I do watch the show, though most of the time it's boring white guitar band stuff. Occasionally he does have more interesting things on.... Sea Sick Steve, Grimes, and Guramul stand out. 

I sort of think you have to respect him because of The Tube, which was pretty ground breaking in that it was the first show where TV presenters presented themselves as being just (fairly) ordinary people, and took the piss out of themselves, the media and everyone else ... he does have a good feeling for the musics roots though, and an immense respect for blues and jazz, big band and swing, that obviously is the ground pop music rests on 

and anyway he's been doing it for so long he's a bit of an institution.

He lived pretty close to where I last used to live in the UK and would turn up to my local cafe with a bunch of his vintage car mates at the end of a run, and I can vouch for the fact that in he's just a regular sort of person, no airs and graces and I respect him for that;

The biggest problem with the show is the aweful mixing.... the sound is never that good...