James Hartigan
James Hartigan (born 11th March 1975 in Carshalton, South London) is an English journalist and broadcaster who is best known as a presenter and film critic on London talk radio station LBC and as a poker commentator on British television and the Internet.
Background
Hartigan grew up in Sutton, South London and Banstead, Surrey. He went to university at Christ Church College Canterbury, graduating in 1996 with a BA in Radio, Film and Television and English Literature. He then completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at Falmouth College of Arts.
Radio
Hartigan began his broadcasting career as a film critic at BBC Radio Kent and journalist at County Sound Radio before joining London’s Heart 106.2 in 1998 as the news anchor on Jono Coleman’s Breakfast Show. In addition, he was the station’s Showbiz Editor, interviewing actors, directors, musicians and TV personalities.
In 2001, he was hired by UBC Media to oversee the production company’s commercial radio programming, including its syndicated entertainment news service and the network chart show. He returned to live broadcasting in 2004, reading bulletins on Jazz FM and presenting a variety of programmes on LBC, including news magazine The Morning Report and the weekday Drivetime show.
Since November 2008, Hartigan has been LBC's film critic. He can also occasionally be heard reading the news on Classic FM (UK).
Movies
Hartigan's film reviews are broadcast every Saturday morning between 8.30 and 9am on the James Max show on LBC 97.3. He covers the week's new cinema releases, as well as new DVD and Blu-ray titles and highlights from the TV schedules. He is also the face of the LBC Film Club, regularly appears on other LBC programmes as a film expert and in February 2009 hosted the station's live coverage of the Oscars.
In April 2009, Hartigan started reviewing films on-line. He provides an immediate reaction to every movie he sees on the big and small screen on Twitter, where he posts as HartiganOnFilm.
Poker
Hartigan has been a recreational poker player since the early 1990s. In 2005, as a professional broadcaster with a keen interest in the game, he was hired by The Poker Channel to commentate on the World Cup of Poker and the World Speed Poker Open. He has since commentated on tournaments across Europe and has presented poker programmes for Channel 4, Sky Sports, Eurosport and Challenge.
He is best known for his work on the European Poker Tour. He is the main host of the EPT Live webcasts and shares commentary duties with Colin Murray on the television highlights shows. He also played in the Deauville EPT in season one.
Since December 2008, Hartigan has become one of the faces of Sky Poker, providing weekly tournament results and poker news from around the world. He is also tasked with interviewing famous poker players and has appeared on the channel as a guest analyst.
Personal
Hartigan lives in Putney, South West London. He is married with one daughter and a cat.
As well as poker and movies, he is a fan of tennis and American Football. He has followed the San Francisco 49ers since they won Super Bowl XIX.