Latest news about BBC Radio 1

Young ARIAs to become Young Audio Awards in 2020

Radiocentre and the BBC have announced plans for next year’s radio industry awards for those aged 8 to 18, with a slight change of name for 2020. The Young Audio Awards will take place in March 2020, following the success of the first ‘Young ARIAs’ at the BBC Radio Theatre in May this year. The awards are aimed at children involved in radio, podcasts or audio projects, with ‘money can’t buy’ prizes on offer including industry mentorship, VIP studio tours and a show on a national radio station. Entries for the 2020 awards will open in November 2019.

BBC Radio 1 to air new chart programme on Sunday afternoons

A new show, The Official Chart: First Look, is being introduced to BBC Radio 1 in the historic Sunday afternoon chart countdown slot. The programme will be live from the BBC in Salford and produced by MediaCityUK-based indie Audio Always, each Sunday from 6pm till 7pm. The Official Chart: First Look will launch on July 14th hosted by Cel Spellman and Katie Thistleton, focussing on the Top 20 biggest tracks from data collected on Friday and Saturday, with the Top 10 played in full.

BBC Radio 1 announces The Lewis Capaldi Symphony

BBC Radio 1’s Clara Amfo announced that Lewis Capaldi is set to perform alongside the Manchester Camerata Orchestra as part of Radio 1 Presents: The Lewis Capaldi Symphony on Monday 5 August in Croxteth, Liverpool. The Scottish singer-songwriter is one of the biggest UK artists to emerge in the last year with his single Someone You Loved spending seven weeks at number one and recently being named biggest song of 2019 so far, whilst his debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent sat at the top of the album charts for four weeks.

Zoe Ball joins top earners list at the BBC

New BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Zoe Ball has joined the BBC big earners top 10 list whilst Jeremy Vine took at £110k pay cut. Vanessa Feltz also makes it inside the top 10 list, which this year includes three women for the first time, along with Claudia Winkleman. Chris Evans is still in the list, as it covers the period from April 2018 to March 2019, so will only represent nine months of work. He got £1.25m for 150 editions of the Breakfast Show (or £8.3k per programme).

Radio 1 and 1Xtra return to Ibiza

BBC Radio 1Xtra will be returning to Ibiza following the success of last years event, taking some of the biggest names in black music to the white isle for a night of DJ sets and performances at Ibiza Rocks on Saturday 3 August. BBC Radio 1 will also be returning for its annual trip, continuing its legacy on the island. This year, the station will be taking the biggest dance artists to Ibiza Rocks on Friday 2 August hosted by dance champions Annie Mac and Danny Howard. MistaJam will also be hosting a Dance Anthems special from Café Mambo celebrating 25 years of this iconic venue. Full details to be announced in due course.

RAJAR Q1 2019 – Zoe & Chris plus national and London radio round-up

Chris Evans and Virgin Radio both reached over a million listeners in the first quarter of 2019. The digital station’s audience has almost trebled compared with the last period of 2018 thanks to the arrival of Evans from Radio 2. In Q1/2019 it posts a weekly reach of 1.3m and total hours of 7.765m. A year ago those figures were 427,000 and 1.632m. Last quarter they were 447,000 and 1.686m.

Broadcasters unite once again for Mental Health Minute

Commercial Radio and the BBC are once again uniting to broadcast a one-minute message in support of mental health awareness. For the second year Mental Health Minute will feature globally famous voices and unite stations all over the UK, from national networks such as those run by Global, Bauer and Wireless, to smaller local stations and community stations, together with BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, and 5 Live.

Greg James and James Purnell sign up for Radio Festival

The Radio Festival will include sessions from BBC Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Greg James, and the BBC’s Director of Radio and Education James Purnell. Other new sessions announced today are from Google News’ Brenda Salinas and Katy Leeson of Social Chain. James Purnell will be joining RadFest to share his thoughts on the importance of treasuring radio amidst significant change in the industry and in people’s listening habits.

BBC to create single role to Control Radio 1 and Radio 2

The BBC is to create a new single role of Controller of its pop music stations Radio 1, 1Xtra, Asian Network, Radio 2 and 6 Music. Heads of each station, plus BBC Music and the Music TV commissioning heads, will report to the new Controller. A source tells RadioToday that Ben Cooper, currently Controller of Radio 1, 1Xtra and BBC Asian Network is expected to be appointed to the new position across all five services.

BBC Radio 1 to tour the North East ahead of Big Weekend

BBC Radio 1 will host a number of outreach sessions in schools, colleges, universities and community centres across the North East in the run up to Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Middlesbrough. Comprising of a schools tour, a takeover of Middlesbrough College, and a skills showcase at Teesside University, the Inspire ME tour will give young people from Middlesbrough and the surrounding areas an introduction to working in the creative and sporting industries, providing them with the skills, know-how and motivation they need to take those all-important first steps.