Radiobit: Michael Bukht

Michael Bukht, who helped launch two wildly successful radio stations, died last week.

Although his face was more familiar as part of the team on proto-foodie BBC2 portmanteau grub and guzzle show Food And Drink - where he worked as Michael Barry - it was as a broadcast executive that he really made his name.

He was the first programme director of Capital Radio in 1973, shaping a station which would remain more-or-less on the same lines until the Thatcher-driven competition era led to frequency splits and format screw-downs; in 1992 he co-founded Classic FM and remained there until 1997.

Michael Bukht was 69; he had been unwell for some time.