL. The station also has extensive cricket and boxing rights and its international arm broadcasts across the world in multiple languages – including English, Spanish and Swahili. 

Virgin Radio UK is the home of Chris Evans at breakfast and Graham Norton at the weekends. Chris Evans returned to his spiritual home to present the breakfast show in 2019 with Graham Norton joining in 2021. Other stations in the network include Virgin Radio Anthems, playing classic tracks; Virgin Radio Chilled, with music to kick back to and Virgin Radio 80s Plus playing the best 80s music.