GfK Survey 4<\/a> saw Simon continue his reign as Sydney\u2019s #1 FM host in Afternoons, with a healthy 14.0 share. He was also one of the driving forces in Smooth snatching the crown from 2GB as the city\u2019s #1 station overall.<\/p>\nAsk Simon what it all means to him, and he\u2019s quick to deflect attention away from himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously high ratings make me happy but I\u2019m totally aware that it\u2019s not entirely me,\u201d Simon tells Radio Today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the friendly guy who strings it all together, but the real star of Smooth is our content.\u201d<\/p>\n
And by content, Simon means the music \u2013 and the meticulous way it\u2019s put together and presented.<\/p>\n
Going into work every day is a genuine pleasure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Smooth because of the people,\u201d says Simon. \u201cEveryone knows their role so well and the best bit is that we all try and execute it to the highest of standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother bonus is that the team is made up with some radio legends, so we totally trust each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Simon believes Smooth\u2019s success is, in part, thanks to a lot of brilliant content-driven FM counterparts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of noise and talk out there so Smooth stands out as a good alternative to get away from all the hype.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have an outstanding leader who\u2019s a real fan of what we do and the whole station. Peter Clay is a big part of the success.\u201d<\/p>\n
The son of Spanish immigrants, Simon\u2019s parents arrived in Australia in the late 1950s and settled in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, it was very working class with many factories, which my parents worked in,\u201d says Simon.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a few moves, they bought some land in Glen Waverley and built our family home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Far from even thinking about a future in radio, the priority for young Simon back then was mastering English.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still talking a mix of Catalan and Spanish in Prep and Grade 1,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Inspired by his dad \u2013 a passionate wine collector \u2013 Simon hoped to one day open his own wine shop.<\/p>\n
In 1985, when Simon was fourteen, a family friend got him involved with an aspiring community radio station in Dandenong.<\/p>\n
The radio bug bit him hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn between my start in commercial radio, I did a little nightclub DJing and mobile disco, hence my nickname \u2018Disco.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Simon also worked on-air across community radio stations 3SER, 3RPP and the iconic youth station HitzFM.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first big break in radio was thanks to Ty Frost (thanks Ty!) who was leaving 3SH in Swan Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a call from Bob at the Bob Taylor Announcers Academy that they needed a newbie. I got in the car that day, drove up there and got the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the best job, as you had to do everything from writing the copy, voicing and producing the copy to presenting various sports shows I had no idea about.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to mentors, Simon says \u201cI\u2019ve had many radio people influence and guide me, from Barry Bissell to Bert Newton.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up listening to greats like John Peters, Richard and Peter Stubbs, Tim Smith \u2013 who is one of the most brilliant radio minds \u2013 and Peter Harrison, and got to work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Tim Smith is equally glowing in his assessment of Simon.<\/p>\n
The comedian and former Melbourne Breakfast host tells Radio Today \u201cSimon is by far the best anchor I\u2019ve ever had the pleasure of working with. He is funny, generous, coolheaded, intelligent and always professional.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is one of those rare folk who make a good show great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside radio, there\u2019ll likely be travel in Simon\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith two sons who are now in their early twenties and no grandchildren on the horizon yet, my wife and I are planning on towing the caravan a lot more around our awesome country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to be with Smooth a little longer. It truly has been the best job I\u2019ve ever had and I\u2019m very lucky to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
*Images: Facebook and NOVA Entertainment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simon Diaz. Image supplied by NOVA Entertainment Smooth FM Afternoons host Simon Diaz is an easygoing guy. So…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-26745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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